59Impala

I can only state what it says on the picture "2 Twin Beds". I presume it's the standard room.

craz

My take is yes the room should have been cleaned if they were out of it @ 9:30am but no big deal if it wasnt. I wonder if he has new sheets put on his bed at home everyday doubt after all he wrote that hed use the same sheets twice in a row, snide comment.

Ive been in his shoes numerous times and I simply took my nap but called housekeeping or the FD before hand letting them I expect the room still be serviced and I will call down when Im heading out as now I returned to take a nap. No big deal no compensation needed or would I ask for any.

now if my nap was short a couple of hours then if my room never got made up , that would be a problem unless I had a DnD on the door in the morning when they passed and if so The PHBKK slips a note under your door to call if you want servicing (I know I had a few of them there).But if they hadnt been there to clean it before I got back and then didnt after I left a gain theres no excuse

luvFclass

The question is, "will there be a 4th date?" I had an amazing experience at the PH BKK, so I cannot speak of the indifference or service failure of the TPG blogger (whom i do follow on twitter). I have had similar failures at Asian properties, and it would have to really be egregious for me to make any negative stink at that level that would make the hotel property offer me free comped nights and dinner. That is not who I am in general, I know I am (most of us here) incredibly fortunate to have grown up in NA, so am very patient/understanding when it comes to service failures at 5* properties in developing countries. No one should lose their jobs over something as petty as this. Having said that, how other's handle their business is up to themselves.

Having stayed in NYC and CDG PH's I loved it, but also experienced aloof professionalism on display from some of the staff members there too. I take the hospitality all day long from the likes of PH BKK, PH CAN, PH ICN etc.......... Don't be that DYKWIA life is too short to worry about that. If so, there are St Regis on all these cities too. LOL

PH BKK keep up the improvements to service, and see you in 2019

zombietooth

The review wasn't as horrible as I expected from the comment by David Sweatman. Having to request maid service 3 times over 6 hours is unacceptable at a 5 star property, and a serious complaint was justified in that instance. The overbilling on the check was likely inadvertent and thus, no big deal, and the undercooked dish is, again, a minor issue.

In short, the review isn't so poorly written and negative as to deserve widespread derision, and it does provide some useful information.

m0hamed

The point remains that the property looks pretty but actually has very little substance.

Kacee

Yeah, this was a clear service fail but a pretty minor one. Demanding to talk to a manager and playing it into a free night was IMO way over the top. Especially in Thailand where staff will try so hard to be accommodating and avoid confrontation . . . this must have been very unpleasant for them.

escape4

I am going to focus on the hotel in my comments below rather than the character of the guest and whether he should have talked to the GM or not.

He did not just leave the "clean room" card on the door, he also called before leaving the hotel to make sure it would be ready when he came back. And the fact that it still was not done after the second call indicates there is something wrong with how staff communicates with each other, rather than an isolated event.

While housekeeping not being done at the time a guest requests it might not be a giant issue for some people, the thing is if you charge a guest over 12k THB per night when there are other great options in town for half that price, I personally advise the hotel to get their act together because expectations are going to be high. Don't screw up (twice) for a request as simple as cleaning the room of a guest when he wants it. He was not asking for the moon.

That does not make me feel confident my request would be handled properly if something came up during my stay and I needed help.

craz

I stay apx 40 nights at a far from Lux hotel in another country every year (non-chain)after breakfast i usually return to my room to nap and work on my computer and hang the DnD sign. sometimes by the time Im back from breakfast they already serviced the room, more often then not they didnt get to it yet. I usually wont be out of my room before noon and by then they moved onto the next floor, at times they return other times I come back apx 6-7 pm to see they never came back to clean up even thou I called and asked and then they send someone up to do it.

My pt is if TPG had a DnD on till they left could very well be they passed by to service it and seeing the DnD moved on. sure he called and asked and if a PH it should be addressed but at times things slip thru the cracks or maybe it was to be serviced when he was back for his nap. Its very hard for any hotel to be able to work on everyones timing of when they can and cant enter a room,FWIW I always had a DnD sign out at PHBKK so I never got turn down and didnt need it

yea I would have brought it up to mgmts attention, but no I wouldnt have asked or accepetd any compensation, unless there was a reap performance or some a major problem occuring

Kacee

Well yes it's an obvious service fail. No one's debating that. I also don't think it's seriously disputed that this property's service delivery in general does not match up to either its price or its aspirations as a 5* star property.

So I think many of us find the blogger's overreaction a much more interesting subject for discussion

escape4

I am not sure I agree that it is so hard. On several occasions at various hotels when I expected to spend most of the day in my room, I called before going to breakfast or before going to the gym, to ask for housekeeping to be done during a one hour window because it was convenient for me. They just make my room the next room on the list and voilà, no big deal. It has never been a problem and I never got any pushback except once or twice in some countries where housekeeping staff is not there 24 hours a day and I asked too early in the morning so they said sorry it is not possible now. Sure it might have happened a few times that they forgot to clean when I called, but they got it right on the second call. In addition, many times I make those requests in a Hyatt Regency, Hilton, Sheraton, Westin, etc. so not the same luxury standard as PH so I am far more tolerant for slip-ups. I did no think of myself as being overly demanding regarding housekeeping times, but perhaps I am wrong. But one thing is for sure is PH BKK charges rates twice what other good competitors charge, so they better expect guests to be demanding.

If a guest complains his meat is under cooked, sure we could all say some children in Africa are starving so enjoy your meal, but any hotel manager will know that the guy at PH BKK for 12k THB per night will demand his meat to be as ordered, unlike a similar guest staying at Ibis Bangkok for 1k THB per night.

escape4

LOL no doubt about it. However nobody is perfect and I have overreacted to stuff at times in the past too, especially when I am jetlagged, tired, hungover and not in the best of moods. I hope fellow FTers focus on my 99% good posts rather than the 1% where I might sound like an a$$ for various reasons.

For those reasons, and because I get some good info out of TPG at times, then I would say that while he deserves to be critcized to some extent, I personally hold off a bit and take the good with the bad. Or focus on the hotel rather than the guest.

If anything, the comment by David Sweatman in response to his review was probably the one that deserves more to be called out as an overreaction, rather than the review itself.

59Impala

I have often seen housekeeping cleaning the room next to mine when leaving in the morning for a couple of hours, thinking "great, I'm sure they'll do my room next"... wrong, on 2 occasions (not this hotel) rooms where still not done at 4pm.

I presume they always clean the checked-out rooms and the rest later on. Sort of understand this, but still my expectation is that all rooms must be cleaned by about 1pm latest.

I think it is an organizational issue, and housekeeping should clean checked-out rooms first and then those which have the sign "please clean" on their doors (which is not always followed, so why this sign at all?), followed by all others rooms
Also, and I suggested this to Jeff Zidell when he was still Mr. Gold Passport, the exact timing of housekeeping could also be a tier perk...

craz

Im not making excuses for the PHBKK they did drop the bucket. However it also seems that TPG did as well. Could be his room was slated to be cleaned before 9:30 but since he was in it it was passed on I understand what is expected at a PH and not at say Motel6. Who knows how many checkouts they had during the time TPG allowed them to clean it, could be they didnt have the time as they were busy cleaning the room that were needed for new arrivals.

cant help but feel it was a compensation play on his part. Definitely not something Id speak to a GM about unless I was told by everyone else below him/her to go pound sand, which I doubt occured. I would 1st speak to head of housekeeping, oh but they wont give me any compensation better not do that Id end up empty handed

59Impala

I tend to agree with you on the compensation part and certainly nothing to take to a GM as an immediate step. And for sure, even though I have Elephant status, I am not THAT important that a GM would need to attend to. But then again.. it was TPG

Kacee

I thought it was a bit harsh as well.

But there have been a couple of similar posts by TPG authors over the past year or so, where they bragged about getting comps at other Thai resorts (RC Samui and Naka Island) based on minor complaints. I suspect Sweatman is concerned TPG is encouraging poor behavior by TPG readers. And it is true the Thais are particularly susceptible to such bullying, which really ought to be discouraged.