Wednesday, February 8, 2012

M hotel

in december last year, i was booked in M hotel anson road. while i requested for an early check in, the front desk said that the room was not yet ready and actually said that i should wait for over an hour. i wasn't in the mood to argue with these menacing filipina front desk staff so i unnaturally obliged. anyway, this was just a quick trip, i told myself that it shouldn't matter much. i walked all the way to maxwell center and had some quick snack instead.

end of january, i was again booked in M hotel. i completely forgot about what happened in december and thinking that this time should be ok. upon checking in, i inquired if i'll be earning loyalty points during this stay. i was told by the receptionist that no points will be awarded from my weeklong stay since i'm not going to pay for this stay myself and the company will pay. no more energy to argue, i just said that it was interesting… coz in starwood hotels, SPG cardholders do get the points even if the company is paying for the stay.

M hotel is an average but functional one. not too many amenities to speak of, but its strategic location is its best come on. located close to our singapore office and a short walk to tanjong pagar MRT station, taxi drivers won't have difficult time finding it. the hotel offers comfortable bed, excellent internet connection and has a very nice housekeeping staff. telephone operator is also friendly and was always very quick in addressing any of my concerns. although the room is small, it was also comfortable. the shower area is even smaller of course, a big caucasian man would have difficult time negotiating his way inside the stall. cable TV only has few channels worth looking. not much choices in café 2000's breakfast menu, but it was ok. as long as you have some rice, noodles, bacon, egg, cereals and fruits, i'm ok. of course, it could still be improved.

but M hotel really needs to work on their front desk staff. again, i don't know if it's an asian thing but they seem to be more accommodating to guests who are white and in formal suits. during my first stay in december, i overheard from the other counter that the white man had made some requests and the front desk staff made arrangements for him. but nothing was made to accommodate my request of early check in when my company's admin already requested for this prior to my stay. this last trip, without even checking, the front desk staff just said that there won't be any points for me. although i got an email from their front desk manager just now, saying that the points were already awarded to me, the unnecessary disappointment could have been prevented if the front desk staff were more accommodating and do not have any ounce of discriminatory slant. any positive points of the hotel were completely negated by the poor service of the front desk crew, which would make you think twice (or thrice) before actually staying again in this hotel.

most probably next time, it would be the boutique hotels around the area rather than M.

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