by mke1963
The hotel is a wonderful example of what can be created when attention to detail and cultural heritage is blended with 21st Century commercial ambitions.
The main attraction is the water garden outside the main building, yet this is the least ‘authentic’ of the warren of small courtyard gardens designed into every nook and cranny.
This is a hotel where you feel that going out sightseeing somehow misses the point, as the atmosphere and gardens inside the hotel are so stunning. I could live in this place.
It is exceptionally rare for me to describe any hotel as a great experience but the Sheraton Suzhou comes into that category.
It is not cheap, but it is superb.
I have reviewed the gardens at the hotel separately as these are worth visiting in their own right.
The hotel has several good restaurants, but these are its weak point in a city famed for its cuisine: there are better choices in the same street for a fraction of the price.
The hotel has an indoor pool as well as a rather uninspiring outdoor pool, but sadly no poolside bar or refreshments unless you go, dripping, into the coffee-shop in the hotel.
Of note is a souvenir shop that has some particularly good and something rather valuable at a price that makes me suspect that they don’t really know what they are selling (and I am certainly not telling people here although it is entirely legal and authentic!).
