the Fullerton Hotel. Singapore
December 01, 2007 by Chris | permalink
it must have done something to be known by the locals as the first six star hotel in Singapore. I have seen none of it. The staff at the door smile widely as they open it and unnecessarily offer to help me pull my wheelie up the four steps. enter the door to an inner sanctum. the building was once a post office and was turned into a hotel with a large vacant interior space. the check-in staff were all but sullen. they made it clear that not only was i was lucky to be here, but to be served by them at all. not even the W in NewYork front desk had so much attitude. I asked specifically NOT to be put across from an elevator as the incessant 'dinging' can drive me batty. it is one of the those sounds that as soon as it gets into your consciousness, it does not leave it. i get to me room and, yes, i am directly across from an elevator. i did not even go in the room. back to the desk. 'sorry sir, nothing we can do. we will move you tomorrow'. he used the 'we are totally full' trump card which i am not so much of a jerk to call. the dinging did drive me batty as i finished up my talk for the increasingly encroaching morning. the balcony had a view to die for. the balcony doors cannot stay open which is a great pity because the weather here is pretty good and a bit of fresh air would have flushed out the slight mildew smell.
day 2. i let the front desk know that i have packed my bag as instructed and would be back in the afternoon. returned after the first talk at about 1330 and found that nothing had been done. i needed to prepare my second talk so i aksed if i could go back to the old room just for an hour to get the presetnation finished. i felt like i was asking for the opening ticket on the moon shuttle, but did recieve a keycard. worked away. finished. came back down at 1500 ane let them know i would be back at arond 1900. they assured me all would be fine, and i assumed, that it would be. ha. came back after second talk at 2000 hours to ask for a room key from smiless front-desk staff. lots of paper shuffling. 'you must be going out for dinner, when will you return?' no, i am not going out for dinner now, i need to change my clothes first 'oh, well the room is not ready' no, that is not possible. you have nkown all day that i would return at 1900 and here it is 2000 and you must have a room that is ready for me. 'sorry sir, please wait here' .....'my colleague will go check on the rooms, please wait here'.....five minutes later i am handed a room key and told that all is ready. no apology! get to the room. no luggage. as i am about to call down, a knock on the door brings my bag. again, no apologies. now, i am not the kind of person that goes arond begging for others to apologize, but i found that the poor room management which was clearly evident by my experience would indicate to me that this place has issues they need to deal with.
can it really be that bad? well, the black mould in the shower caulking should not be there. really...in a how many star hotel is this supposed to be? but then again, the big glass shower door doesn't close properly so water can escape.
there is the requisite room tea-water boiler in the room. however, the only plug is on the other side of the room half way up the wall [see flickr]. the closets are uselss for pieces of luggage and there seem to be two minibar pieces of furniture. [again, niether of them with mains plugs].
the location is superb. the view over the old colonial buildings romantic. if you stay here, bring some scented candles. this must have either been given its stars on a promise, or they are falling.
don't go back.
