Originally Posted by
JPDM
If one has no notion of Mandarin, I would not bother trying to say it. Likely to be wrong, especially if you make a small error in tone. And if you happen to get it right, then be prepared to answer the question that the driver will throw at you in mandarin!
IME, it rarely takes more than 60 seconds for anyone to figure out how to pronounce the name of their hotel. This 60 second investment tends to pay off in spades because it spares people of having to show taxi drivers pieces of paper whenever they want to return to the hotel.