Hoteles de familiares en Jiangsu, China

I arrived in pouring rain. I thought I could walk to my hotel but it was impossible in the downpour. I didn’t want to bother any hotel owner.   I didn’t and still don’t  have an eSIM that can make local  call but thanks to Trip.com, there is a link that I could call the owner for free.  I didn’t advise the owners my arrival time so they were off running errands.  I called the owner to pick me up and thankfully he answered. He was busy but gracious enough to turn around and picked me up. It knew Zhouhuang requires a ticket but I didn’t know that no cars, nor motorcycles, nor bicycles are allowed. Without him I would have arrived the hotel easily.  I always like to meet the owners instead of employees . They were very helpful and answered all my questions. They are honest people who dedicate their  blood and sweat to their business. The owner even offered to walk me to the bus stop  to Suzhou which was my next destination.  This  operates two hotels with 9 in one and 6 in the other. The one that I stayed in with 9 rooms is in a  lively and busy area . Just outside the hotel is a restaurant and there are plenty of places to eat. Inside the hotel is a peaceful oasis where you won’t hear any noise. The location is the best. The other hotel is in a quieter neighborhood a few minutes away. Each of the 15 rooms has it’s own personality, is different and has its distinctive decoration. The owners said they decorated them themselves. I love the decoration and especially the lighting.  After you reserve a room, be sure to contact the owner for the exact address in case you want to arrive on your own. I think it is best to request the owner to take you there because he/she will lead you to the ticket booth to buy tickets. There are a number of bridges so heavy big luggages can be a bit of a challenge .  If you arrive after 5 pm, you can enter free of charge as no one is there to check your ticket. . But once you are inside, and if you choose to leave the area after 8 or 9 am until 5 pm, you have to pay to come back in. You can buy a one day or in my case 3 days pass.  Do check with the owner for up to date information.  The room was quite clean. There were hot water all the time. There were other guests during my stay but they were not noisy at all. I barely heard them. I slept very well during my 3 nights there.  Zhouhuang is really beautiful. There are many canals, bridges, boat rides, good food of all kinds. I had some of the best meals there. In fact , I ate in the same restaurant that serves dumpling twice. One night I had grill (BBQ) meat just outside the entrance for 4 yuans. .  There is decent size supermarket just outside the turnstile and not too far away is a much bigger supermarket. It was there where I bought half a Peking duck for only 32 yuans . The seller sliced the meat and separated the meat from  the bones. The bones he fried so it was crunchy.  It was delicious. There is a theater that offers performances. The night view is great. If you step out your room, you will be overwhelmed in a good sense by the exciting surroundings.  This hotel definitely is one of the best that I have ever stayed in. Look at the beautiful pictures and find one that you like.  I stayed only 3 nights and one of those days I went to Tongli. In my opinion, one should spend at least 2 to 3 full days in  Zhouhuang (and especially this hotel ) savor the ambience. I don’t think Tongli is worth the time because it was twice as expensive and there are not that many canals and boat rides. It is much quieter and has fewer things to see. . The worst is that the sightseeing places require you to show your ticket. After 2 places, I lost mine ticket and I  couldn’t get in the rest of the places. It is unnecessary to require proof of entrance because you can’t enter the area without a ticket. 

Nos encantó alojarnos en este tranquilo bed and breakfast. Estaba bastante cerca de Laomendong y de la muralla de Nanjing, y a un corto paseo del templo de Confucio. El exterior parecía histórico (lo cual me encantó), pero también apreciamos el baño inteligente y otras instalaciones modernas. Aunque los empleados no hablaban mucho inglés, siempre estaban dispuestos a usar un traductor para facilitar la comunicación y eran muy amables con cualquier mensaje. El desayuno tradicional estaba buenísimo y siempre estaban dispuestos a ofrecernos más de lo que nos gustaba. También nos proporcionaron agua, Coca-Cola, artículos de aseo y, el primer día, fruta fresca. Las camas eran un poco duras, algo habitual en China, pero las almohadas eran cómodas. El dueño también se desvivió por acompañarnos a un restaurante la primera noche e incluso nos llevó a la estación de tren porque les preocupaba que nos costara encontrar un taxi con todo nuestro equipaje. Nos encantó nuestra estancia en Nanjing y nos encantaría volver porque nos sentimos muy cómodos.

Localizacion perfecta cerca de zona turística y de metro. Atención muy amable. Fue una experiencia agradable gracias a la ayuda que siempre estaban dispuestos a dar los chicos de la recepción. Las habitaciones son correctas de tamaño, limpias aunque las gomas y justas de las duchas hay que cambiarlas. En las zonas comunes hace calor por falta de aire acondicionado con más potencia. Esperar en la entrada a que viniera un didi era muy incómodo por ese calor. Tienen zona con descanso y juegos para niños algo desordenada pero correcta y el calor también hacia que fuera incómodo estar mucho tiempo.

The hotel is Ping Jiang Road, right next to the river which offers easy access to the shopping area. You can easily find eateries within walking distance as well. Just note that because of the fact it is located the river where cars typically can't get to, you would likely need to alight at the main road and walk about 5mins in to the hotel. Might not be suitable for groups with small children, huge luggages or elderly. The hotel itself is super charming. First, you will be greeted by warm and friendly staff who are more than happy to help you with luggages or provide tips for the area. There is no elevators so you would need to carry your luggages to rooms on the 2F or 3F, ( the staff helped me with mine). Room is very clean and fittings are all new. Toilet is new as well with automated flush. The toilet/bathroom doors are translucent however. You can't see what the person is doing inside but the light passes through so might not be a good idea to share the room with someone else if they are sensitive to light especially at night. Otherwise, everything else is perfect at this location.

Antes era el Sheraton Wugong, ahora es parte del grupo Pan Pacific Hotels. La llegada en coche al vestíbulo es impresionante. El único problema de seguridad son las múltiples entradas y salidas; cualquiera puede entrar y salir sin control de seguridad. Lo mejor es que hay una puerta junto al restaurante Ruimian de Batanyingyue que da directamente a la zona escénica de Panmen, ideal para un paseo nocturno o una visita después del desayuno. Solo hay que recordar que el horario de apertura es de 8:30 a 21:00; fuera de ese horario, la puerta está cerrada y hay que buscar otra ruta. Las vistas nocturnas del hotel también son espectaculares. Si hace demasiado calor durante el día, se puede pasear por la noche para admirar Batanyingyue y Ruimen bajo la luna, experimentando la serena belleza de Suzhou a la luz de la luna. Al abrir la puerta, se encuentra un camino serpenteante que lleva a un mundo oculto, y al levantar la vista, se ven pabellones y estanques por todas partes, revelando la milenaria esencia de Suzhou. El desayuno es bastante sencillo, aunque también se puede disfrutar de un tazón de fideos al estilo de Suzhou en el restaurante Ruimian en la planta baja. En verano hay muchos mosquitos en los jardines, así que es importante tomar precauciones.

I booked Hanyuan because it is within walking distance to my folks home. And my grandma used to work at Nanjing Agricultural University, which the hotel is affiliated with. I read others’ reviews and knew it is an old facility. I did not have unrealistic expectations. We arrived late at night. Taxi driver dropped us off at the side entrance that has numerous stairs to the door. We had lots of luggage. As we got out of the cab, we saw some staff member in the lobby looking out. Instead of coming out to help us, he walked away. My husband, myself and our seven year old all carried/dragged multiple items up the stairs to get into the hotel lobby. We checked in and decided that we would need to add a bed for the kid. House keeping came quickly to set up the bed but was reluctant to provide pillows for the additional bed. I had to repeatedly ask before they agreed to bring an extra pillow. Don’t understand why there is such resistance to equip the additional bed with pillow- after all, we did pay for the additional bed. Everything else was pretty good during our first three-day-stay. We then went away to visit families elsewhere for a week before coming back to this hotel. This time, our car drove onto the ramp at the front entrance. As soon as we entered the building, lobby manager came to offer us help. He helped us deliver luggage to our room. We are very appreciative of his assistance. We ran into some issues at the front desk this time. They asked for our passports again and took our pictures for a second time. When I mentioned that we were just here a week ago and all information was taken already, we were told that all information has been erased as we checked out. When we checked in/out the first time, we informed front desk that we were making the hotel our base camp and will be coming in and out a few times. It’s strange that they would delete our information and redo everything all over again. Again we need to add a bed. House keeping brought a roller bed which has a stained mattress pad. I asked them to bring a clean one, they said they could not. They said they didn’t have any clean pads. They said the only option is to remove the pad and put the sheets directly on the mattress. They further suggested that since the sheet is clean, dirty pad doesn’t matter and that every mattress pad under bed sheets has urine stains. His words made my stomach turn but I was too tired to fight so they went ahead put sheets on top of the mattress pad that has a big yellow stain. Again I asked for pillows for the additional bed, they refused at first, upon my insistence, they agreed to bring pillows. They also took out a blanket from the cabinets under television and put it on the bed. When the seven year old was ready for bed, I opened the blanket and realized it’s cover is dirty. It’s dusty and has multiple stings of hair on it. I called house keeping, a lady quickly bought over a clean duvet cover for the blanket but refused to take away the dirty one. She insisted that we keep the dirty duvet in the closet. I did not understand her rationale but there isn’t anything I can do. So that dirty duvet cover stayed in the closet. Maybe I should not have come back to this hotel.

1.** Servicio cuidadoso, invitado a regresar Esta estancia fue una gran experiencia! La actitud del personal de los apartamentos en el servicio es especialmente buena, desde la estancia hasta la salida, cada vínculo es muy intimidad. La hermana de la recepción es entusiasta y paciente, también me ha ayudado a mejorar el estilo de la habitación, la vista de la habitación es excelente, ¡muy gracias! 2.** El cuarto es limpio y cómodo, y las instalaciones están completas La habitación está limpia, las camas son suaves y cómodas y duermen muy bien. El dormitorio también es amplio, el agua caliente es suficiente, la calidad de los artículos de lavandería es buena. Los detalles están bien hechos y la vida es muy cómoda. 4.** Posición conveniente, con equipamiento completo en el entorno La ubicación del hotel es muy buena, hay tiendas y estaciones de metro cercanas, y el viaje es muy conveniente. También puede pasear por la noche alrededor, sentir la vista nocturna de la ciudad, el ambiente general es muy relajado. 5.** Alto precio, recomendado para ingresar Esta estadía es muy valiosa, ya sea la habitación o la calidad del servicio, ¡está satisfecha! La próxima vez que vengan a esta ciudad, elegirán este hotel y le recomendarán a sus amigos!

Now, I can sit here and tell you that we’re staying in an eco-friendly hotel that even though you’re inside its high glass windows gives you an outdoor vibe. I can even sit and talk about the saline pool, its state-of-the-art gym and list all the amenities; and I can even talk about the number of rooms and the fact that as we speak there’s an international summit going on here. Somehow that won’t speak about my experience here at this hotel. Elements (by Westin) Suzhou Science & Technology Town does have all of the above BUT what I love about this hotel is its Staff. I love the fact that they seem to be always be here. I somehow believe that they live onsite because they’re always around. In the morning, even before I enter the Salon I hear, “Nǐ hǎo Marsha” from the Breakfast Host, followed up by the nice lady in the Salon, smiling at me and ushering me to the coffee machine, while handing me my 2 brown sugar packs. She knows my morning habits so quickly. Not only that, because they knew Peter was missing from my breakfast table for a few mornings, they now signal to me with take away containers for Peter, to have his breakfast in the room. When we need to go anywhere the young ladies at the Front Desk (no matter which Shift) are always either asking us where we need to go so that they can call a CASH taxi to get us to our destination. One of them even came with me one day to the Bank of China’s ATM and sat in the taxi while I went in and conducted my business and accompanied me to the Campus to visit Jon-Marc. Yesterday, one of them even used her own Didi account to get us transportation back to the hotel and we reimbursed her (and walked away while she was trying to give us back our change because we knew she wouldn’t have taken the Tip as is their custom). How else could we have shown her how grateful we were for her kind gesture? Then there is Simon Jiang, the General Manager, who speaks perfect English and is always there to assist and offer suggestions of things to do and places to go. Simon was the one who actually explained to me that you can’t just walk into a pharmacy and get anything without a prescription. What I can tell you is that even though he is the GM he is always on hand assisting the staff with their work. Even though there is a clear hierarchy here, he takes off his jacket and assists in the kitchen, you can sometimes see him helping the older ladies bring out the heavy equipment (if needed) when they’re cleaning the floors, clear tables, etc. Or Alex Ju, the Assistant General Manager, who accompanied Peter and I to the hospital and stayed and spoke with the doctor and the international insurance department on our behalf (in Mandarin) to make everything a little easier for us. These people are the ones who have made my stay here memorable and I can honestly say that its because of them that I would recommend Elements by Westin in Suzhou to ANYONE who wanted a place to stay without hassle and with a host of helpful, courteous, friendly staff. It has been my pleasure having encountered such warm, friendly, delightful and gentle human beings.

Five-Day Stay in Nanjing Check-in Experience We arrived early at around 6 AM due to the difficulty of booking train tickets during the holiday season. Although check-in was at 3 PM, the staff kindly accommodated us with an early check-in for an additional fee. Accommodation We stayed in two types of rooms during our visit: Single Room - Spacious and located in a peaceful, quiet area of the property. RV Room - Situated near the camping area where families and friends gather around a large bonfire for singing, BBQ, and games. **Ratings** Staff: 8/10 - Friendly and accommodating throughout our stay. Shuttle Service: 10/10 - The driver was exceptionally pleasant and always smiling. Since my daughter has asthma and walking long distances is difficult for her, we frequently requested shuttle service between locations. This was especially helpful as ride-share drivers typically drop off at the entrance, which is quite a walk from the rooms and facilities. Breakfast: 10/10 - Excellent variety of traditional Chinese dishes. They were accommodating when my husband requested takeout. Cleanliness: 10/10 - Both rooms were clean, including the beds, towels, and bathrooms. As my daughter’s asthma is triggered by dust, I was pleased that the rooms were clean enough that she didn’t experience any sneezing or symptoms. We all slept well for the entire five days. **Things to Consider** It’s highly recommended to have your own car, as the property is quite far from the city center. If you enjoy nature and outdoor activities, this place is ideal. Activities include: - ATV rides - Fishing area - Playground (note: adults are charged rather than children, so it’s more economical for only one adult to enter) - Small animal area featuring rabbits, ostriches, and llamas (15 RMB entry) - Train ride (30 RMB) The coffee shop has a wonderful atmosphere and aesthetic appeal, making it popular for photos. The property itself is spacious and perfect for leisurely walks. There’s also a temple nearby, approximately 20 minutes away by car. **Challenges We Faced** My daughter developed a fever and experienced diarrhea during our stay. When I called the front desk for help, the staff member wasn’t very accommodating and suggested my husband go buy medicine. This was difficult for us as foreigners who don’t speak the language well. I felt sad and helpless, especially when we couldn’t get any taxis or cabs to pick us up. We wanted to take her to the hospital, but no cabs were available. However, the next morning, a staff member spoke with me who was extremely kind and accommodating. They even offered to drive my daughter to the hospital, which I declined because we needed to catch our train and she was feeling better after taking medicine. They drove us to the South Railway Station and thoughtfully gave my daughter bags and drinks. It was a very kind gesture that we truly appreciated.

La habitación es muy agradable, la habitación es muy limpia y la habitación es muy buena. La ubicación es muy buena para el turista, porque es muy conveniente evaluar mucho comida y fotos tomando escenarios. La cosa es, no es exactamente fácil encontrar el taxi sólo le enviará a un lugar cercano y entonces usted tendría que averiguar cómo ir al hotel. El hotel está situado en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad, en el centro de la ciudad El desayuno también está disponible, teníamos nodos y algunos condimentos. En general, recomendaría muy este hotel.  Habitación, casa. Habitación, casa. ¡Sala! Gracias de nuevo al maravilloso servicio del personal del hotel 💖