I booked a four-night stay here using the Gourmet Delights package about two weeks ago. Maybe it was because I just arrived from the Park Hyatt Sydney, but this hotel was such a disappointment, both hardware and software wise.

At arrival, I asked if it were possible to get a room with a view of the cathedral, and told the check-in agent I would be happy to use a DSU. Without checking, she just said she had none of those rooms left and the one I had was already one of the best. She also made no mention of any of the Diamond benefits, or the opening hours of the lounge, or breakfast, and seemed eager to send me on my way. In fact, midway through the check-in process while I was still asking a few questions, she looked over me to the guy behind and shouted "I'll be with you in a few seconds as soon as I'm done with him." Not a good start.

The room was fine, but was extremely dated. Some of the furniture should have been thrown out 10 years ago, but I suppose if you keep it another 10 it might look fashionable again. A friend told me the carpet is only a few years old, in which case I really cannot help but wonder why they chose such an awful pattern? I suppose it does go with the overall look though.

As others have mentioned, no welcome card from the hotel manager and no letter introducing the club offerings.

Headed to the club, where Mona and Evelyn were absolute sweethearts, and well deserving of the many kudos they have received from other posters here. They made small talk with everyone in the club, cleared old plates, offered refills, and generally did much more than they should.

Breakfast at the Radii restaurant made me feel like I was in some budget Bangkok hotel, with the neon lights at the corner and harried staff. The manager who took us to our seats turned away and left after we were seated, not bothering to ask about coffee. We sat there for a while, unsure if we were supposed to wait for somebody to take our coffee orders or just help ourselves to the food. Eventually, he returned about 15 minutes later, and asked us if we wanted a coffee. Mind you, the restaurant had five occupied tables at most, as it was almost 10 and most people had left. The servers mostly looked like students on a holiday job, admittedly something like I was when I was a bored 17-year-old waiting to enter college.

The chef at the hot food counter was an absolute star though. He was proactive and offered to prepare eggs or waffles, and served customers when their food was ready. All this time, the rest of the crew seemed to prefer clearing dirty tables over helping customers who were actually there. That made me wonder, shouldn't they focus on helping the people who are actually sitting there?

Anyway, I cut short the stay to two nights and moved over to the Grand Hyatt. The rooms are tiny, but I really liked the place better overall.