Sucheng Lanting Hotel (Suzhou Guanqian Street Pingjiang Street)

We booked a standard room for two nights and found it hot and stuffy as soon as we walked in. The air conditioner was off, so we set it to fan mode, air supply/Fan, and headed out. When we returned around 8 pm, it had shut itself off. Turning it back on made no difference, even after at least half an hour. We couldn't open a window in this room, which had no courtyard, so there was no way to air it out. The hotel is near Guan Qian Street, with plenty of places to eat, and the room was clean, but the lack of ventilation made for a miserable night. It was warmer in there than Singapore on its hottest days. My husband and I woke up sweating, and I couldn't sleep properly. My husband asked the front desk for help, and they brought us a small fan. That only made the room feel hotter and more stuffy. We then saw on the apps that courtyard rooms were still listed, so he asked if we could pay to upgrade to one and open the door for air. Leo and Olin said none were available, rejected the request, insisted the air conditioner was fine, and told us to turn it off. They later sent up an air purifier as a ventilation fix, but it didn't help either. I checked several booking apps again, including Marriott, trip.com, and agoda, and courtyard rooms still appeared available. I called the desk and spoke with Nana, explained how uncomfortable the heat was and that I'd never sweated while trying to sleep in a hotel. I hadn't expected this from Marriott. Nana checked and arranged for us to move into the last courtyard room. We offered to pay for the upgrade, but she declined the payment. The new room was cool even with the air conditioner off and the courtyard door closed. We tried its fan setting too, and that confirmed the problem was with the air conditioner in our first room. Nana handled the recovery promptly, and Jim also took great care of my husband afterward. I'm grateful to both of them for fixing things. Leo and Olin, though, provided poor service. Courtyard rooms were available when we first asked, yet they said the hotel was full and kept claiming the first room's air conditioner worked. Marriott should review its winter policy. I've encountered disabled cooling in winter at other Marriott chain hotels before. If a room has no windows that open, the cool air function shouldn't be disabled. Anyone choosing a Marriott chain hotel in winter may want to think twice. Friends of mine at other Marriott chain hotels have had the same problem.