I originally wanted to book the Marriott JW hotel, but after reading online reviews, JW seemed pretty bland and unremarkable, so I booked this Luxury Collection property instead—the one that hosted heads of state during the G20.
Contents [Hide]
Hotel Overview
The Azure Qiantang, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hangzhou, is part of Marriott International’s Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts brand. It was the designated host hotel and welcome reception venue for the 2016 G20 Business Summit. Located along the Qiantang River, the hotel offers sweeping river views and is considered an ideal spot for watching the famous Qiantang tidal bore.All 205 guestrooms feature elegant furnishings and floor-to-ceiling glass curtain walls with spectacular views of the Qiantang River. Every room includes WIFI, an LCD TV, JBL radio/alarm clock, B&W speakers, an illy coffee machine, a bathroom TV, Song Dynasty tea sets, and other amenities designed to provide unmatched service and comfort for a richly memorable stay.
The hotel sits right by the Qiantang River. Although the location is a bit out of the way, and there was road construction in front of the property, the floor-to-ceiling windows and river views from the room were genuinely relaxing.
Some rooms actually face the Greentown Blue Qiantang residential complex. Thanks to Marriott Gold status and a little chat before arrival, I was upgraded to a side river-view room.
Booking Details
Since I was using the free night certificate that came with the AMEX Marriott basic credit card, I wanted to get as much value out of it as possible. I checked and found that The Azure Qiantang, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hangzhou, required exactly 35,000 points, which was the highest category my free night certificate could cover, so I redeemed it without hesitation. The cash rate was also 1078 RMB for one night, so compared with the card’s annual fee, it felt well worth it.
- Stay Date: January 2020
- Room Type: Deluxe 2 Queen standard garden-view room --> upgraded to a high-floor side river-view king room
- Redemption: Free night certificate from the AMEX Marriott basic credit card
Using the app to chat before arrival was really convenient and very effective.
Exterior and Facilities
When we arrived, we noticed that the roads around the hotel were under construction. But if I remember correctly, they had already been under construction more than half a year ago? This kind of painfully slow construction pace felt oddly un-China-like. So when we turned off the main road, the approach looked a little underwhelming, with only a blue-and-white sign telling us the hotel was inside.
But once you made the turn in, the scenery changed completely. First there was an uphill drive leading to the lobby, ending in a circular driveway with a large tree in the middle. At first glance, it really did look impressive. Parked along the circular drive were Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolls-Royces, and similar cars. (Though all the Rolls-Royces were SUVs—apparently wealthy people are no longer satisfied with sedans?) Mercedes-Benz and Porsche-level cars had to stay in the lower parking area or the underground garage? Haha.
As soon as our car arrived, a doorman came right over, opened the door, welcomed us, and then helped take the luggage out of the trunk—all in one smooth, professional sequence. Then we were invited inside to check in.
Once the doors opened, the first thing you saw in the lobby was a huge Christmas tree, so the holiday atmosphere was still very much there. Another staff member immediately led us to the front desk, which was to the right of the Christmas tree. The front desk agent checked our ID and completed the facial verification process, and that was it. There was a small hiccup, though: at first, they only gave us one key card. When we went to the elevators (to the left of the Christmas tree), we found that it would not access our floor. So we had to return to the front desk and explain the issue. This time they gave us 3 cards, just in case, haha.
So we went into the elevator a second time, and this time all the key cards worked. Nice. You could tell from the wear on the elevator buttons that the hotel had been around for a while.
When we got to the 12th floor and stepped out of the elevator, we saw some vintage decorative pieces. I also snapped a photo of the elevator area. The hallway used the hotel’s signature blue-and-white color scheme, which felt warm and neat.
This was the exterior of the hotel later on, photographed from inside the car as we headed out.
Room Details
Entryway
The room was located in this part of the floor. Just having a river view already made me very satisfied, considering I only had Gold status.
Bedroom
As soon as I opened the door, I was struck by how bright the room was. It was spacious and had great natural light. Since I had mentioned earlier that this was an anniversary stay with my LD, the hotel had placed rose petals and hand-folded swans on the bed. Credit where it’s due for the thoughtful detail, although the rose petals did leave some color on the sheets when I picked them up with just a little force... On both sides of the bed were all kinds of buttons and switches. They definitely felt dated, but they were still very responsive. And the JBL speaker by the bed made it easy to have some fun in the room with decent sound quality. (Haha.)
The wall by the bed also featured a landscape painting of West Lake, which added a nice touch. Across from the bed was the TV, along with decorative pieces on both sides.
There was also a hallway leading toward the bed area. On the left side of the hallway were the vanity and the closet, and inside the closet were bathrobes and slippers.
Bathroom
On the right side was the bathroom. Inside, the shower area and toilet were separated into wet and dry zones. The toiletries in the bathroom were from BYREDO (the European fragrance brand BYREDO, known for its modern, avant-garde, top-luxury image, was founded in 2006 by Ben Gorham; it definitely looked expensive). The bathtub was on the outer side instead (hotel bathtubs often feel more decorative than practical, and this one looked too dirty for me to want to use). On the vanity were two complimentary bottles of water, and there was also a bathrobe hanging on one side (which I also did not dare use).
View Outside
Because the room was on the side of the building, it did not face the river head-on, but I was still very satisfied that it offered a side view of most of the river. Below are daytime and nighttime river views, along with the controls for the curtains and sheer drapes. They looked quite old too, but were still very responsive.
Some Additional Notes
When we visited the hotel this time, the pool was under maintenance. I had originally wanted to check out the gym, but traveling is tiring enough already. Do people really go to the gym while on vacation? lolll
At check in, the front desk also gave us a SPA coupon. The original price was 798 yuan, and now it only cost 398 yuan. Best of all, there was no expiration date.
Summary
The hotel location was a little out of the way, so it still took some effort to get into the city center. But being right by the Qiantang River, a river-view room here offers unbeatable scenery, especially if your room faces the Qiantang River directly. The hardware inside was fairly dated, but everything still worked very responsively. The staff were professional and provided excellent service, though personally I do not especially enjoy being constantly attended to, so it felt a bit constraining at times. Still, as a hotel for a trip to Hangzhou using a free night certificate, I think it was well worth it.