Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Thistle Hotel, Brighton - a "luxury" hotel
For the Microsoft company conference in Brighton, I shared a room with a colleague in the Thistle. This is supposedly a luxury hotel but this must be a euphemism for "incompetent" that I hadn't come across before.
First the key didn't work. All the keys were supposed to be pre-set and put in envelopes for quick pick-up when we arrived. As instructed, I inserted the key and waited for the green light... and waited... and went to reception to get access to my room enabled. Returning to the room, the key now worked but the door didn't open. Luckily a passing resident advised me to shoulder-barge it instead and that did the trick.
Second the room hadn't been cleaned properly. The housekeeping staff had obviously been round and changed the beds some time in the morning (or yesterday) but this must have been before the previous occupants finally checked out as there were empty soft drinks bottles and sweet wrappers around the place. Even a clean pair of black socks was left on the floor, dropped by accident. I've never seen a £119-a-night room left like this before.
I wanted a shower but decided to call reception who said they would get someone round to tidy up. So I waited, not wanting to be in the shower when housekeeping turned up. And waited. Eventually I called reception and cancelled their lack of help, having done the work myself. Needless to say, I'm in the shower when someone knocks on the door to check the state of the room. Such communication within the hotel beggars belief.
And to cap it all, the TV remote was so worn that you couldn't work out what the buttons did and navigating the entertainment menu was pretty hit and miss. "Press OK to continue". Eeny, meeny, miny mo...
First the key didn't work. All the keys were supposed to be pre-set and put in envelopes for quick pick-up when we arrived. As instructed, I inserted the key and waited for the green light... and waited... and went to reception to get access to my room enabled. Returning to the room, the key now worked but the door didn't open. Luckily a passing resident advised me to shoulder-barge it instead and that did the trick.
Second the room hadn't been cleaned properly. The housekeeping staff had obviously been round and changed the beds some time in the morning (or yesterday) but this must have been before the previous occupants finally checked out as there were empty soft drinks bottles and sweet wrappers around the place. Even a clean pair of black socks was left on the floor, dropped by accident. I've never seen a £119-a-night room left like this before.
I wanted a shower but decided to call reception who said they would get someone round to tidy up. So I waited, not wanting to be in the shower when housekeeping turned up. And waited. Eventually I called reception and cancelled their lack of help, having done the work myself. Needless to say, I'm in the shower when someone knocks on the door to check the state of the room. Such communication within the hotel beggars belief.
And to cap it all, the TV remote was so worn that you couldn't work out what the buttons did and navigating the entertainment menu was pretty hit and miss. "Press OK to continue". Eeny, meeny, miny mo...
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