Kempinski Hotels in Ulaanbaatar

This hotel does not meet the standards of other Kempinskis. My family and I travel a lot, like A LOT, and we've been to many Kempinski hotels. The problems started with our booking, which we made directly through the hotels' website (not a 3rd party). The booking states a 12:00 check in, but the hotel told us this was a mistake and their check in time is 2:00 pm. They allowed us to check in at noon without a fee, but it took series of emails in advance. We also booked the breakfast meal package through the website. On our first morning in the breakfast lounge, we were told we didn't get breakfast because we didn't have the meal package. Once again, I had to pull out my reservation receipt and prove (in front of other guests) that we had paid for the breakfast. They of course accepted the receipt and realized they made an error, but it was another hassle we shouldn't have had to deal with. The day before our departure, we requested the hotel have a cab ready for us to catch our early flight (we needed to leave the hotel around 3:30 am). The young man behind the desk indicated he would do so and that we could expect a 100,000 tugrik (about 29.00 USD) flat rate for the taxi ride (this is also what we paid to get to the hotel). After spending the day on the town, buying souvenirs, and spending our local currency (but saving taxi money), we returned to the hotel. I double checked with a different guy at the desk that we would have a taxi waiting for us. Afterall, as the evening Front Desk Receptionist, it would be his job to call the taxi company. It was good I double checked, because the other guy hadn't taken action and hadn't passed along the request. Moreover, when the taxi arrived in the wee hours of the morning, we were told by the Front Desk Receptionist that it was actually a 200,000 tugrik charge (double!). We were also told the first ”receptionist” we had spoken to earlier in the day was actually a Bell Hop and we were informed that he wasn't even supposed to be working behind the counter. As a result, we had no choice but to withdraw additional local currency (taxi couldn't take a card) from the hotel Front Desk (for a nice fee) in order to pay the taxi. What's particularly irksome is that we had plenty of cash which we would have saved if we had simply been told the correct amount. There were other issues, but this review is already lengthy... Overall, we had a less than stellar experience at this Kempinski. If you're going to Ulaanbaatar, I'd recommend you stay elsewhere. If we ever go back we'll probably stay at the Shangri-la. It's closer to the airport as well as the heart of the city.