How to turn a 5-star hotel into a 1-star hotel without even trying, Intercontinental Abu Dhabi.
Jan 30, 2025 Glenko Hollywood, Florida
Very disappointed by this Intercontinental Hotel. When I got to my room at 2:30am this morning, it was freezing cold. There is an outdated and completely ridiculous control panel on the night table. All night I kept turning the temperature up, and it did absolutely nothing. In addition, when I tried to turn off the lights, the right night table…
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Very disappointed by this Intercontinental Hotel. When I got to my room at 2:30am this morning, it was freezing cold. There is an outdated and completely ridiculous control panel on the night table. All night I kept turning the temperature up, and it did absolutely nothing. In addition, when I tried to turn off the lights, the right night table lamp would not turn off. I was able to turn it off manually. This morning, I wanted to send some clothes to the laundry. There were slips in the closet but no laundry bags. I couldn’t use the desk because the lamp didn’t work and I couldn’t take a shower because it was freezing. The hotel sent a technician. He explained that the air conditioning blows at 20 degrees, and no matter what you set it for on the “control panel”, it blows at 20 degrees. He said the only solution was to turn it off altogether, and turn it back on when it gets too hot. He explained that the desk lamp, didn’t work, because I had turned it off on the control panel. And he was unable to fix the lamp, although he did change the bulb. He said that he would come back when I was at lunch and fix the lamp. He spent an hour in the room. I am not sure if he came or not, but the issue was not corrected. The duty manager asked for a personal meeting, and I agreed. She asked what time she could go to my room with a technician to fix the lamp,and assure that everything is working. I said she could come between 7 and 7:30. I got back at 9:20, and was very unpleasantly surprised to see that there was a technician in my room and the ceiling panels were open and he was trying to fix the air conditioning. Apparently the other technician didn’t explain to him that it is the system, and short of installing a new system it couldn’t be fixed. He told me the lamp could not be fixed. I should note that the duty manager offered to give me a different room, which I declined. I hate playing musical rooms. She also waived the breakfast fee (which I was surprised I was charged as a platinum member. And she gave me 5,000 points. But I was really upset that there was a technician in my room at 9:20pm, despite my saying that I did not want a technician in my room when I was back. And the Duty Manager, who said she would be with him, was off duty. I called the duty manager who was on duty, and complained and said I booked a room by myself and didn’t want to have technicians in my room all day. I had a Zoom scheduled for 9:30, which I will now have to reschedule. The night duty manager apologized and asked me to come to meet with the Guest Relations Manager tomorrow. I refused. I have spent enough of my time speaking to this property’s management. I said I do not want any more technicians in my room and do not want to speak to any one. I should add the breakfast was so-so, and the room is in great need of a facelift.
On the other hand, it would not be fair not to mention that I had a Thai massage by Linie from Bali in the spa that was one of the best of my life, and I had a very pleasant lite lunch with a friend in the lobby bar with excellent service. Unfortunately I did not note the waitresses name, but she was perfect, highly professional.
Still I do not feel it is fair to have these issues in a 5 star hotel, especially an Intercontinental. The hotel has a duty to inspect and repair rooms prior to the arrival of a client even if I were not a platinum IHG member. And this hotel has a major issue with its outdated and non-functional control panel. I will not stay in this hotel again. Although I may come back for a massage. Linie is a superstar, and she released all the tension in my upper back. Pity that she works in such a poorly managed hotel.
It would not be fair not to mention
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