LIH Prem

I try to ignore all that nonsense. Not even worth it to respond to it.

Reading between the lines, some posters followed up saying that they like the evening lounge offerings and consider it a strength of the property. Lots of regular posters in this forum, many trusted reviewers, have stated that they really love this property for many reasons, especially the treatment for elites, despite it being a bit of a walk from the nearest transit stop. (There's a shuttle, but IIRC, it's only to the BTS, not from.) Personally I haven't stayed there, it's hard to get me to leave the SGS, but I've stayed at the JW and some of the other properties you've visited on this trip.

As I said previously, variety is the spice of life and it's good we can all share differing opinions without denigrating each other. In FT we only have our reputation as posters to go by. If somebody posts nonsense, in my opinion, their reputation goes down. That was the hardest part of FT to figure out when I first joined and it was a lot more "wild west" than it is now. Even so ...

-David

KingCanute

First impressions can be piercingly accurate and freed from the comfort of familiarity. Or deceptively inaccurate due to the lack of familiarity.

I might be better or worse looked after as a first time one night guest. Or as a returning guest. Or as a medium or long stay guest who may or may not have stayed at the hotel before. I can't actually work out a predictable pattern and I've pretty much lived in hotels for the last 5 years. And I don't mind that either, embrace the unpredictable and all that.

Fortunately bonvoy (and others) offer a wide variety for all of our many different needs and preferences. EE stays in a lot of hotels all over the world and finds a way to standardise and perhaps benchmark his personal reviews using global currencies like macaroons and desserts and lift shafts. Oh, and perhaps TV software... He does a great job sharing his opinions, as does everyone else presenting their own constructive reviews. We can all choose to decide whether we value the same things to the same extent, but even having no interest whatsoever in a particular benchmark doesn't devalue the review. Keep up the good work!

And with a nod to the thread title, I have only ever used the F&B at this hotel rather than stay there as it's a little isolated for me. But the last time I was there I was interested by the unusual shuttle elevator arrangement to get to the rooftop bar, which I believe is the same experience however many nights you are staying there. ÉEgalité in action

HHQX888

Because the hotel is not a program/algorithm that works perfectly 24/7.
There are people working there who are not perfectly programmed.
And giving opinions after one night not even one day distorts opinions about these hotels.

In times when I have access to any Internet content on my phones, I would expect more access to the HDMI port than Internet options on hotel TVs.
And besides, you did not understand the allusion, which will not change in such a short stay in the hotel.

ElevatorEnthusiast

I find it bizarre that you attempt to discredit me for providing a large amount of content about a variety of hotels across the globe - I can do so because I choose to stay at hotels for a single night. I do not understand how a hotel's bed quality, food quality, shower quality, etc would change across nights. If that were the case, my conclusion would be that the hotel had inconsistent operations. Regardless, you can choose to ignore my "distorted" and "ignorant" reviews if you think they are so unhelpful.

KingCanute

I understand what you are saying. And yes of course people and services oscillate around a mean (albeit a moving mean over time). Staying somewhere a long time or repeatedly allows you to experience a clearer view of the average. But averaging may also be distorting, especially if familiarity teaches you to overlook certain things.

VERY many people stay in hotels for just one night. Their non-averaged experiences are just as representative of what's going on.

Plus we all prioritise different things, thankfully, and that's OK. Internet streaming on the TVs is not of interest to me so it doesn't affect my opinion of the hotel, but widespread reporting of its availability may be helpful to others. Other people get animated about fresh coconut availability, fizzy wine at breakfast, or free upgrades, power sockets, toiletry brands, or doormen who are too busy to fawn over their bags.

A rose tinted long stay view may be just as distorted as a one night stay where everything went wrong. But those are all still people's valid experiences.

WasKnown

Everything is a data point. Whether you think is relevant to you is up to you. But personally I’m glad EE keeps sharing his stay experiences, even if I agree they are not always relevant to my personal taste/preference. There simply aren’t many people posting helpful info on FlyerTalk forums these days and I am grateful EE takes the time to write such detailed posts for each hotel he visits.

If we remove his posts, most of these threads are wastelands. Thank you ElevatorEnthusiast

ftrichard

I believe the point is that personal attacks on FT posters are not permitted. They are also bizarre when the OP is a long-term contributor with a good reputation and has been extremely constructive and helpful with their posts.

YMMV of course. We all have our learned opinions about posters on FT as indeed we do about the hotels we are supposed to be commenting on.

ElevatorEnthusiast

I was thinking about this a bit more, and while I disagree with the OP's premise that one-night stays are not representative and should not be shared, I agree that service claims after one night could be dependent on the day - though, we all hope that service operations at properties are totally consistent (positively, not negatively). While service is a major consideration for me, I try to not focus on it too much in my reviews besides commenting on general attitudes and standout positive or negative experiences. I've had a few instances where something is so negative from an operational standpoint on service that I wouldn't return. On the other hand, an offhand or rude comment from a single staff member might be ignored as someone having a bad day. For positives, I can typically tell after one night if a hotel is service-oriented. My experiences are then typically backed up by other reports (cough, Grosvenor House, Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit, cough). I find it hard to believe a hotel is going to be willing to "put on a show" just for me.

Back to the thread topic, I still don't really know what I said that set OP off - I didn't have issues with the service at the Surawongse Marriott and simply commented some negatives on the food offerings (in my opinion based on my preferences). The lack of restaurant breakfast is a hard fact at this moment - length of stay would not affect that.

As for streaming services, I comment on that because I think it could be helpful for some. I don't carry around HDMI cords, and while I have multiple devices capable of streaming, I do enjoy laying back and watching content on the big screen every once in a while. I would not say a hotel is bad just because the TVs lack native streaming apps. But, for me, it's a single con - nothing more.

KingCanute

I suspect many would take a similarly balanced view

Any particular hotel will have a range of different people staying there on any one day, using it in different ways, prioritising different things, and having their own personal experiences of what they felt was good or not so good. And that is all fine, every experience is valid. And inconsistency or favouritism is probably something any service business would want to be concerned about so all experiences are helpful.

One nighters are a big segment of customers with possibly slightly different needs from others, in addition to their own personal preferences. Just as are package tour groups, conference attendees, annual holiday returnees, staycationers, dirty weekenders etc.

It's a wide wide world of different people and that's a good thing. We all count. Short stayers such as yourself invest a lot of time to share their experiences as to how hotels work for them. Longer and regular stayers can share theirs as well. Staying somewhere longer will obviously impact your experience, but then it also shouldn't have to take a few days to settle in somewhere either. And I think most of us can tell a bad day from a systemic issue, or commenting on a genuine slip up from an unreasonable DYKWIA rant.

Please keep up the good work, your reports (as everyone else's) are a valuable resource for many on here.

SHLTP

I'm confused - why are people attacking EE

He's simply posting his experiences at many hotels. I think there a fantastic contribution to the community. I don't see him attacking anyone

So why the hate? His experiences might might from others but he's posting his experiences.

His upgrade rate to suites is higher than the average. Power to him.

I similarly get upgrades to specialty suites at Hyatt more than the average. There are obvious reasons why for both of us

SHLTP

One other thing I find valuable about EEs posts, is he's giving reviews for all the properties in a city at one time. We can compare how well each property is doing currently to an important guest.

I typcially can compare SGS last month to PA or Westin or ROS etx 3 months ago or even but rarely at one specific moment (only SGS and PA Do I go back and forth in the same trip).

er is doing it in what week. That's help me figure out what properties right now are best of class. And his experiences for the most part march up with mine. He might get more suites than I do now under Marriott, but similar to what I got under Starwood. If I had such good treatment still, I might still be at Marriott.

I'm not so I've fled to Hyatt. But I also am no longer ambassador

EGW1

Last month I did 2x 1 night stays at the Surawongse (to use up some Bonvoy points and attend a couple of events near the hotel) and I found it to be ok, but nothing as spectacular as many of the reviews portray. First stay I was upgraded to a corner room, which was relatively spacious, with a nice view. Second stay I was upgraded to an M Suite, although the condition of the room wasn't great - air con vents were not all that clean (and leaking in bedroom), windows were quite dusty/dirty on the outside, and the outside corridor had a heavy smoke smell (clearly someone was smoking in room). The lounge offering was ok - the outdoor terrace area is very pleasant. I found the lounge while nice by design had several sticky tables and food strewn carpets - I mention this because generally the hotel seems like it could do with some TLC (the canopy for the lounge terrace area for example is mouldy, the outside lamp wasn't working). The hotel seems to have a high occupancy of longer stay guests and what I would describe as large families or tour groups, so perhaps there is higher wear/tear at the hotel generally. Would I stay again ... probably not given all the other options in BK. Practical hotel for the price (or points) paid, but not what I would personally call overly luxurious or memorable.

ElevatorEnthusiast

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who noticed the sticky tables - I think something went wrong with their finishing.

lost_in_translation

Recent stays are quite disappointing to read, seems current management are dropping the ball quite a bit as none of these things were issues pre-COVID.

jah718

Does anyone know if baby cribs can be accomadated in regular rooms at this hotel?

Trying to book a room for me, my wife, and 1 year old child, but when I select that many people, the only option that appears is a 2 bedroom suite. When I search for 2 adults, regular rooms come up.

I was thinking maybe they don't allow cribs in regular rooms, but not sure.