ChrisCunard
Active Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2011
- Posts
- 577
I stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel Sydney on Monday night. I was looking forward to returning as I stayed here once back in 2002 before boarding the QE2 for a cruise - so the experience was a fond memory for me.
Sadly this hotel has deteriorated significantly in the last 10 years.
The room I had was dated, worn out and had no sound proofing... I could hear EVERYTHING my neighbors were doing, both in their rooms and bathrooms, which was unfortunate.
The plumbing was very noisy and the air conditioner hummed and ticked all night, even in the lowest setting.
I got about 3 hours sleep before the alarm clock radio started buzzing at 6am and then continued to go off even after I turned snooze off.
The only respite was to unplug it and take the batteries out...
That was disappointing but what was worse was the lack of privacy!! In that I mean a staff member entered my room without knocking! I was indisposed in the bathroom at the time (with the door ajar). I heard the room door open, and the person entered the room and moved around my room. I heard the clink of bottles from the mini bar so I assume they were there to restock -- I repeatedly called out (very loudly) for them to please leave which took several minutes for them to leave without acknowledging my requests or apologizing.
I complained to the staff at the hotel reception - mainly to just ask them to ensure it doesn't happen to anyone else - and the staff assured me this was not usual and that the Manager would contact me. No manager contacted me, surprise surprise.
The head of catering / room service called me about 30 minutes later, to interrogate me on the way the events played out and then advised that the issue "wouldn't happen again during my stay" and asked if i wanted to order anything from room service ... which I also felt was a ridiculous comment given it should never have occurred in the first place.
The initial incident was disappointing - but it could have just been an innocent mistake on the staff members behalf. However, I don't expect I should have needed to bolt my door closed at a hotel such as Intercontinental to enjoy privacy in my room so I thought it wise to notify the reception staff.
However the pathetic manner in which I was dealt with afterwards has made me very unhappy. I expected far, far better service from Intercontinental.
To make matters worse, when I checked out later that day, I was checked out by the duty manager who made no mention of my situation, or apology, and to add salt to the wound then proceeded to charge me for mini-bar usage - quite ironic given it was the minibar restock that caused this issue in the first place.
I travel to Sydney work many times a year and usually stay at the Swissotel - having had an opportunity to try Intercontinental Sydney, I am of the belief that I should have stuck with Swissotel.
Sadly this hotel has deteriorated significantly in the last 10 years.
The room I had was dated, worn out and had no sound proofing... I could hear EVERYTHING my neighbors were doing, both in their rooms and bathrooms, which was unfortunate.
The plumbing was very noisy and the air conditioner hummed and ticked all night, even in the lowest setting.
I got about 3 hours sleep before the alarm clock radio started buzzing at 6am and then continued to go off even after I turned snooze off.
The only respite was to unplug it and take the batteries out...
That was disappointing but what was worse was the lack of privacy!! In that I mean a staff member entered my room without knocking! I was indisposed in the bathroom at the time (with the door ajar). I heard the room door open, and the person entered the room and moved around my room. I heard the clink of bottles from the mini bar so I assume they were there to restock -- I repeatedly called out (very loudly) for them to please leave which took several minutes for them to leave without acknowledging my requests or apologizing.
I complained to the staff at the hotel reception - mainly to just ask them to ensure it doesn't happen to anyone else - and the staff assured me this was not usual and that the Manager would contact me. No manager contacted me, surprise surprise.
The head of catering / room service called me about 30 minutes later, to interrogate me on the way the events played out and then advised that the issue "wouldn't happen again during my stay" and asked if i wanted to order anything from room service ... which I also felt was a ridiculous comment given it should never have occurred in the first place.
The initial incident was disappointing - but it could have just been an innocent mistake on the staff members behalf. However, I don't expect I should have needed to bolt my door closed at a hotel such as Intercontinental to enjoy privacy in my room so I thought it wise to notify the reception staff.
However the pathetic manner in which I was dealt with afterwards has made me very unhappy. I expected far, far better service from Intercontinental.
To make matters worse, when I checked out later that day, I was checked out by the duty manager who made no mention of my situation, or apology, and to add salt to the wound then proceeded to charge me for mini-bar usage - quite ironic given it was the minibar restock that caused this issue in the first place.
I travel to Sydney work many times a year and usually stay at the Swissotel - having had an opportunity to try Intercontinental Sydney, I am of the belief that I should have stuck with Swissotel.
