Night spent in the basement of Royal Le Meridien Chennai
Jul 30, 2012, 2:29 am
#16
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: South Korea
Posts: 1,168
Any recent experiences at this property?
Given Chennai is not the most tourist-friendly city, I will probably need to spend a lot of time within the hotel and therefore will pay extra attention to what experiences have been had here!
thanks in advance
Given Chennai is not the most tourist-friendly city, I will probably need to spend a lot of time within the hotel and therefore will pay extra attention to what experiences have been had here!
thanks in advance
Jul 30, 2012, 4:49 am
#17
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K - 2mm, AA Platinum- 2mm, Starwood Lifetime Platinum (Ambassador)
Posts: 457
I stayed recently... It an old, tired hotel in need of a major refurb.... Not only in terms of the hard product, but soft as well.
Dec 21, 2015, 1:54 am
#18
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: United Arab Emirates & Arizona, USA
Programs: UA MM/1P, EK Au, QR, TK, Marriott Life Ti, Hilton Dia, IC Dia, Hyatt Glob, Accor Pt, Shangri-La
Posts: 4,524
Pathetic pre-arrival service at Le Royal Meridien
I booked a room and e-mailed the hotel asking if they could help me book a car and driver. I received no response. I then e-mailed SPG and asked if they could help get a response from the hotel. They replied within a day quoting me the rates for an airport pick-up. I replied saying that I was not interested in an airport pick-up, but rather a local trip. No further reply from either them or the hotel.
Giving that pursuit up, I moved on to my second request, to help book train tickets. I called the hotel, and they they eventually answered, asked for the concierge. First they said the concierge was busy and to call back. I did, then got placed on hold and bounced around six times, first to the concierge, then -- once I conveyed my request -- to the "travel desk."
The travel desk said they couldn't help me. I asked why, what good were they? We only book airport pick-ups and taxis. I said, can you please look into this, and they said, are you calling from a foreign phone number? Yes. We can't call you back on that. Forget it.
I cancelled my reservation and booked at the Park Hyatt instead. A call to the main number was immediately answered, transferred me to the concierge which was immediately answered. No problem, please just e-mail me your requested itinerary.
I naturally expect a bit better service from a Park Hyatt than from Royal Meridien, and certainly have low expectations for customer service in India based on plenty of experience. But this was well below the bar that a hotel calling itself Le Royal Meridien should deliver in my opinion.
Giving that pursuit up, I moved on to my second request, to help book train tickets. I called the hotel, and they they eventually answered, asked for the concierge. First they said the concierge was busy and to call back. I did, then got placed on hold and bounced around six times, first to the concierge, then -- once I conveyed my request -- to the "travel desk."
The travel desk said they couldn't help me. I asked why, what good were they? We only book airport pick-ups and taxis. I said, can you please look into this, and they said, are you calling from a foreign phone number? Yes. We can't call you back on that. Forget it.
I cancelled my reservation and booked at the Park Hyatt instead. A call to the main number was immediately answered, transferred me to the concierge which was immediately answered. No problem, please just e-mail me your requested itinerary.
I naturally expect a bit better service from a Park Hyatt than from Royal Meridien, and certainly have low expectations for customer service in India based on plenty of experience. But this was well below the bar that a hotel calling itself Le Royal Meridien should deliver in my opinion.
May 15, 2017, 12:56 pm
#19
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 4,279
Review: May 2017
Hi,
Not sure if this is the correct thread or to the "SPG choices in Chennai" thread. Moderator, please move if needed.
Anyway, here is my review based on my recent stay. I booked this place originally just because it was the closest SPG hotel to the airport, but later due to a screw up by Air India, I ended up arriving before 4 pm at the hotel.
Location: About 15 mins from the airport (even with traffic in between) by car. I used Uber Pool (~ 60 INR). [Becareful when using Uber Pool - on my back to the airport, I was told off by the driver that no baggage allowed - my first time hearing this after using this service a couple of times without issues. When I questioned if he wants to cancel the pickup, he agreed with a sour face to continue with the ride]. Another option is to take the newly opened (but very limited) Metro. It's 2 stops from the airport and from the station about 10-15 mins walk to the hotel.
Check-in: Upon arrival, was as normal greeted at the gate, than after the baggage screening an associate insisted to take my bags from me. I was escorted to the front desk for check-in. Was helped by another associate. No greetings as a Plat member, in fact not much information provided besides requesting to sign the registration form, passport. I was not even told that I was upgraded to a Suite (not sure which one).
Room: Given a room on the 1st floor facing the interior of the hotel (lobby area). Room was clearly old and way pass it's time. Due to the interior deco and colours including the limited lighting, the room was very dark - not very inviting in my opinion. Basically everything seemed to have been as is since the hotel was built/last refurbishment exercise - late 80's, early 90's style.
Bed was on the hard side with the sheets showing sign of usage and not very clean (as in lots of dust, etc).
Very limited number of outlets available and all only British type (3-prong - square or round). Wifi was provided by a in-room modem (connected to the cable) - even in this case, speed was rather on the slow side.
TV - not sure to laugh or be irritated by this - 2 sided issue with the TV/cable. First - there did not seem to be any English channels provided (I did not manage to find the TV guide info) after going a whole round of zapping. Secondly, the most irritating was that even minimizing the volume or muting, when you move to the next channel, it automatically reverts back to the original (which was on the loud side).
Breakfast: Breakfast for elites are also at the main restaurant. In general, a good spread of Indian and Western. Service wise, ok in general. However one of the poorest in fulfilling customer request. Since it was mango season and there was none on offer, I requested this. I was told that even though available, it is only served outside of breakfast time. (as reference at all the other hotels, they were also happy to get some for me - complimentary). Noticed also that there seem to be some tension between staff members - saw a few in-direct "discussions" going on, including one with I guess a supervisor.
General: For me, this has to be one of the poorest property from both elite treatment and value. Furthermore, strangely, they don't replenish the bottle water. Paid close to the same price as the LM property in Delhi and it's just night and day difference. If I am in the area, will most probably not recommend this property for the asking price. It is a pity as there can be so much potential with this property only if management takes the correct actions, but reading other reviews of this property, it is just all talk but no action to improve. Guess they can do this due to the limited number of high end hotel in the area.
Elite treatment: They did send up 1 apple and 1 orange with a small box of biscuit. Later in the evening, they did add some nuts and some indian sweets. As for lounge, I am not sure if there is one or not. I was not informed at all about this during check-in. However returning to the hotel later that evening, when I asked about it, I was told that it was closed (closes at 8.30 pm). Do note that there is a new low in India that properties and shops within 50m (i believe) radius from the highway are not allowed to serve alcohol. This impacts this property - only available via room service. For me my conclusion of this point is zero additional recognition beyond what is on paper.
Cheers!
Not sure if this is the correct thread or to the "SPG choices in Chennai" thread. Moderator, please move if needed.
Anyway, here is my review based on my recent stay. I booked this place originally just because it was the closest SPG hotel to the airport, but later due to a screw up by Air India, I ended up arriving before 4 pm at the hotel.
Location: About 15 mins from the airport (even with traffic in between) by car. I used Uber Pool (~ 60 INR). [Becareful when using Uber Pool - on my back to the airport, I was told off by the driver that no baggage allowed - my first time hearing this after using this service a couple of times without issues. When I questioned if he wants to cancel the pickup, he agreed with a sour face to continue with the ride]. Another option is to take the newly opened (but very limited) Metro. It's 2 stops from the airport and from the station about 10-15 mins walk to the hotel.
Check-in: Upon arrival, was as normal greeted at the gate, than after the baggage screening an associate insisted to take my bags from me. I was escorted to the front desk for check-in. Was helped by another associate. No greetings as a Plat member, in fact not much information provided besides requesting to sign the registration form, passport. I was not even told that I was upgraded to a Suite (not sure which one).
Room: Given a room on the 1st floor facing the interior of the hotel (lobby area). Room was clearly old and way pass it's time. Due to the interior deco and colours including the limited lighting, the room was very dark - not very inviting in my opinion. Basically everything seemed to have been as is since the hotel was built/last refurbishment exercise - late 80's, early 90's style.
Bed was on the hard side with the sheets showing sign of usage and not very clean (as in lots of dust, etc).
Very limited number of outlets available and all only British type (3-prong - square or round). Wifi was provided by a in-room modem (connected to the cable) - even in this case, speed was rather on the slow side.
TV - not sure to laugh or be irritated by this - 2 sided issue with the TV/cable. First - there did not seem to be any English channels provided (I did not manage to find the TV guide info) after going a whole round of zapping. Secondly, the most irritating was that even minimizing the volume or muting, when you move to the next channel, it automatically reverts back to the original (which was on the loud side).
Breakfast: Breakfast for elites are also at the main restaurant. In general, a good spread of Indian and Western. Service wise, ok in general. However one of the poorest in fulfilling customer request. Since it was mango season and there was none on offer, I requested this. I was told that even though available, it is only served outside of breakfast time. (as reference at all the other hotels, they were also happy to get some for me - complimentary). Noticed also that there seem to be some tension between staff members - saw a few in-direct "discussions" going on, including one with I guess a supervisor.
General: For me, this has to be one of the poorest property from both elite treatment and value. Furthermore, strangely, they don't replenish the bottle water. Paid close to the same price as the LM property in Delhi and it's just night and day difference. If I am in the area, will most probably not recommend this property for the asking price. It is a pity as there can be so much potential with this property only if management takes the correct actions, but reading other reviews of this property, it is just all talk but no action to improve. Guess they can do this due to the limited number of high end hotel in the area.
Elite treatment: They did send up 1 apple and 1 orange with a small box of biscuit. Later in the evening, they did add some nuts and some indian sweets. As for lounge, I am not sure if there is one or not. I was not informed at all about this during check-in. However returning to the hotel later that evening, when I asked about it, I was told that it was closed (closes at 8.30 pm). Do note that there is a new low in India that properties and shops within 50m (i believe) radius from the highway are not allowed to serve alcohol. This impacts this property - only available via room service. For me my conclusion of this point is zero additional recognition beyond what is on paper.
Cheers!