This is the first review I'm typing on tripadvisor, and I'm living up to the common belief that people talk about things things are terrible more than they talk about things that are great.
We were travelling as a group of 3 couples, and we were excited to book the 3 bedroom apartment in BCC, and we were extra excited because of the great reviews. First things first, when the booking was done online, my friend who booked it got the paypal receipt, but no official receipt, or statement from the hotel. Naturally, that was cause for concern, so she emailed the hotel to check if it was confirmed. She received a reply on the same day (what amazing service) allaying her concerns, saying that everything was booked. She also checked a bit about transfers, and was replied to fairly promptly. (Note: This was three weeks prior to our actual arrival date.)
-skipping ahead to travel date-
WTF NO. 1
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When we got to the hotel at 2:30pm (check-in was officially at 2, but we didn't want to rush), while waiting in line to check in, my friend got a call from the hotel, informing her that they were out of the three bedroom apartments. We informed the person(MR. M) that we were outside, and would he please come out and speak to us.
MR M came out and told us that there had been a mix-up in the bookings, and that they had no 3 bedroom apartment to give us. He said that the system had failed, and they had only gotten the booking notification the previous day. However, my friend still had the emails that were sent to her, and strangely enough, MR M, was the SAME PERSON who had sent her the emails.
Naturally, we were upset. The highlight of the trip was that we would all be staying together, andimmediately, that ceased to be a possibility. We asked MR M what he could do, and his suggestion (in the most condescending, fine, i'll do you a favour tone) was that he could give us a 2 bedroom apartment, then put an extra bed in there.
Two things were wrong with that scenario. One - that was a total of 5 sleeping spaces. Two - we would have to share rooms during a holiday. Both of these were ridiculous. After some back and forth (about 30 minutes, during which we were the focal point of the lobby), he gave us rooms next to each other. Not ideal, but we were tired, and just wanted to rest.
WTF NO. 2
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After lunch, my friend and I decided to go down to the pool to have a drink, We had brought out own alcohol, but we didn't know if it would be allowed, so we decided to check. At the towel counter, there was a sign that said "CORKAGE CHARGE - RP 35000". But when we checked with the attendant if we could bring our own bottles, he said that it was fine as long as we were hotel guests, which was a delight. So we went up and everyone got changed and came down. We got to the pool at 5:15pm, and when we got there, the same attendant told us the pool was closing at 6pm for a private event. Why he didnt say anything the first time around will forever remain a mystery. But we figured 45 minutes is better than none. After about 20 minutes, a lady came up to us and said there would be a corkage charge, and naturally we told her that we were told there would not be a charge. After some back and forth, she sent another guy over to tell us there would be a charge. So although we were upset, we still were okay with paying for it because RP35000 is a fairly nominal charge. However, when we left the pool, we were presented with a bill of over five hundred thousand RP. When we pointed to the sign that said RP 35000, she told us that the sign was the corkage price for food.
There is NO SUCH THING as CORKAGE for FOOD. Also, seeing we were in the pool, we barely drank anything, and we were there for a grand total of 35 minutes, so we refused to pay that charge.
WTF NO 3
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Prior to the pool incident, we had ordered room service (the food was unappetising, but that really didn't surprise any of us). So when we checked out, we of course wanted to pay for that. So when we were were checking out the next day, we were surprised when the staff (a different person from the check in) told us there was nothing to pay. My friend enquired about the room service, and how come we didn't have to pay for that, and he said there was nothing to pay. At this point, we assumed that the hotel had realised how truly dreadful their service had been, and gave us the room service complimentary.
WE THOUGHT WRONG.
When we were at the ferry terminal, we see MR M, accompanied by a local policeman, holding out bill, and pretty much accusing us of running away without paying. Frustrated beyond reason, and once again, the focal point, this time of our fellow ferry takers, we paid up, and GLADLY left that place.
In all honesty, I have to say the room was pretty nice, and the location was next to a mall, which was convenient. But these things do not help when you feel like crying and/or committing murder within the first 5 minutes of the hotel experience. I cannot, under any circumstance, rate this hotel higher than a 1 in any category. I travel quite a bit, and this is the single worst experience of my life.
I urge you not to patronise this hotel. I expect to see my five friends follow suit with this tale of horror as well.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
