Jens Linke
January 4, 2025
The hotel makes a noble impression at first glance and boasts of 5 stars. But too many shortcomings give the impression that it is more show than substance that the hotel embodies.
1. Costs
When booking, I stated that there were three of us (2 adults, 1 child) and chose a room for three people including breakfast.
In the booking confirmation, however, I then found out that although I would get a room for three people, breakfast was only provided for two people. I have never experienced anything like this before.
At least the employee at the front desk of the hotel was willing to compromise and booked breakfast for our child for free on one of the two days we booked.
2. Cleanliness
In a hotel of this category, it is unacceptable that the rooms are not cleaned properly. Dust on the top of the wardrobe, the mirror and in some corners of the floor do not belong in this category.
3. Lighting control
In our room (Japanese style) there are only light switches by one of the two beds. There is also no bedside lamp by the second bed, so you don't have any light at night when you have to go to the toilet. In addition, the assignment of the light switches is not self-explanatory. It was only after the first night that we found out that pressing the main switch several times also turns off the light in the entrance area. There are no other light switches in the entire room. This is more than inconvenient.
4. Service
We called a member of staff into our room to inform her about the inconvenience with the lighting control. Instead of proactively offering a solution or at least expressing regret, she replied succinctly that this was the case in all rooms and no one had complained so far. At first she did not want to comply with my request to at least install a bedside lamp by the other bed - there was no one available that could be connected. I then asked her to contact the general manager so that he could take care of the problem. But she replied that he was in a meeting. When I asked the employee to contact him anyway, she left our room briefly. When she returned, she told us that a table lamp could now be set up. A thorough cleaning of the dusty surfaces was also arranged. The fact that the service employee does not speak English and therefore had to translate for my wife also does not fit the image of a 5-star hotel.
In addition, the service staff at the Thai restaurant on the top floor of the hotel urgently needs further training, because when we were guests there on our first evening, they could not wait until we had finished eating to drag the tables and chairs around us across the floor. When we left shortly before closing time, we found out that the furniture had to be put away for an event the next day. This is also a no-go in a 5-star hotel.
Unfortunately, the sobering impression of inadequate service continued at the breakfast buffet, because they never tired of emphasizing that the meal time only lasts until 10 a.m. We have rarely felt so rushed, even though we arrived at 9 a.m. and left the breakfast area unenthusiastic at around 10 a.m.
Conclusion: Of course, the Tai Urban Resort Hotel has a lot of good things to offer. I don't want to make it seem worse than it actually is. But the number of shortcomings is not worthy of a 5-star hotel and needs urgent improvement!
Original TextTranslation provided by Google