Considering that my mum's birthday was around the corner, and therefore my sister and I intended to book a room for a staycation. Under the previous social distancing policies against COVID-19, the gymnasium and pool were sadly closed, and my mum did not want to stay at luxury hotels in which it was pricey, but we could not enjoy the hotel's services and facilities. Thus, we finally bought a staycation package from Trip.com. Less than HKD 500, you are entitled to stay at Premium Plus Room with an access to its Executive Club Lounge, HKD 200 dining credits as well as a complimentary late departure until 16:00. The worthiest staycation package that I have ever come across in my life, in a nutshell.
Upon arrival I expected to be escorted to the Executive Club Lounge, so that my family and I could check-in and have the drinks at the same time; however they did not offer it. Fortunately the room was immediately available; that was truly nice indeed as my mum walked with a walking cane. For sure it was not convenient if the room was not ready. By the way, I have to say that I really did not like the way of expression of the front desk lady, since I was told that I was SPECIALLY ARRANGED to stay at a renovated room this time, but my staycation package originally comprises a renovated room. It sounded nice, but misleading, indeed.
Having arrived at the room, my mum did not like it very much, since we could see the bathrooms of the opposite Tenement House from our window and, most importantly, the room was really dark even if we switched on all the lights. For the elderly or the people who have difficulties to walk, we were afraid that they would get hurt when they could not see the pathway clearly. We, then, requested a lamp in the room, yet it was not available. Fortunately, the Executive Club Lounge staff moved us to another room facing directly to K11 Artmall in which it allowed sunlight coming to the room, even though the room setting was basically the same. I felt very sorry that I forgot the name of the staff; I wish you would see my appreciation here. Additionally, every room was placed with a bag that contains a few pieces of mask, alcoholic wet wipes and hand sanitizer. This was so attentive, especially under this increasingly worsening coronavirus situation.
Talking about the Executive Club Lounge, it really surpassed our expectation; perhaps we did not have any expectation under this price. No matter the morning breakfast and evening cocktail sessions, the food and drinks there were better than my visit in November 2019 in Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour. Unlike Hyatt, Holiday Inn did not have breath-taking Victoria Harbour view, but the food service here was surprisingly exceptional.
Only one thing that we were dissatisfied with was the hotel's staff. A number of white-collars or hotel's executives joined our morning breakfast session and snack time. We could recognize those people, even if they did not wear the name tag, since we could overheard their conversation on launching different packages to rescue worsening hotel's business. Did you think it was appropriate for the guests to know it, didn't you? And, it was somewhat indecent to grab the food faster than the guest, when it was almost out of stock or had a queue in the live kitchen section.
What is more, my mum was required to go to a hospital for a body checkup the next day morning, and therefore we went to have breakfast together at around 08:30 a.m. I feared that my mum would get faint if she forgot to bring a bottle of water. Therefore, I asked for it while we were having morning breakfast. I was so shocked that I was requested to pay for it. Yesterday I could get it for free during our snack time. How come I needed to pay this time. Ironically speaking, I saw a regular guest who was warmly greeted by an Executive Club Lounge staff and offered a bottle of water at that moment. That guest was so happy that the staff remembered his predilection during the breakfast. It was not about money, but service inconsistency or double standards.
Lastly the reason why I would title this review as "Brave to Admit a Mistake with Sincerity". The story was that when we were asking for more pillows, the room attendant also sent a cup of yoghurt to us. We had no ideas about this, as we never requested it before. I then contacted the Service Centre, and the staff said that they needed to spend some time for an investigation. After around 15-30 minutes, an Assistant Executive Housekeeper - Mr. Kenny Chung reached us and extended his most heartfelt and sincerest apologies, since the room attendant was so busy and mis-sent the yoghurt to us (which should belong to another guest originally).
We are human beings, and of course, we would make mistakes at times, particularly under this critical period. The most important thing is an attitude. Some experienced hospitality practitioners will say sorry willy-nilly, but they do not learn from mistakes. This sometimes could be easily observed or perceived by the guest. Here, Kenny really acted as a role model of demonstrating suitable service recovery. Service recovery was about sincerity, not compensation.