Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo had great reviews. This won’t be one of them.
After our air-conditioning issues were resolved, we’d return to the hotel nightly to find no bath towels in the bathroom.
Those who chose the eco-friendly option were rewarded with the sight of their used towels hanging on the bathroom hooks every night. But those who chose the luxury of freshly-laundered towels had to seemingly suffer some penalty for not being eco-warriors.
This happened nightly so that when one of my friends, after requesting bath towels, got face towels, instead, she burst out laughing. She couldn’t believe the ridiculousness of the situation.
Another friend’s bottomless well of patience dried up when Housekeeping took time to deliver the bath towels. I could hear the ice dripping from her voice, “Do you know what time it is? It’s 10 o’clock. I really would like to take a shower now.”
The hotel seemed to scrimp on everything — not just on towels or air-conditioning. My friend had to call Housekeeping (who took two hours to show up) on our first night because there was hardly any liquid soap left in the container in the bathroom.
Don’t the staff have a checklist? Don’t they know when they have not yet replenished supplies? Including towels in every room? I don’t operate a hotel. But even I have a checklist at home for when I’m preparing our guest rooms for houseguests.
Not a word of apology from the front office or housekeeping staff. The only apology we got came from the Night Manager when we elevated our complaints. But the damage had been done. We had already been ignored and gaslighted.
You’d imagine that after the air-conditioning issue, management would, at the very least, ensure that everything else would go right during our stay. The nightly absence of towels proved otherwise.
Friends of mine stayed at this hotel last year with no complaints. But they had booked 80 rooms. We only booked six. Not worth their time or air-conditioning.
Someone had warned us about the poor air-conditioning at this hotel. Our tour guide mentioned that one of their guests also had the same problem but they thought it was an isolated incident. Well, maybe not that isolated, after all.
What are the odds that our group of 13 could be accommodated on the same floor? I’ve travelled extensively and stayed at countless hotels. Even on request, it’s rare that I can get two rooms next to each other. Ours were practically next or across each other.
There were many guests at this hotel. But I didn’t see any apart from our group on our floor though someone did say they ran into one other guest.
We paid P3,850 per night, per room for two people, breakfast included. We thought it was a steal — until we realized that this hotel might actually have a floor dedicated to those who pay budget rates at travel fairs.
A floor where air-conditioning is controlled and set at budget-low temperatures unless one complains. A floor where towels are provided only upon request. A floor manned by no one. If this is the case, then, what an abominable business practice.
It’s not about getting everything right. It’s about caring to get everything right. It’s about fixing the problem when it happens and issuing an apology when things foul up not when things get out. It smarts of insincerity when you reach out to us now when we couldn’t get your attention then — when all we wanted was fresh towels every day.
This is about treating every guest well, whether they’re wearing Parisian or Hermes.
But thank God for Jason Tan, our superb tour operator and Anj, our amazing tour guide for a spectacular time. To visit the gems of Iloilo and taste some of the country’s most delectable goodies, check out www.t3centretours.com