I've written full details of each comment below, but I want to summarize up hear for those pressed for time:This hotel has gorgeous, fragrant grounds with winding romantic paths, is adjacent to a picturesque tea plantation, has super luxurious rooms which have been planned in meticulous detail for convenience and comfort, and is quiet and peaceful - perfect for a romantic getaway. Definitely stay here! That said, it's out of the way (good thing) but has appalling and extremely limited dining options (bad thing), which is frustrating when you just want to chill out and not wait on taxis/traffic/non-english speaking delivery men to get a decent meal. If you want to eat well, plan to spend a good chunk of time and money on cabs/rental cars. The good and the bad, in detail: Let me put the one bad thing upfront, and then move on to all that was amazing. The only disappointment here were the lack of care and attention given to food/beverage provisions for guests at this out-of-the-way resort. I would stress that this shouldn't necessarily deter people from staying, but I do want to describe it in detail here to hopefully encourage the management to take action. It's a bit bizarre for so nice a hotel to have such pitiful dining and beverage accommodations. Details: My partner and I came for a romantic week getaway. We've been to Hangzhou before and had no interest in more tourist sites, and chose this hotel so we could basically wallow in luxury for several days. The hotel grounds are well out of the way of the city, which we wanted. We planned on ordering room service in between longs walks among the pine trees and long baths overlooking the scenery off the spacious balcony. The room service menu was short (8 items, 4 chinese, 4 "western") and dull to begin with. Then, when we ordered, they were out of almost all the western food items and the more palatable Chinese items (really basic stuff, hamburger, spaghetti, noodles). We'd order, hang up, get a call back with a simple "we're out of X too." It felt like staying at Hotel Apocalypse: the staff seem genuinely surprised at our surprise that so many items were not available. What had happened to all their food delivery trucks? But the quality was even worse than the availability: Once, we finally managed to order some pasta: what arrived was truly so bad, so unpalatable that I called in to send it back and ask for a replacement. The staff had to debate it for a long time before confirming that they "could" replace the dish. As a former worker in food service industry, I almost never send food back; it was that truly inedible. Once it was clear that room service wasn't an option, my partner and I decided we could just take scenic walks to the restaurant up in the main building for meals that aren't out on the town. However, their on-site restaurant was dramatically out of step with the luxurious atmosphere the hotel and grounds. It was like walking into a sad, neglected Denny's, or a badly managed O'Charlys. For non-Americans, it was like a high-end hotel having only a hospital cafeteria from which to serve all guests, for all meals. The food was rubbery and inedible (and like room service, they were out of several dishes, Chinese and Western), the decor depressing, the staff absent, the lights florescent, and the dining room empty. I got ill after a dish that contained seafood. The breakfast buffet was incomplete and stale, and provided only one large carafe of coffee for the whole dining room which, once emptied, was never refilled; you only got coffee if you showed up in the first hour or two of service (not something likely to happen with two people intent on a relaxing, lazy vacation). In the end, we often had to wait up to 20 minutes (and spend quite a bit of RMB) for taxis to arrive at the hotel to take us on a lengthy, traffic-heavy drive into Hangzhou for meals we would much rather have had in privacy and comfort. We would have paid a significantly marked up price to simply eat well with less effort at the hotel. On to the amazing: I can't say enough about the amazing room itself, or the grounds. The rooms had clearly been designed by someone who understood the needs and desires of those staying in hotels. The bathroom was warmly lit with an enormous tub, and had separate stalls for the toilet and shower that were tucked well back into private alcoves. It had benches, footstools and other little conveniences parked everywhere around the double sinks. The tub sat under and enormous plate glass window overlooking a balcony made private by dense foliage, trees, and hills. The balcony itself had a comfy, private couch tucked into an alcove. The beds were perfect and the mattress was the more western-styled soft kind (memory foam?). A small kitchenette and chifforobe were cordoned off from the main bedroom by elegant screens which diffused light everywhere. I've lived in China for many years, and have never, ever seen grounds so pristine. The air smelled fresh and there were flowers with heavy scents everywhere,along with fountains. It was really lovely to gaze out at a neighboring tea farm, where work was underway. Winding, private paths and little decks with porch swings meandered between all the hotel buildings and wooded areas. And there was a convenient golf shuttle that seemed to arrive to take you to whatever building you wanted as soon as you stepped outside. All in all, definitely come here for your romantic weekend! But bring your own food and drink, and have the taxi/ride sharing app (didi) already installed on your phone.…
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.