Originally Posted by
khabah
I found the property [RC Doha] to be nicely [re]designed, but the service awful - lots of staff who will shower you with “sir” and linger/cling around/to you, but otherwise possess no ability to be intuitive, maintain consistent standards or take initiative. I had three staff follow me to the elevator to escort me to the club lounge upon check-in uselessly and I-don’t-really-give-a-damningly asking me how my flight was, how my day is so far and if there’s anything I need. After writing an extensive review, the GM if that property reached out asking me to e-mail him with more feedback, which I did... and he didn’t respond weeks later, let alone acknowledge anything.
I think this is a really interesting example. To some people, this type of attention might be superior service. But there's a whole other demographic, in which I'm included, that believes luxury is being left alone not followed around and having strangers small-talk with me and call me sir. Great service is when people either learn or anticipate what I like or want and deliver on it without all the extra interactions.
This is perhaps a bad example, because it's a totally different experience, but at one of the large Riviera Maya all-inclusives I stayed at for a wedding, we had the same waiter at the pool several days in a row. After the first day, he saw us sit down and came over and asked us if we wanted the same drinks as the day before (can't remember now what they were but he named them). Another time, he came to the pool while we were in it and asked if we'd like some fresh drinks delivered to us in the pool. I don't remember him once calling me "sir" or asking me how my day was, or making any other small talk.