Convenient to Airport, But Terrible Service Experience

1   Not Recommended
January 28, 2018 by

 Map | 1 Review | 0% Recommended
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Holiday Inn Express Zurich Airport
 Map | 1 Review | 0% Recommended

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Overall

Although close to the airport, the lack of service and care of the staff working there will make this a "once in a lifetime" visit to this hotel for me.  I'll ensure that I find other options whenever I'm in Zurich, or have a layover.  I'm not sure if we just arrived on a bad day for the hotel or not, but it's left a lasting impression that I use to describe bad Customer Experiences in presentations.

Service

Service was pretty terrible; upon arrival they seemed to have one person working the desk, who was also doubling as the bartender, and this was at 3pm.  It took a few minutes waiting at the desk for her to finish serving, before she returned to the desk.

We had also asked for a cot, which we had to request to be brought to the room again at dinner time, as it took up considerable room.  We also went to use the pull-out couch, and called down to the front desk to ask where the blankets were.  It turns out they need to be delivered, so we asked for them to be dropped off when we were at dinner.

We returned at 6pm, and they were still not there, so I called down again.  Apparently they had no record of our request, and promised to send someone up again.  45 minutes later, as bedtime approached, I went downstairs to the front desk to ask, and again they had no idea.  I asked if they could just give me the sheets so I could bring them up, and was told they were in a closet on our floor, and housekeeping would need to go get them.

After another 20 minutes, I called down again, and they promised to send someone up immediately.  Thankfully they did arrive 5 minutes later, but it should never take 4 calls to ask for sheets.

Room

The room was a standard size for Europe, with a bed and a pull-out couch, and a view facing the airport.  My son and I enjoyed looking out the window, as for awhile the planes were taking off from the runway closest to us.  It was a functional room, although the couch itself was in a pretty bad state.

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The couch cushions had started to sink into the couch, and when we pulled it into a bed we noticed considerable staining on the mattress.  I know some hotel rooms get some hard usage, but it didn't look like much effort had been put into cleaning them.

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Overall, the room was functional and fine for a short stay.

Dining

We ate at the restaurant for both dinner, as well as breakfast, which was a big mistake.  For dinner, there is no table service - you get a menu, and need to go up to the bar to order.  Not a big problem, but the same lack of service applies there too, where two staff members who talking at the end of the bar, and didn't notice me for a good 3-4 minutes.

The food itself, terrible.  My wife ordered a Greek salad to start, although when it arrived with our meal it was missing feta cheese.  We went back to the bar to mention it, and the bartender went to the back to have it re-done.  when she came back though, we were told that they were out of feta cheese, unfortunately.  If your kitchen runs out of a key ingredient, either stop selling that item, or at the very least inform your guest of the missing item, so they can decide if they want to change their order.

Our other meals had cold fries, and the food itself was not very good tasting.

We also went for the complimentary breakfast, however half of the trays were empty, and there didn't seem to be anyone refilling them.

Location

The hotel is conveniently close to the airport, as one would expect, and has a grocery store and McDonald's just a few minutes walk away.  There is also a hotel shuttle that frequently brings travellers to and from the airport.

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