I know nowadays most top-quality hotels train their staff to remember their clients' names. But this is a huge hotel in China, and over Chinese New Year (when we visited), which is the peak season, there were lots of visitors. Friendly staff not only remembered our name, they went out of their way to make us feel welcomed and offer advice on places to visit, what to eat and how to get there.

Accommodation was very spacious and comfortable, the executive floors have wonderful views (weather permitting) of the lake and hills or, on the other side, of the city - It was lovely to see firework displays constantly throughout the night all over the place, without being too bothered by the noise.

Children enjoyed the swimming pool, breakfast was delicious, abundant and varied. Happy hour in the evening on the top floor (executive lounge) gave us a great excuse to relax and enjoy the views. The hotel is located about 10 minutes' taxi drive (1.8 km or 25 min walk) from the West lake. The Grand Canal is just around the corner, with a beautiful path along it, lonely but safe parks, very romantic! There is also a very modern, chic shopping centre nearby.

We were very pleasantly surprised by Hangzhuo!

Used points to book a room at thw JW Marriott in Hangzhou. Clearly a well deserved 5 star hotel, the service was great, the guest relations person was very helpful. We had a rollaway ordered & ready when we got in to the room. Beds were very comfortable, the room was very quiet & very clean. My 9 year old loved the onsite pool, it was long enough to get the heart rate up which was helpful for burning off some of those calories I packed in!!

The location is very convenient. It'll be a cab ride over to West Lake, but there are plenty of good restaurants, bakeries and shopping a block in each direction from the hotel.

I've stayed at the JW Marriott Hotel Hangzhou a couple of times, and it will be my go to hotel in Hangzhou for the foreseeable future.

Pros:

This is a new property with great rooms.

Staff are friendly and extremely helpful.

The concierge lounge is nicely appointed, and the breakfast buffet is excellent.

The fitness center is better than average for Marriott properties in China.

Con:

There is not a spa on sight. The concierge can recommend an excellent establishment that is not far from the hotel, but it is odd for there not to be a facility in the hotel. Even if the spas in Marriott properties tend to be more expensive than local establishments, some non-Mandarin speaking tourists are willing to pay the price premium to not have to deal with language issues.

Other:

This hotel seems to be doing a pretty good meeting business. It is located near the center of the city, and it appears to fit the bill for the needs of multinational and other firms.

Summary:

I've been happy so far, and therefore expect to return. It is by far the nicest of the five or so hotels I have stayed at in or around Hangzhou.

We usually stay at the Shangri-La, but they're getting ready for a renovation. So we've started staying at the JW. The hotel is great. I didn't get to know the neighborhood very well, but West Lake is a short cab ride away, and the hotel is right on the Grand Canal.