- In the heart of the old district, walking distance to famous sites.
- Beautiful garden compound, you can have a nice wander around before tackling bigger sites.
- Spa and lap pool onsite for some pampering after sight seeing.
- Delicious Suzhou cuisine available at the Lotus Pavilion, the onsite Chinese restaurant.
- Extremely friendly staff.
- Rooms and amenities nice, but not luxurious for a "five-star" hotel.
- The Garden Hotel Suzhou, 99 Dai Cheng Qiao Road, Suzhou 215006, China
- Tel: (+86) 512 6778 6778
- Fax: (+86) 512 6778 6888
- Email: office@gardenhotelsz.com
- Website: www.gardenhotelsz.com
We stayed in the Garden Hotel, a series of buildings in a compound that started off as private residences but have been refurbished ongoing since 1952 into what is now the hotel. The hotel's history is interesting. Originally created from a villa at No. 7 Caizhen Lane belonging to Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-Shek), the hotel now encompasses several buildings including the tiny but charming Shanqing Buddhist temple (see the photo above) and a secluded garden where private meals can be arranged.
While I wasn’t terribly pleased at being given a smoking room despite my pleas for a change (the room reeked from cigarettes), and was even less impressed at being charged for an area map, the rest of our stay was good. My son delighted in exploring the rockeries throughout the garden and we enjoyed a quick dip in the beautiful swimming pool. Wanting an early night, I decided to eat in at the onsite Lotus Pavilion and was pleasantly surprised with a delicious meal of Suzhou specialties.
Famous for Chinese historical celebrities who’ve graced the rooms, the hotel is today a place for business people to meet and well-healed Chinese to stay and explore Suzhou.
As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with complimentary accommodation and meals for the purpose of reviewing those services. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.
