Recent stay at the Raffles in Singapore.
After paying 1300 for a night there, we had the WORST service I have ever had in a 5 star hotel. It was a saturday night. Here is a summary.
- Greeting. As we arrived at different times, there was no airport transfer organised for me. I accepted this was going to happen as my plane was delayed 1 hour, so this was no an issue.
- Bags: On arrival, the taxi dropped me to the rear entrance of the hotel, and there was no-one to greet me or take my bags. This was not acceptable. Furthermore, there was no direction on how to find the lobby for check-in and as such, I was left to wander around the hotel with my bags, looking for the lobby. As you can imagine, having never been to the hotel before, finding the lobby from the back entrance can be a hassle, especially after a long, delayed flight.
- On arrival to the lobby, there was no attempt to help me with my bags, nor with taking them to the room. In the end, I had to call my friend to take me to the room after I checked in.
- Breakfast: We arrived for breakfast just before 10am. There was no staff at the desk. When we were seated, our menu orders were taken 20 minutes later. The buffet was mostly empty, and there was no juice available. Finally, when coffee arrived, we requested some milk. We had to request milk 3 times to finally receive it. When the front desk waitress finally attended, she was very rude, and demanded to know our room number again (Already provided when we arrived) so she could “check our room booking again”. Food arrived all together so there was no room on the table, and the lack of waiting staff was apparent the entire morning. We both felt that this would be sub par for even much lesser hotels or restaurants. Food was average.
- Bar: We had drinks at both the ground level open air bar, and the Long bar. In the open air bar, we were disgusted to witness one of the waiters blow their nose, and then proceed to make drinks and handle glassware without washing his hand. Within 5 minutes, another member of the waiting staff entered the bar, and proceeded to “wash” his hair in the drinks basin. None of the staff in the bar were professional, and neither tended to us for the majority of the evening until we moved to another seat and requested another drink. In the Long bar, the waiter was unable to understand that we required 2 drinks, and only brought 1, after a 10 minute wait.
- Concierge staff: it is disconcerting to see that the staff do not portray the image of the Raffles hotel. On walking through the lobby, it is disappointing to see concierge staff giggling and acting like teenagers behind the desk. I do not want to feel like I have interrupted some personal jokes when I approach the concierge.
- Spa: We waited 20 minutes at the front of the spa area waiting for a member of staff. I even approached the bar outside by the pool, where I was spotted by a member of the bar staff, but he did not appear to take any interest in me being there, or wish to help. After he did not return from his private conversation with another guest at a table, I decided to move back to the spa desk.
Overall, a very unpleasant experience. I wrote these same things to the hotel management but got not real reply. Just a "Thankyou for writing to us". I will never stay at Raffles Singapore again.
It seems like they are just riding on the coat tails of their previously good reputation rather than trying to match it up to current standards.
Just writing to hope no-one will make the same mistake...
After paying 1300 for a night there, we had the WORST service I have ever had in a 5 star hotel. It was a saturday night. Here is a summary.
- Greeting. As we arrived at different times, there was no airport transfer organised for me. I accepted this was going to happen as my plane was delayed 1 hour, so this was no an issue.
- Bags: On arrival, the taxi dropped me to the rear entrance of the hotel, and there was no-one to greet me or take my bags. This was not acceptable. Furthermore, there was no direction on how to find the lobby for check-in and as such, I was left to wander around the hotel with my bags, looking for the lobby. As you can imagine, having never been to the hotel before, finding the lobby from the back entrance can be a hassle, especially after a long, delayed flight.
- On arrival to the lobby, there was no attempt to help me with my bags, nor with taking them to the room. In the end, I had to call my friend to take me to the room after I checked in.
- Breakfast: We arrived for breakfast just before 10am. There was no staff at the desk. When we were seated, our menu orders were taken 20 minutes later. The buffet was mostly empty, and there was no juice available. Finally, when coffee arrived, we requested some milk. We had to request milk 3 times to finally receive it. When the front desk waitress finally attended, she was very rude, and demanded to know our room number again (Already provided when we arrived) so she could “check our room booking again”. Food arrived all together so there was no room on the table, and the lack of waiting staff was apparent the entire morning. We both felt that this would be sub par for even much lesser hotels or restaurants. Food was average.
- Bar: We had drinks at both the ground level open air bar, and the Long bar. In the open air bar, we were disgusted to witness one of the waiters blow their nose, and then proceed to make drinks and handle glassware without washing his hand. Within 5 minutes, another member of the waiting staff entered the bar, and proceeded to “wash” his hair in the drinks basin. None of the staff in the bar were professional, and neither tended to us for the majority of the evening until we moved to another seat and requested another drink. In the Long bar, the waiter was unable to understand that we required 2 drinks, and only brought 1, after a 10 minute wait.
- Concierge staff: it is disconcerting to see that the staff do not portray the image of the Raffles hotel. On walking through the lobby, it is disappointing to see concierge staff giggling and acting like teenagers behind the desk. I do not want to feel like I have interrupted some personal jokes when I approach the concierge.
- Spa: We waited 20 minutes at the front of the spa area waiting for a member of staff. I even approached the bar outside by the pool, where I was spotted by a member of the bar staff, but he did not appear to take any interest in me being there, or wish to help. After he did not return from his private conversation with another guest at a table, I decided to move back to the spa desk.
Overall, a very unpleasant experience. I wrote these same things to the hotel management but got not real reply. Just a "Thankyou for writing to us". I will never stay at Raffles Singapore again.
It seems like they are just riding on the coat tails of their previously good reputation rather than trying to match it up to current standards.
Just writing to hope no-one will make the same mistake...
