Suzhou Stays: WTF Are My Options (And Which Ones Don't Suck)?

[April Corwin]

Hey, when it comes to the high-end brand of Huazhu Hotels Group—Manxin—it's time for me to bring up some serious complaints!

• Hotel Name: Mantoufu Manxin Suzhou Shantang Street Jiangnan Weaving Factory
• Stay Experience: It's undoubtedly the worst hotel I've ever stayed at, with no doubt!

• Initial Troublesome Experience:

  1. I booked this Manxin for a visit to Suzhou during the Spring Festival in hopes of enjoying its beautiful Suzhou courtyard-style design (very Chinese classical garden feeling) and reviews which looked quite impressive, considering it costs over one thousand yuan per night.
  2. Who could have imagined that these praises might be fake!

• Location – The Only Highlight?

  • The location of the hotel is indeed splendid, situated inside Shantang street (a prime tourist attraction known for its Southern Jiangnan Water Town style, with lots of tourists). You can avoid waiting in long queues to enter the scenic spot from here, so score one up for location.

• But! Room? Oh God!

  • It was freezing cold and filthy! Honestly speaking, even the most basic inns are better than its cleanliness.

• High Alert for Travelers! Follow these AVOID TIPS:

  • Awful Cleanliness: The floor was so dirty you couldn't take a look at it. When I asked the staff about it, they said something unbelievable like "It’s hard to clean the wooden floors!" No kidding, it's not a DIY flooring project; it’s supposed to be a hotel!
  • Unimpressed Breakfast: Don't expect much as most of it seems like pre-cooked meals, nothing remarkable at all.
  • Disappointing Service: We were told before check-in that due to the hotel being within a scenic spot, entry through the side gate was required. But there was no signage or reception waiting at the entrance, so dragging my luggage through twists and turns to find the main lobby was quite distressing. Plus, they asked me if I had ordered breakfast during checking in – really? (Shouldn’t the system record or inform this?)
  • Soothing Disappointment about Sound Insulation: Plan to rest well at night? Good luck, the sound insulation is so thin that the murmur of next door can be clearly heard.

• My Conclusion:

  • In general, Manxin is like a slightly better-looking inn, completely unmatch with its high-end positioning and price. I will avoid this place like the plague next time I visit Suzhou.

[Anita Wiza]

Sometimes, it's quite obvious when photos have been heavily edited. It's a good idea to carefully check their authenticity. If they look fake at first glance, you should probably skip them.

[Karen Zulauf]

I also mainly looked at some of the reviews.

[Arnold Predovic]

This hotel is indeed quite bad.