Note: This "review" is for The Residence, not the hotel.
What is your Priority Club status?
Royal Ambassador
Were you (or for multi-stayers are you generally) happy with the hotel/stay ?
Yes, with a few minor exceptions
Which room did you book and which upgrade did you receive?
Booked 1 bedroom apartment, received 1 bedroom apartment (no problems, I understand you don't get upgrades at this property).
How are the rooms?
Spacious and comfortable. Decent equipped kitchen, nice bathroom and rather large bedroom. Washing machine/dryer in small room next to the entrance.
How is the exec. lounge?
N/A
What was good and what was bad?
Good
The staff (with one exception), as always at this property. It's close to feel like coming home, everyone recognize you and you feel that they are genuine glad to see you again.
Bad
* We specifically asked for an apartment facing the river, so we could watch the fireworks at New Year's eve. This was confirmed several times, but during check-in we were reassigned to an apartment facing the other way. The property was obviously not full so I have no idea why they did this. It seems like it was done at the reception desk, as the pre-prepared check-in statement was showing the apartment we initially requested, but this had been crossed over and a new apartment number written on by hand. The check-in agent was in no way interested in changing this, she just seemed upset and uninterested. We were tired after a long journey and in a hurry to an appointment, so I didn't escalate it to the FO manager.
* The check-in agent. She is the only employee at this property that for some reason never smile and never seem interested in helping out (she has worked here for a year or so and has always been like that to me). Example: She rejected to give us more than one key to the apartment! - Come on, two persons checking in and only one key?. Didn't want to argue, stopped by a little later when another agent was present, and got an extra key together with an apology and a big smile. Don't know if she hate her job or just hate me
, but it stands out as everyone else here are just great.
* This particular apartment seemed to have been heavily used and showed signs of wear and tear many places (floor scratches, scratches on furniture, wall paper coming off, etc.).
* The control for the water flow on the shower console did not work. A technician was brought up to look at it and concluded that "it couldn't be fixed".
* House keeping at 08.30AM on a Sunday!. To me that's a bit too early. I didn't leave the DND sign on though, so partly my own fault.
All these small hiccups are not really a big deal, it's just that after more than 300 nights at Asiana Saigon I have learned to expect nothing but the absolute best from this place, and this time they were a bit below their usual standard.
Value for $ or Priority Club Points? Would you return?
At U$150++ per night this is a good deal for an 80m2 apartment. Obviously expensive by Saigon standards, but in my eyes worth it. Will return for another 60-80 nights in 2014.