Holiday Inn Express Suzhou New District, an IHG Hotel

This is a new hotel in the heart of Suzhou's rapidly changing New District. It is adjacent to a new spiffy shopping mall with many restaurants (including western staples such as Starbucks, Burger King, and others), a below ground grocery store, movie theater, and plenty of other shops (even a rather pricey Thai massage place if you have a mind to - - save your money and go across the street for a Chinese massage instead). The hotel is nice, the breakfast buffet is awful, but the room and bed were clean and comfortable. Again, a new hotel, so at this time (2018) there is no obvious wear and tear that one might find in most hotels. Very near a metro stop (Tayuan Lu) and several bus routes on Tayuan Lu and Shi Shan Lu, it will be easy to get from place to place from this location. The only thing that ruined my stay was a busload of kids who stayed over night and were running up and down the hall screaming and slamming doors. After complaining, they quieted down.

The location was great In or beside the Paradise Mall. Difficult for Didi taxi to find the pick up point.My Wifi didnt work, as my name was rehistered without spaces, and I was trying to log in as per the documentation I presented.Breakfast was very local fare, and served tepid.Very much self service and very basic.Bed was comfortable.Room could do with finer cleaning touches....vacuuming, and washing or polishing of vacuum floor...i.e.signs where drips or dribbles dried into tiles. An iron in the room would have been useful. No information book on things to do or see in Suzhou.Not ‘foreigner friendly’. Very very basic.Noisy guests and children using corridors for play early in the morning. I guess that is beyond the control of the hotel.