Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport Review
The following is a review I posted on Tripadvisor of Novotel Suvarnabhumi Airport. Just a couple of typographical errors have been fixed:
Novotel seems to specialize in airport hotels, and the Bangkok property is conveniently located close to the airport. Unfortunately it is not sufficiently close for you to walk there, but the transportation from and to the hotel was efficient.
This was my second stay at this property, and I have not used any of the hotel facilities except for the breakfast restaurant.
While I did not have breakfast included in our room rate, we still ate at the hotel in the morning. However, here is the odd part. After checking into the hotel in the evening, I paid for internet access. When getting up in the morning, I found an envelope that had been tucked under my door. Per prior experience, I expected the envelope to be the preliminary bill, so I did not even bother to open it. When entering the breakfast restaurant, I responded negatively to a question about having breakfast vouchers and instead provided my room number. After eating breakfast, I asked to sign the bill, but to my surprise I was told that the amount had already been settled. While I was under the impression that my rate did not include breakfast (it had been a while since I had made the booking), I obviously did not feel like making an argument.
When returning to the room, to my surprise I discovered that the envelope I had received contained breakfast vouchers with a handwritten note stating "On Account". When checking out a few minutes later, I got the final bill and noticed that breakfast had indeed been added to my bill. We asked if my wife's airline employee card would qualify for a discount in the breakfast price, but was told that it would not. This seemed odd, as the restaurant staff had told us the card indeed qualified for a discount (unfortunately we could not settle the amount at the restaurant as they told us the amount had already been settled).
My breakfast experiences with Novotel do not end there. When staying at the former Novotel Garden Plaza Saigon (currently Parkroyal Saigon), I was charged for breakfast although I had breakfast included in the rate. Complaining to the hotel staff proved pointless, so I took my complain directly to the Novotel headquarters in France. After several emails, they admitted the error and sent me a hotel voucher for a slightly higher amount than what I had been overcharged. Since the voucher had an expiration date of just a few months, I tried using it for lunch at Novotel in Vienna, but was refused as the voucher apparently only could be used for accommodation - odd as I had been overcharged for breakfast. Anyway, I ended up not being able to use the voucher.
Anyway, be careful of Novotel's business practices, it is not the most ethical hotel group in the world.
Also, check out my review of Novotel Guangzhou Airport Hotel.
Novotel seems to specialize in airport hotels, and the Bangkok property is conveniently located close to the airport. Unfortunately it is not sufficiently close for you to walk there, but the transportation from and to the hotel was efficient.
This was my second stay at this property, and I have not used any of the hotel facilities except for the breakfast restaurant.
While I did not have breakfast included in our room rate, we still ate at the hotel in the morning. However, here is the odd part. After checking into the hotel in the evening, I paid for internet access. When getting up in the morning, I found an envelope that had been tucked under my door. Per prior experience, I expected the envelope to be the preliminary bill, so I did not even bother to open it. When entering the breakfast restaurant, I responded negatively to a question about having breakfast vouchers and instead provided my room number. After eating breakfast, I asked to sign the bill, but to my surprise I was told that the amount had already been settled. While I was under the impression that my rate did not include breakfast (it had been a while since I had made the booking), I obviously did not feel like making an argument.
When returning to the room, to my surprise I discovered that the envelope I had received contained breakfast vouchers with a handwritten note stating "On Account". When checking out a few minutes later, I got the final bill and noticed that breakfast had indeed been added to my bill. We asked if my wife's airline employee card would qualify for a discount in the breakfast price, but was told that it would not. This seemed odd, as the restaurant staff had told us the card indeed qualified for a discount (unfortunately we could not settle the amount at the restaurant as they told us the amount had already been settled).
My breakfast experiences with Novotel do not end there. When staying at the former Novotel Garden Plaza Saigon (currently Parkroyal Saigon), I was charged for breakfast although I had breakfast included in the rate. Complaining to the hotel staff proved pointless, so I took my complain directly to the Novotel headquarters in France. After several emails, they admitted the error and sent me a hotel voucher for a slightly higher amount than what I had been overcharged. Since the voucher had an expiration date of just a few months, I tried using it for lunch at Novotel in Vienna, but was refused as the voucher apparently only could be used for accommodation - odd as I had been overcharged for breakfast. Anyway, I ended up not being able to use the voucher.
Anyway, be careful of Novotel's business practices, it is not the most ethical hotel group in the world.
Also, check out my review of Novotel Guangzhou Airport Hotel.
Labels: bangkok, hotel, novotel, review, thailand
|
 |
Post a Comment