This article is based on a personal experience when I traveled to Chennai on a Business trip last month. Like all the other times, I preferred Goibibo to book the hotel and ended up booking Hablis Hotel which is located in Guindy (a decent area in Chennai, not so far from the Airport). This was not the first instance of me booking the hotel, the first time was too ruined by the management, however, I liked the place so I decided to book the same again thinking that I will not have to get into a mess with the management yet again.
Here I have explained both the times when I happened to stay at a hotel which is nowhere in my list now.
Stay 1 (October 31st, 2014 – Nov 1st, 2014)
This was the first time I stayed in the hotel. The booking was, like all other times, done through Goibibo.com and I was pretty excited about the same, because it was an important meet with a client which could fetch some good projects to my company. I preferred to travel by Bus which reaches Chennai early morning around 6. So I had an estimate time of reaching the hotel at around 7 am.
The hotel has check in time as 12 noon and I was pretty much aware of the same. So after booking the hotel on October 29, I called up the hotel reception to ask if there was a chance of checking in early. The guy straightaway ruled out any possibility of an early check-in. It was only after I mentioned specifically that I DO NOT MIND PAYING EXTRA for that, he confirmed that I can check in at 7 by paying half day charges.
I was pretty relaxed, I had to travel the next night and before I started, just to avoid any kind of confusion, I called up again on the hotel reception asking for the same. This time, there was a lady picking up the call and after I told her everything which I had spoken to the guy day before, she asked me to wait before she confirmed.
This time, I got to hear something which was just mind blowing. According to the lady, guests checking in before 8AM have to pay FULL DAY charges. This was enough to make me furious. I was damn annoyed because at last minute, I had no other choice and I wasn’t taking it as a fair thing to pay a full day tariff to stay in a hotel for 5 hours (Provided it was just an early check in request and not the full trip). After my continuous attempts to tell that lady about what the guy had told me day before, last thing she suggested me to come to the hotel at 7, wait till 8 and then pay the half day charges. This was the most hilarious thing I had ever heard from a hotel representative claiming to have a 5 star property. I did not have anything more to waste my time on so I hung the call and waited for the next morning.
As scheduled, I arrived in Chennai on the early morning of October 31st, I had the words of that lady running around my mind, so I felt better to go to Marina beach and spend some time and then to go to the hotel, to avoid any kind of misbehavior which I could have ended up doing with those irresponsible breed of people there.
I reached the hotel at 8:10AM, and to add more to the frustration, all I got to hear was that the room was not ready and I had to wait. All I could react was WTF, because I had the meeting at 9:30 and I was already running late. I somehow controlled myself from shouting on the receptionist. After continuous attempts of inquiry from the lady sitting there, I finally got to get into the room, but not before 8:45AM. It made it impossible for me to get ready and leave room anytime before 9:30, making the client wait for 45 minutes, just because of the stupidity.
In my stay of around 24 hours, I tried not getting into words with anyone there, because of what had happened on the check in time. Finally the stay got over and I thought I will not have to get into this property again.
Stay 2
Well, The thought at last time was mere a thought, as I got to visit Chennai soon to meet the same client. This time the reaching time was a little late, so I was sure that the same stupidity will not be repeated. There was just a confirmation call from my side to know if it was possible to do an early check in and the answer was positive.
The check in process this time was a lot easier as compared to the last time. The stay was all fine, but the whole twist came at the time I checked out. After paying the remaining amount, I was waiting for the cab while sitting in the lobby, that was the time a guy came up to me saying Mam is calling. I thought there was some formality remaining and once I was at the reception, the main drama started. Let me put the same in a conversation manner here
Lady : Sir, you will have to pay some extra amount.
Me : I was shocked. I could just ask, for what?
Lady : There is a blood stain on the bedsheet. You have damaged it, so you will have to pay the full value of the bedsheet as well as the pillow cover.
Me : I wasn’t very sure about how the blood stain came there, but I do have my nose bleeding at times, so I wasn’t very surprised, as she told the blood stain was at the top near the pillows. However, the place of the blood stains was not my point. I was shocked at the way she asked me to pay for it, because I have never seen such things coming out from a hotel management. I clearly asked the lady about the reason which makes me eligible to pay for the same and adding to my surprise, got a weird answer to the same.
Lady : Sir, it is written in the hotel policy that the guest has to pay for damaged goods.
Me : I really do not think that a stain on a bedsheet comes in that category. Please stop using the word DAMAGED for that.
Lady : Sir, the stain is a blood stain and it will not go. To maintain the hotel standards, we will have to change the bedsheet.
Me : Well, I was already furious and this added more to my frustration when she spoke about the HOTEL Standards. Because I knew the kind of standards they had. Also, in the meantime, my cab had reached and it was waiting outside. In a bit of anger and with a loud voice, I asked her to show the hotel policy where it is written that the guest have to pay if there is a stain on the bedsheet. I mean come on, the bedsheet is white, people sleep on that, they keep their bare feet on the same, you can not deny the fact that they will end up leaving the bedsheet in exact same condition as it was at the time of check-in.
I was literally losing it by then. After having stayed in over hundreds of hotels in various cities, this was the most hilarious thing I was hearing from the so called hotel staff. I knew I wasn’t getting any positive response on that. By that time, the other guests around the reception were listening to the conversation and I ended up telling them that no matter what, I was not going to pay them. To my surprise, I could see a couple of security guys within seconds, who came and stood beside me, looking ready to bash me if I uttered any more words. WOW. I was telling myself, this is heights.
I had to leave to catch a flight and obviously, the presence of those big security guys made me a little insecure. I thought of letting it go, because it wouldn’t have ended on a positive note. They asked me for INR 1500 and on asking them again and again, it wasn’t negotiated.
I just paid them and left the hotel. With a thought of never getting into that one. Sometimes, things like this make me wonder, how these hotels cheat on the names of policies and fake standards. It was a completely new experience for me and I seriously wish, I do not encounter it ever again in my life.
To the hotel people : You are a disgrace to the hospitality industry. F*** yourself. You lost a customer for life.