Hotel Indigo Suzhou Grand Canal by IHG

The one drawback I noticed was the trip back to my room: I had to go up to the lobby on the top floor, switch elevators, then head back down, which took extra time. There’s also poor sound insulation between rooms, since I could hear what was happening next door. Apart from those issues, everything else was good. It’s a great hotel.

The biggest downside for sightseeing is the location: Gusu district is about a 40-minute drive away with traffic. On the plus side, the hotel connects to a mall, so shopping and dining are easy without going outside in hot or rainy weather. Suzhou museum, designed by IM Pei, is about a 15-minute walk away. Our room had comfortable furnishings, but during our visit the temperature reached about 40 degrees each day. Even with an east-facing room and the curtains shut all day, the air conditioning only got it down to 24 degrees, which was still too warm. The gym and pool are really nice, and the bar has lovely views. Front desk and housekeeping staff were excellent. There aren’t ice machines, despite what the website says. You have to call and ask for ice to be delivered. Getting to and from the room is a bit of a pain too, since you take one elevator to reception and transfer to another to go back down. Do not use the onsite spa. I decided to splurge, even though the prices were higher than at European hotels and really outrageous for China. We’d been travelling for a month, and I thought a hotel spa would be worth the cost because I could count on it being good. It wasn’t. They’d turned a few hotel rooms on a lower floor into treatment rooms by removing the beds and adding massage tables. No heated towels or anything like that. The massage was very painful. I regularly get Thai massages and have had treatments in many countries, but nothing like this. I tried to assume she knew what she was doing with pressure points, but a few times it hurt so much I had to move or say something. She squeezed my forearm so hard that I was left with three deep purple, fingertip-sized bruises, even though I don’t bruise easily. I also had several lighter bruises on my back. It was horrible, and I was sore for the next several days of my trip.

Really impressive hotel, with great service, a good breakfast buffet, and a lovely view.

Excellent 👍🏼