Suzhou Marriott Hotel Taihu Lake — Hotel in Suzhou City

I spent 4 days in Suzhou this month for a business conference and I must say that I am actually quite impressed with Suzhou and its surroundings. I did not quite see the Venice of China as is illustrated in the tourist magazines but the city was indeed criss-crossed with water canals with some pretty Chinese style bridges, generally very green and well built up with several modern Western style quartiers and leisure spots. Marriott Hotel was one of those relatively recently built up hotels by the lake and the golf course with its twin hotel Radisson firmly attached right through its bowels and sharing common management conference facilities and amenities. The cleanliness and quality of the material and finish was fairly visible everywhere in the hotel from the reception to the rooms to conference facilities and bars and restaurants. The room was big, clean and comfortable with many little luxuries and sleeping was a joy on the big, comfortable bed and in the quiet setting of the hotel. The staff were nice and friendly with a big smile (at least most of them), however, the majority was very inexperienced and spoke hardly any or very little English. That, of course, made life a little difficult and complicated when it came to asking about the food at breakfast or ordering a coffee in the reception cafe or checking the availability of spirits at the bar. Overall a reasonably good stay but once the staff is better trained/experienced and can communicate with international customer much better, it will be a great business and leisure...

Being a Marriott titanium member, this is the first time I give a one star review to any property. I don't even know where to start. These two propertes(Marriott & Renaissance SuZhou Taiho) are not at Marriott standard in any way. They are ridiculously overated! I honestly think their ratings need to be investigated.||The rooms are small (but are new, which is the only good thing here). The breakfast is lousy, messy, disorganized and bad quality. Suzhou courtyard Marriott is superior compare to what they serve here. Upon arrival, they told us that recently they change from hotel to resort, so they don't offer lounge or other business services. But as a resort, they offer no activity or program. There's not much food options around the area, the dining choices are limited and poor.||The room types are all available on the Marriott website, upon arrival they say no room left, after I showed them the availability on the website, then they say it must be someone cancelled at that moment. Are you serious? Who are you trying to fool? Honesty is the Marriott brand, this property obviously missing the key point.||After I pointed out the problems, the management apologized and made all the empty promises for the next time, they offered me 1000 compromise points which I refused. ||Stay away from this expensive and overated Renaissance SuZhou Taiho and Marriott SuZhou Taiho hotels!! SuZhou is a beautiful place to visit. If you want a memorable SuZhou experience, choose a different Marriott...

Both the West Lake of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China and the Taihu Lake of Jiangsu Province of China are very famous. Both are dotted by many high-end hotels. This Marriott is neighbored by its sister brand Renaissance and share facility with each other. I stayed one night here. The lady at the reception gave me a wonderful suite due to my platinum status. The view of Tahihu was gorgeous. The suite was very modern. It was a great start. But things happened later gradually disappointed me. First of all, the restaurant at the Renaissance ran out of material for almost 1/3 of their menu at 7 pm. But the restaurant manager was so kind that she offered ma a bottle of wine and a fish dish as compensation, which made up for the inconvenience. Later, I found out that all bars of the Marriott and Renaissance closed at 10:30 pm. The explanation was that "there were not enough customers." At midnight, several guests went out to buy beers to bring back to the hotel lobby to drink together, which was a very sad scene. Such kind of disappointments will not happen in the West Lake of Hangzhou. Finally, the Marriott and Renaissance hotels positioned themselves as family resort. However, everything for kids needed payment: train ride for RMB150/10 min; lego room for RMB120/hour. Very annoying. I think the West Lake is more family friendly than the Taihu Lake. But I must admit that the staffs at the reception and the lounge were so helpful that it is really difficult for me to rate this...