This is a true story. As unreal as it may sound once you read further.
You may very well think that I’m surrounded with bad luck. Well, to be honest, there were times on this hotel stay that I thought so too!
I have traveled around the world ever since I was 12, I’ve stayed at about 200 hotels.
I have (among other degrees) Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Administration and decades of experience working in hotels, restaurants and in customer service in various positions. Due to my years of experience, when I book a hotel room, whether it’s work related or just for leisure, I always contact them in advance in order to tell them my special wishes and just to make a connection for open communication.
So a couple of years ago, we had planned, once again, a trip to Thailand, only 10 days this time. We were going to stay at this 5 star, international corporate hotel for 6 days, after we had first stayed at another 5 star, beautiful boutique hotel for 4 days. This story is about that big, corporate hotel experience.
I had a partner to travel with, who I will from now on call "Joe" as he is not a public person.
I had a partner to travel with, who I will from now on call "Joe" as he is not a public person.
Special wishes
In order to make our stay as perfect as possible, I had emailed the hotel my special wishes.
As we wanted us to have a peaceful, romantic getaway, without children or other noise factors (Please, don’t get me wrong, I love children, after all, I have a child myself, wonderful son, who is soon 18 years, ok, not quite a child anymore, but he'll always be my child...and huge heart emoji here!).
I had informed the hotel that I was hoping to have a room that was
As we wanted us to have a peaceful, romantic getaway, without children or other noise factors (Please, don’t get me wrong, I love children, after all, I have a child myself, wonderful son, who is soon 18 years, ok, not quite a child anymore, but he'll always be my child...and huge heart emoji here!).
I had informed the hotel that I was hoping to have a room that was
a) located as far as possible from kids’ playground or kids’ pool (since it was supposed to be romantic, relaxing stay)
b) on the sunny side of the area, so that we could sunbathe even on our own patio while sipping Champagne…
I also requested foam pillows, which I always do as I can’t stand those feather filled pillows.
I also requested foam pillows, which I always do as I can’t stand those feather filled pillows.
I got a confirmation from the hotel that our special requests could be fulfilled, which we were very happy to hear.
After a pretty much perfect stay at our first hotel, we arrived at this another hotel and the first thing they asked us to do was to sit down, and they'd soon help us out with check-in.
They also asked for our passports, which is standard procedure. Then a very kind Thai lady came to us, offered us refreshments, and asked if we wanted an upgrade as our room wouldn’t be ready until maybe an hour later.
They also asked for our passports, which is standard procedure. Then a very kind Thai lady came to us, offered us refreshments, and asked if we wanted an upgrade as our room wouldn’t be ready until maybe an hour later.
While we were considering it, it turned out, that it would have cost us a couple of hundred USD to upgrade the room. (I heard later that this was their standard procedure to get guests to upgrade their rooms, which I found odd, since it felt greedy and not a very skilled way to increase sales, as they didn't really promote those better rooms, just wanted the money...)
I guess it’s good to mention that I had already paid 1800 USD for the room.. so we kindly declined as we had carefully considered the room type and wanted this specific room.
I guess it’s good to mention that I had already paid 1800 USD for the room.. so we kindly declined as we had carefully considered the room type and wanted this specific room.
So, after all the check-in proceedings were done, we decided to go to the restaurant to wait for our room, oh, and by the way, it was already about 2.30 pm, and their check-in time was at 2 pm.
We were told that it would take an hour to get the room and, an hour later we got to the room, so far so good - until...
First impression: room looked really nice, we had a nice fruit basket, lovely swans made out of towels, rose petals and a fruit basket on our bed - and foam pillows as well - YAY!
However, a closer look at the patio revealed that the room was NOT on the sunny side. We also realized that the kids' pool was right in front of our room.
Ok, not quite what I was expecting!
From one room to another...
I'm not the one to settle when it comes to my hotel room.
So I called to the reception. They, all of a sudden, had no clue of our special requests, even though they had confirmed them. The hotel had over 300 rooms and it was not a peak season so I asked for another room.
Again, they told us that it would take an hour.
Luckily we hadn't unpacked everything yet (as we quite soon noticed that the location was off), which I normally do immediately once arrived.
So we waited for a while and got a phone call that our new room is now ready. Caddy came to drive us and our luggage to our new room, which looked like the room we were supposed to get in the first place, quiet, on the sunny side etc. Except that there were no fruits, rose petals, towel swans or foam pillows in that room. So I called the reception again, as I really wanted to have those foam pillows. I didn't mind the other stuff.
So I called to the reception. They, all of a sudden, had no clue of our special requests, even though they had confirmed them. The hotel had over 300 rooms and it was not a peak season so I asked for another room.
Again, they told us that it would take an hour.
Luckily we hadn't unpacked everything yet (as we quite soon noticed that the location was off), which I normally do immediately once arrived.
So we waited for a while and got a phone call that our new room is now ready. Caddy came to drive us and our luggage to our new room, which looked like the room we were supposed to get in the first place, quiet, on the sunny side etc. Except that there were no fruits, rose petals, towel swans or foam pillows in that room. So I called the reception again, as I really wanted to have those foam pillows. I didn't mind the other stuff.
So we unpacked and got changed and went for a dinner.
We came back to our room around 9 pm, took a shower and were ready for bed as it had been quite an eventful day with the traveling, waiting for rooms, changing rooms, unpacking etc.
Toilet surprise
Joe was already in bed, half asleep and I went to the toilet.
Oh, and before I continue this story, I better tell you, I was quite fit those days, and my weight was about 50 kg (cf. photo).
Oh, and before I continue this story, I better tell you, I was quite fit those days, and my weight was about 50 kg (cf. photo).
Once I sat down on the toilet seat, I heard this horrible noise, something shattering, basically exploding to bit and pieces and it didn't take a genius to realize: the toilet seat had broken into pieces underneath me!!
Joe came to the door (it was one of these sliding doors that cannot be locked, thank God!), opened the door and that look on his face! It was worth millions! He looked at me as if I was an alien. There I was, bearing my entire weight on my legs, as there was no steady toilet seat left to sit on, and I couldn't move as I was bare foot and there were very sharp chips and fragments all over the floor. I was so stunned that I wasn’t even able to scream, the situation was so unreal. Then Joe asks: “How in the world did you do that?!”
OMG! As if I had done that on purpose! Now it was my turn to look at him like he was an alien. Ok, quite soon he realized that I need HELP as I couldn’t move, he put on his shoes and helped me out of there. There we were, staring at the broken toilet, wondering, now what. It was simply good luck within some major bad luck that all the toilet water didn't come out, it was literally up to few centimeters that it didn't happen - which, to be honest, didn’t comfort us a bit at 10 pm.
Joe came to the door (it was one of these sliding doors that cannot be locked, thank God!), opened the door and that look on his face! It was worth millions! He looked at me as if I was an alien. There I was, bearing my entire weight on my legs, as there was no steady toilet seat left to sit on, and I couldn't move as I was bare foot and there were very sharp chips and fragments all over the floor. I was so stunned that I wasn’t even able to scream, the situation was so unreal. Then Joe asks: “How in the world did you do that?!”
OMG! As if I had done that on purpose! Now it was my turn to look at him like he was an alien. Ok, quite soon he realized that I need HELP as I couldn’t move, he put on his shoes and helped me out of there. There we were, staring at the broken toilet, wondering, now what. It was simply good luck within some major bad luck that all the toilet water didn't come out, it was literally up to few centimeters that it didn't happen - which, to be honest, didn’t comfort us a bit at 10 pm.
So, once again I call the reception, telling them, that we need to change the room, A-G-A-I-N! As I later discovered their standard response to everything was: “I will send someone to look.” just like they did this time: the maintenance man came to our room and saw the damage... he looked quite surprised, let me tell you. And, I actually told him, it was me who sat there, not Joe who is about 35 kg heavier than I am. It was quite obvious that, yes, the guest was right – again – we do need another room.
Can you guess what we did next?
Yes, we packed everything, again.
Caddy came to pick us up and to our third room we went. Which, by the way, was not on the sunny side, as they didn’t have any of those left. (Or they weren’t clean, not sure, after all, at this point, it was about 11 pm.
Yes, we packed everything, again.
Caddy came to pick us up and to our third room we went. Which, by the way, was not on the sunny side, as they didn’t have any of those left. (Or they weren’t clean, not sure, after all, at this point, it was about 11 pm.
So we had to settle for the room we were given. On the shady side.
By this time I had noticed that the content of mini bar varied in each of the rooms. I was smart enough to take photos of them when we got to the rooms, as were, indeed, asked us if we had consumed something from the minibar, which we hadn’t - we didn't get to spend that much time in the rooms!
Finally, we finished unpacking – again, around midnight. Joe went to bed, started to read a book, I took a shower as it is after all about +30 C in Thailand even at night time and all the packing and unpacking got me sweaty... and was, I admit, a bit hesitant to use the toilet.. (ok, I laugh at this now, but I was quite annoyed back then!).
Flying devils
Flying devils
Finally, I got to the bed, just to realize that I was quite stressed out about it all, so I wanted to read a little too. Started to read my book, while we only had reading lights on…. and within about minute, a fly starts to fly around me, so annoying when it's dark and only source of light is your reading light and of course all the injects come to light... so I asked joe to catch the fly as he is incredibly fast and always catches them.
He was already asleep when I said: Can you please catch that fly, it's really annoying! ...oh, and that another one, oh there is three of them... oh, there are many.. oh my God, they just keep coming...!!!
I was so disgusted as within just a couple of minutes the room was filled with flying injects that were something between an ant and a fly, they were all over the place! I grabbed my hoodie and the phone and ran to the bathroom, as there was no way I could have phoned to the reception from the room, my mouth would have been filled with those nasty things! (I hide inside my hoodie...)
While I was calling to the reception, way past midnight btw, I saw them getting into the bathroom as well... I finally got to talk to the clerk, I told her - quickly - what was going on, that there is an inject invasion in our room! She probably thought I was either hallucinating or wasted as it must have sounded just crazy. Guess what she said? You got that right, she said: "I will send someone to look."
Damn, trust me, as a hospitality professional, I would never say that to a guest at that point...
I had had enough and I ran outside, while Joe was inside the room, taking video of the situation. The photo below here is taken from the video.
He was already asleep when I said: Can you please catch that fly, it's really annoying! ...oh, and that another one, oh there is three of them... oh, there are many.. oh my God, they just keep coming...!!!
I was so disgusted as within just a couple of minutes the room was filled with flying injects that were something between an ant and a fly, they were all over the place! I grabbed my hoodie and the phone and ran to the bathroom, as there was no way I could have phoned to the reception from the room, my mouth would have been filled with those nasty things! (I hide inside my hoodie...)
While I was calling to the reception, way past midnight btw, I saw them getting into the bathroom as well... I finally got to talk to the clerk, I told her - quickly - what was going on, that there is an inject invasion in our room! She probably thought I was either hallucinating or wasted as it must have sounded just crazy. Guess what she said? You got that right, she said: "I will send someone to look."
Damn, trust me, as a hospitality professional, I would never say that to a guest at that point...
I had had enough and I ran outside, while Joe was inside the room, taking video of the situation. The photo below here is taken from the video.
 |
| Maybe this gives you some idea what it was like, and this was in the beginning! |
I was still on the phone outside the room and the clerk said to me:
"Maintenance is coming madam, and you shouldn't leave your window or balcony door open here, you know madam, we are in the jungle"
At this point, I was way over my limits, and basically told her, you know what, I've lived in Australia and seen bigger and worse animals and bugs than these and I know exactly how to behave when the night comes, i.e.
not to leave doors or windows open! Bye now.
Then I hang up as a maintenance man came over. Joe had come out as well as the situation was getting unbearable. The maintenance man went inside, and it took about 10 seconds from him to basically run out!
Then I hang up as a maintenance man came over. Joe had come out as well as the situation was getting unbearable. The maintenance man went inside, and it took about 10 seconds from him to basically run out!
He made a phone call, another maintenance man came over, it was about 1-1.30 am at this point and I was getting plain pissed off, I called the reception - AGAIN - and said that I want another room and this time it better be the best suite available, this cannot be happening in a 5 star luxury hotel!
She said: "Madam, it happens if you leave windows open."
Aaaarggh! I had zero patience left. I basically spelled it out for her: I D-I-D N-O-T leave the window open! Then she said, she cannot give us a suite, she can put us to the next room as it's empty, to which I said, there is no way in hell, I'm staying next to that room as those little devils obviously came in via A/C.
The night clerk obviously had no clue how severe the situation was. I asked the maintenance man to tell her in Thai, after which she believed me. Oh, and guess what was the first thing those two men did when he got into the room? They opened all the windows and doors!!! To let the bugs out. Right - don't leave them open...
She said: "Madam, it happens if you leave windows open."
Aaaarggh! I had zero patience left. I basically spelled it out for her: I D-I-D N-O-T leave the window open! Then she said, she cannot give us a suite, she can put us to the next room as it's empty, to which I said, there is no way in hell, I'm staying next to that room as those little devils obviously came in via A/C.
The night clerk obviously had no clue how severe the situation was. I asked the maintenance man to tell her in Thai, after which she believed me. Oh, and guess what was the first thing those two men did when he got into the room? They opened all the windows and doors!!! To let the bugs out. Right - don't leave them open...
I told the receptionist: Unless you provide us with a proper room, I will accommodate myself to your reception area for the next week and tell everyone what is going on. These events were just unreal, it was like out of a horror movie!
She said she needs to ask someone if she can give us a suite. I said:
That's ok, to be honest, I don't care if you need to call your CEO to U.S., just get us a proper room! I was so incredibly tired at that point.
But of course things weren't that easy: all our belongings were inside.
So Joe had to go back in and pack all our stuff - again! Now came caddy car, to take us to our fourth room within 12 hours! I know, each one of you thinks at this point, this story cannot be true or that the place was a dump, but it really wasn't, it was a 5 star luxury hotel!
Suite
So, we got a suite. We realized that there must be quite many of those flying little devils in our bags, so we decided to unpack in the first bathroom (there were two of them in the suite). So we did, I took everything out while Joe killed every inject that came out of there, there must have been at least 20-30 of them.. yak!
After unpacking I started to look around and realized that this was probably some kind of spare suite as it was all dusty, many items were missing from the minibar, sheets were clean, but there were pillows, hygiene items etc. missing. Furniture was a bit outdated and so on...
but now it was 4 am so I didn't care anymore, I just wanted to get some sleep.
Believe me though, once I woke up in the morning, I walked straight to the reception and requested (kindly!) to talk to the manager. At first, the clerk was very resistant, saying that they are not on site etc. but after I explained our story, all of a sudden, room division manager showed up - how funny, he just happened to be on the site after all... not funny!
We had a long chat with him and he had already heard about all that had happened and he was really embarrased. He simply asked us which room do we want, he'll get it for us.
He knew that in order to maintain even a drop of dignity and their reputation, he needs to compensate these events somehow. So I told him the location and the suite we'd prefer, and an hour later we found ourselves packing - AGAIN! So, we were transferred to our fifth room within 14 hours. Have you EVER heard anything like it?
He knew that in order to maintain even a drop of dignity and their reputation, he needs to compensate these events somehow. So I told him the location and the suite we'd prefer, and an hour later we found ourselves packing - AGAIN! So, we were transferred to our fifth room within 14 hours. Have you EVER heard anything like it?
When we entered to that suite we were pleasantly surprised as there were snacks and bottle of Champagne waiting for us, and also we got two complimentary nights, some free meals etc. It didn't fully cover our sufferings, but it was a kind gesture.
So I had brought this Finnish "saaristolaisleipä", i.e. sweet, dark bread with me. On our last night there, we packed everything ready for our departure (don't ask me how many times we had packed so far, I couldn't tell ya!). I took the bread out of my bag (yes, it was still fresh as it is made out of some many natural items that it won't expire until say, in two months or so) and put the bag of bread to the dining table so that I remember to give it to that room division manager the next morning before we leave.
We were ready to leave next day and I crabbed the bread... and what do I see?
Some damn animal, bug or whatever had eaten its corner during the night - and it was on the table! At a 5 star hotel! That's it! I was SO READY TO LEAVE!
So, I had already told the room division manager the day before, that I'd like to meet him before we leave as we have something for him. I went to meet him and showed him the bread. I think he had the same thought as I did - ok, I'm so ready to leave! That embarrassed he was - after all that we experienced, on top of that, some animal managed to get into our room in the middle of the night and eat the bread! Disgusting!
You know how some people want to try many room types when they stay in a hotel? Well, we didn't want to, but we were kind of forced to. 6 days, 5 different room. That's a lot, even for a demanding hotel guest like me!
But hey, at least I had a stay that I will NEVER forget - not even if I tried!
- - -
Stay tooned - more travel stories, flight experiences, hotel reviews, some professional writings, travel blog introductions, destination recommendations... to come!
I try to post new blog once in every 2-3 weeks, let's see how it goes... Busy times, but this is so much fun that it will be on top of my "Things to do" list for sure.
I may be attending TBEX next week, which is travel bloggers' expo in Stockholm, who knows, you may get to read about it next time.
Until then, keep smiling, remember, the sun always shines after the rain, and whenever possible, walk on the bright side of the road - even when life throws you few curve balls like it did with me on my stay. Later, at least, you will have something to remember and maybe write about!
Thank you for reading to the end, I appreciate it!
Oh, and don't forget that you can also follow me on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Touchse
and
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touchse_by_mia/
Happy days to ya all!
Mia
Gift that was not given
I have a habit of taking something Finnish, food or delicacies with me on my trips and give them to someone who serves me well or to someone I just connect with.So I had brought this Finnish "saaristolaisleipä", i.e. sweet, dark bread with me. On our last night there, we packed everything ready for our departure (don't ask me how many times we had packed so far, I couldn't tell ya!). I took the bread out of my bag (yes, it was still fresh as it is made out of some many natural items that it won't expire until say, in two months or so) and put the bag of bread to the dining table so that I remember to give it to that room division manager the next morning before we leave.
We were ready to leave next day and I crabbed the bread... and what do I see?
Some damn animal, bug or whatever had eaten its corner during the night - and it was on the table! At a 5 star hotel! That's it! I was SO READY TO LEAVE!
So, I had already told the room division manager the day before, that I'd like to meet him before we leave as we have something for him. I went to meet him and showed him the bread. I think he had the same thought as I did - ok, I'm so ready to leave! That embarrassed he was - after all that we experienced, on top of that, some animal managed to get into our room in the middle of the night and eat the bread! Disgusting!
You know how some people want to try many room types when they stay in a hotel? Well, we didn't want to, but we were kind of forced to. 6 days, 5 different room. That's a lot, even for a demanding hotel guest like me!
But hey, at least I had a stay that I will NEVER forget - not even if I tried!
- - -
Stay tooned - more travel stories, flight experiences, hotel reviews, some professional writings, travel blog introductions, destination recommendations... to come!
I try to post new blog once in every 2-3 weeks, let's see how it goes... Busy times, but this is so much fun that it will be on top of my "Things to do" list for sure.
I may be attending TBEX next week, which is travel bloggers' expo in Stockholm, who knows, you may get to read about it next time.
Until then, keep smiling, remember, the sun always shines after the rain, and whenever possible, walk on the bright side of the road - even when life throws you few curve balls like it did with me on my stay. Later, at least, you will have something to remember and maybe write about!
Thank you for reading to the end, I appreciate it!
Oh, and don't forget that you can also follow me on
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Touchse
and
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/touchse_by_mia/
Happy days to ya all!
Mia
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