Forced, yes, forced to pay A$15,000 before a single night slept
Jan 25, 2025 junde01 Adelaide, Australia
This is the story of an Australian couple in their sixties forced to pay A$15,000 before sleeping a single night at the Raffles Hotel. Would the charms of the so-called Grand Dame be great enough to offset this fact? I might add that this was a return visit. 1. On arrival, we had a check-in at our suite by an assistant manager, Mr S. I eventually… Read more
This is the story of an Australian couple in their sixties forced to pay A$15,000 before sleeping a single night at the Raffles Hotel. Would the charms of the so-called Grand Dame be great enough to offset this fact? I might add that this was a return visit. 1. On arrival, we had a check-in at our suite by an assistant manager, Mr S. I eventually showed him an email from the hotel as proof that I had pre-paid A$7,000 knowing the bill would not be inexpensive at the Raffles. We briefly went to the nearby Raffles City shops returning to find both my wife and I had de-activated key cards. I do not accept that this was by chance and resented the implication that my card was stored next to a credit card to deactivate it. Mine was stored separately and two cards had been affected. I had to leave my wife sitting outside the room in the heat and humidity while I went to the desk area. The same assistant manager Mr S subsequently insisted I pay another A$8,000 – the remainder of our entire bill AND reportedly S$300 per night “for incidentals”. I felt no option but to pay. My wife was grossly offended by the deactivation of our key cards. She found it hard to walk through the desk area and worried whenever she had to use the cards that they would be deactivated again. I did directly email the manager Thomas Goval and ask about the hotel payment policy. He did respond stating they “invite all guests to guarantee (e.g. pre-authorize, not necessarily settle) at least their entire accommodation value upon arrival”. Mr Goval did come and see us personally to discuss the matter at breakfast. He referred to my perception, but I cannot recall an actual apology. We did have a pleasant conversation. In the end it was not possible for me to overcome this payment opening to our planned stay at the Raffles for my birthday. Check-in must be a smooth experience at a high level hotel. 2. Our young butler came to the room to introduce herself and show us the room. Unfortunately she refused to take a verbal order for food. She directed me to dial ‘talk’ and then ‘5’ to order my club sandwich. A butler must be able to take an order for food. 3. We asked the same young butler to book a table for High Tea on my birthday. She looked seemingly at her phone and told us it was very busy that day and we could have 1pm or 4.30pm. We took 4.30pm and she said she would contact us to confirm which she never did. My wife confirmed this booking on the day prior to my birthday with the same assistant manager referred to above. When we were sitting outside having a non-alcoholic Singapore Sling, he came to our table to give her confirmation. On the day of my birthday, I arrived with my wife in her best dress while I wore the suit I had brought especially for this event. No table. We stood there for what seemed an age, while a table was eventually worked on in the far corner of the room. I was incensed. I sought out the female manager in the corner of the room behind a pillar. I reflected on my abject disappointment with the hotel in failing to provide a reserved table and destroying our wishes and plans. My wife noticed a nearby central table was vacated and asked for that to be set for us. She subsequently complained on the following day about the failed booking, stale sandwiches and poor service without offers for more wine or tea. She obtained a refund. It must be possible to reserve a table for a birthday function at a hotel of any level. 4. One our last day check-out was a complete disaster due to two encounters with Mr S again. At first he refused to accept that the second and forced payment he extracted had indeed left my back account. He sought payment of a further $S4,000. I knew that my bank accounts had dropped by the stated A$15,000. After returning to our room in distress, my wife called Mr Goval the manager to our room for a discussion. To his credit, he attended and we showed him our bank accounts online. We confirmed that payments had left our accounts. He confirmed we were in fact owed money by the hotel. He said they would provide some form of documentation to support that fact. Mr Goval was told by my wife that the card deactivation was offensive. he agreed that this was a last resort that should only occur with his knowledge. I note Mr Goval came through on that day with a very late checkout which was appreciated. But all to no avail, when I returned to Mr S at the desk area, he again refused to make any definite settlement. Eventually another staff member intervened, added our second payment to the account and provided me with a signed account noting that an amount of just over one thousand dollars Australian was owed to us. To my very great dismay, this outcome was only achieved after an extensive with the completely recalcitrant Mr S. He represents an untrusting and completely unwelcoming staff member surely inconsistent with this hotels ideals. Check out must be a smooth experience at The Raffles. Now of course at reportedly one of the best hotels in the world, many things were good. Our room was of a very high standard and well serviced daily. Usually room service was excellent apart from our opening experience. The breakfast was exceptional (staff member Lovely was always kind and warm) and included in the A$15,000 as one might expect! The staff were really very good with the exception of the issues above. Harry was excellent and his care and concern fabulous. The Indian restaurant in the Tiffin Room in the evenings is truly wonderful and one the best I have been to anywhere. As one might expect, staff were on ‘overdrive’ to assist us after an email to the manager, his breakfast visit and our high tea disaster. I know Mr Goval will read this review and I really appreciate his efforts to improve our stay after a disastrous start – thank you for your input in your stated quest for perfection. The bad start and the extraordinarily bad end to my stay cannot be forgotten. Read less
