Four Points by Sheraton Suwon — Hotel in Suwon-si

I booked 4 rooms on points, for one night during a holiday weekend. (Note to Bonvoy members: The points redemption on this is pretty good. When I booked, it was 15.5k points for a 205k KRW room. It appears that you might see this kind of redemption rate for the foreseeable future. In my case, the redemption at this rate was still available the evening of my check-in.)|||CHECK-IN|The hotel itself is only about 8 months old and check-in was fairly no-nonsense. No problem with self-parking, although there aren't that many parking spaces. (Let them know your license plate during check-in and you'll have free in-and-out privileges.)||The lobby is pretty sparse. I checked in early (as Titanium), around 1pm, and so there was no line. But if there's any line, it looks like it can become quite disorganized. Especially consider that there is seating on only 3 benches for around 6 people total, around 40 feet from the check-in desk. Everybody else would have to stand or sit on their luggage. I can't recall the last time I was in a chain hotel with that little seating available for guests. I suspect that, within the next year, they will add more seating to the right of those benches.||One good perk though: The professional coffee machine in the lobby, as of May 2023. You can make a hot cappuccino while you wait, no charge.|||SIDE NOTE TO BONVOY ELITE: TRYING FOR A SUITE UPGRADE|As a Titanium member, at 9pm of check-in day, I called down to inquire about a suite upgrade for one of the 4 rooms. They said none were available. When I checked the Marriott website, it indicated that the basic suites were available.||So, I'm a pretty veteran Marriott Bonvoy member. I'm aware that the hotel has discretion during check-in day over whether rooms can be upgraded to suites, since some last-minute customers may book them with cash. However, this was 9pm and I felt that some suites should have been made available, even on a holiday weekend. I was pretty disappointed that suites were unavailable for Titanium guests.||A call to the Titanium hotline didn't help my case.|||THE ROOM|It's a typical kind of 4P/Aloft kind of layout -- no door between the bedroom and the sink area. For the shower door and WC door, there's a 1-foot space between the top of the doors and the ceiling. There is a flat surface below the closet space near the door where you can open up and access your luggage, but you'll only be able to situate 1 large luggage there.||Pro-tip #1: The bathroom/toilet lights are around the corner next to the temperature controls in the bedroom. Get to know those buttons if you're traveling with somebody else. If you don't familiarize yourself with those, you're at risk of turning on the Master light late at night if you need to go to the bathroom!||We had 4 rooms, two rooms with kings and two rooms with (2) twin beds. Do keep in mind that the twin beds are quite skinny. If you were thinking about squeezing two people on one twin bed, you can basically forget it... even if you try to put a skinny couple together. :D||[ Note that the rooms within one type are not all exactly uniformly sized (!). For example, part of my booking involved the exact same two King bedrooms, both were park view (#711 and #707). Believe it or not, #707 was a tiny bit wider than #711. Only about 15cm wider, but when there is only about 60cm between the end of the bed and the wall, that extra 15cm does make the room feel more comfortable. Furthermore, some twin bedrooms had bathtubs and others didn't, so do check your reservation or ask for your preference during check-in. These are not necessarily big deals, but just be aware of it if you are traveling in a pretty picky large group. :-) ]|||AMENITIES|In 2023, the pool was available for the year, starting on May 1st. However, it was indicated as only available for those who booked the special "Glow Pool" package. If you didn't book that specific package, as the front desk told it to me, you can't use the pool at all (as in, you can't even pay a price to use it!). They told me that in the near future, you would have to pay an extra ~52k KRW (the price for 2 people in the room) to enjoy the pool. ||Pro-tip #2: Call the hotel up if you really need a pool experience, and hear about the options. As of May 2023, you can't use the pool (at all!) unless you make a very specific booking!||Scrambled eggs, a few more egg types (no hard/soft boiled though), sausage, bacon, waffles, hash browns, 5-6 standard Asian/Korean lunch items (i.e. fried rice, bulgogi), 3-4 different kinds of salad, a 4-5 item DIY salad bar, 5-6 different fresh juices, 3-4 kinds of fruit, a big bowl of blueberry yogurt, a traditional Korean congee/white rice station, a couple soups (one Western cream of mushroom soup, one spicy Korean 'hangover' soup), and professional automatic coffee machines that can serve Americano/Espresso/Cappuccino/Latte. The "fresh fruit" looked a bit sad, maybe cut 2-3 days ago, but overall, as far as breakfast spreads at 4P goes, it's very good/standard for Asians and really unimaginable for Americans. The cost of the breakfast buffet, unless it's included in your room rate, is 39k KRW per person.||Apparently, they offer 2 water bottles complimentary for each room, regardless. There is an in-room mini-bar too, where you can pay for two cans of beer (one Budweiser, one Kloud), a Perrier, and a small bag of nuts.||[If you are platinum/titanium/ambassador, you can get breakfast buffet free for your own room (i.e. yourself and a guest). For any additional room that you book, you are given a breakfast buffet voucher good for two people (22k KRW per person instead of 39k KRW per person), which is not a bad deal... Furthermore, as a Titanium member, I also received a voucher for one free drink (redeemable at the Pool Bar on the 17th floor), 'unlimited use' of that minibar described above, and an in-room amenity (which was a small slice of green tea (matcha) cake).]||I took a peek into the fitness center. It seemed legit and pretty well-equipped!||There is a convenience store just downstairs ("GS 25"), next door to the hotel.||Overall, you'll find at various websites that this hotel doesn't get really strong guest ratings yet... only about 4/5 or 8/10. One popular site even shows a score of 7.4/10. After staying here, I understand why. It's just not a very compelling place to stay, overall, even considering that this is only $155 USD as of today's currency exchange rate. As it stood, the room design heterogeneity, the surprise lack of pool access even with a payable fee, the lack of suite upgrades (even when they were available), and the lack of an interesting neighborhood kinda dropped the score to a 4.25 for me, and I'm...

Had a great stay at the Four Points Sheraton Suwon. The hotel is quite new and location is on the quiet side but still very close to the subway and accessible to a lot of restaurants nearby.

Their suites are very spacious and clean and we had breakfast at the Eatery which had a ton of choices (both Western and Korean). No lounge as others have said but being a Four Points, I wouldn’t have expected one. Amenities were decent: A gym at the top floor, outdoor pool which opens during summer months and a meeting room. Laundry is also available which was so convenient!

Great service at the front desk and at the Eatery - it was our first time in Suwon and would stay here again if we...

Loved everything about it, great hospitality, and pleasant location. Nearby, there are lots of good areas to hang out, do some shopping, and dine in.

Rooms are quite nice, a little small but well designed.

If you're looking for Muslim friendly food options, you may choose it as there's a nearby Indian restaurant with Halal food from a walking distance. I would recommend, though, for the hotel to offer more halal friendly breakfast options.

The area is safe and quite developed, and it is safe to walk around till late at night ( I was out till around 12 midnight).

With everything being said, have to mention the hotel comes with a high bill even...