SStanley The Travel ManI arrived in pouring rain. I thought I could walk to my hotel but it was impossible in the downpour. I didn’t want to bother any hotel owner. I didn’t and still don’t have an eSIM that can make local call but thanks to Trip.com, there is a link that I could call the owner for free. I didn’t advise the owners my arrival time so they were off running errands. I called the owner to pick me up and thankfully he answered. He was busy but gracious enough to turn around and picked me up. It knew Zhouhuang requires a ticket but I didn’t know that no cars, nor motorcycles, nor bicycles are allowed. Without him I would have arrived the hotel easily.
I always like to meet the owners instead of employees . They were very helpful and answered all my questions. They are honest people who dedicate their blood and sweat to their business. The owner even offered to walk me to the bus stop to Suzhou which was my next destination.
This operates two hotels with 9 in one and 6 in the other. The one that I stayed in with 9 rooms is in a lively and busy area . Just outside the hotel is a restaurant and there are plenty of places to eat. Inside the hotel is a peaceful oasis where you won’t hear any noise. The location is the best. The other hotel is in a quieter neighborhood a few minutes away. Each of the 15 rooms has it’s own personality, is different and has its distinctive decoration. The owners said they decorated them themselves. I love the decoration and especially the lighting.
After you reserve a room, be sure to contact the owner for the exact address in case you want to arrive on your own. I think it is best to request the owner to take you there because he/she will lead you to the ticket booth to buy tickets. There are a number of bridges so heavy big luggages can be a bit of a challenge . If you arrive after 5 pm, you can enter free of charge as no one is there to check your ticket. . But once you are inside, and if you choose to leave the area after 8 or 9 am until 5 pm, you have to pay to come back in. You can buy a one day or in my case 3 days pass. Do check with the owner for up to date information.
The room was quite clean. There were hot water all the time. There were other guests during my stay but they were not noisy at all. I barely heard them. I slept very well during my 3 nights there.
Zhouhuang is really beautiful. There are many canals, bridges, boat rides, good food of all kinds. I had some of the best meals there. In fact , I ate in the same restaurant that serves dumpling twice. One night I had grill (BBQ) meat just outside the entrance for 4 yuans. . There is decent size supermarket just outside the turnstile and not too far away is a much bigger supermarket. It was there where I bought half a Peking duck for only 32 yuans . The seller sliced the meat and separated the meat from the bones. The bones he fried so it was crunchy. It was delicious. There is a theater that offers performances.
The night view is great. If you step out your room, you will be overwhelmed in a good sense by the exciting surroundings.
This hotel definitely is one of the best that I have ever stayed in. Look at the beautiful pictures and find one that you like.
I stayed only 3 nights and one of those days I went to Tongli. In my opinion, one should spend at least 2 to 3 full days in Zhouhuang (and especially this hotel ) savor the ambience. I don’t think Tongli is worth the time because it was twice as expensive and there are not that many canals and boat rides. It is much quieter and has fewer things to see. . The worst is that the sightseeing places require you to show your ticket. After 2 places, I lost mine ticket and I couldn’t get in the rest of the places. It is unnecessary to require proof of entrance because you can’t enter the area without a ticket.
ゲゲストReally beautiful place. It looks to be brand new - maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but it certainly looks new. The room (a suite) was very spacious, very clean. Just a very beautiful place that fit well with the surroundings. The whole building was impeccably clean.
I rated the service 5/5 because the owners were very nice, and largely left us alone. The family was processing tea and were quite busy - check-in was extremely quick, check-out too. I'm not looking for hospitality, so being left alone suited us fine - this isn't a criticism at all! The rooms don't really come with much extra (tea, coffee etc.), just a couple of bottles of water, so best to know that before you book if you usually expect this, but we didn't so we were fine with it.
You can buy really good tea from them (maybe we timed it well as we arrived at the peak tea-picking time). The owners were very kind and let us try some, and it's really good tea - we ended up buying some.
Food was pretty good, but again they were quite busy and have specific times that food is available, and no menu, so best to check ahead with them (again, really taking into account that they were super busy processing tea when we were there). Absolutely not a problem as there are so many great restaurants around too.
TV in the room had VOD but without VIP, so if you're looking to watch movies or anything best to bring your own (including HDMI cable as our TV didn't have one).
Location excellent. Space for maybe 4 cars to park, right next to a small hill, very close to the pick-up point for the sightseeing bus to take you up to Xishan, and surrounded by lots of restaurants, B+Bs etc. so if you like coffee, there's a shop just down the road. Very beautiful surroundings - you will be shocked that you're so close to Suzhou as there's absolutely no evidence that you're anywhere near a city!
All in all, really enjoyable. Amazing price for a suite (around Y500 per night) and one of the better homestay-style places we've stayed in. Highly recommended.
HHannahThis is such a lovely little homestay! We struggled to find the entrance since Tencent Maps sent us a street over, but after adding them on WeChat they sent us a pin right away and helped us make it (see photo!). The room was clean, well-air-conditioned, well thought out, and we had so much fun with the Japanese toilet!
My chinese is limited to basic conversation only but staff were friendly and the lady at the desk on the day we checked out showed us her newborn kittens! Super super happy all round with this stay!
Note to other guests:
- Taxis will have to drop you a few streets away as much of the old town's streets are too narrow for cars.
- The entrance is right on the canal, not round a corner.
- The door is open at all times, so don't worry if you're back late!
ゲゲストWe had a wonderful 2 nights in this family-run hotel. The host was extremely kind, friendly and helpful; he made us feel completely at home, and even gave us two delicious homemade ‘lard cakes’ to take with us because we’d enjoyed them so much at breakfast one morning!
The rooms are lovely - spacious, very light, bright and private. Really nice interior design. Ours was on the top floor with a roof top deck and great views over the lake and village.
The bed was very comfortable with fresh, clean linen and towels. There’s a kettle on the room but you need to bring your own tea or coffee. That said, tea and hot water were available 24-hours a day downstairs.
The meals in the hotel restaurant were delicious and fresh; they’re cooked onsite with ingredients that are caught or grown on the island, and are very good value. We ate breakfast (included) both mornings and dinner on our first night.
We felt very welcome and would definitely stay here again if we came back.
The main thing to note is that the host (and very few people on the island) speak English, so having some Chinese definitely helps! But we felt very welcome at all times, even when our language skills reached their limits!