Treated very rudely
I arrived with a group of interior designers at about 11:00 am which was too early to check in. We were in town for a factory tour. We were told that 3:00 was check in and they could not allow us to check in early. No rooms were available. Being in the hospitality industry, I understood this. We questioned if there was any chance if rooms were ready early, could we get any. They firmly said no and became ruder by the minute. Given we had arrived after a 15 hour journey, we were tired. We went and explored the beautiful town and I walked back early, around 1:30 to see if there had been any change. Sitting in the lobby, I watched them check in multiple parties into their rooms early. When I challenged them about this, they said the rule applied to our rooms as they wanted us to be together. I told them that I was willing to upgrade to get a room early but they refused. I told them that there was no reasons we had to have rooms together as we were all strangers and they simply stonewalled me. At 3:01 they let us check in. The rooms were on the bottom floor and were noisy due to street and dumpster. they were small, dark, worn and very mid market. I have to conclude we were given the worse rooms in the hotel. The two young men working the desk, continued to be unfriendly for our entire stay. There was nothing hospitable in their attitude towards any one in our group. There was a young woman who was friendly when she was on shift. I had to wonder if it was because we were a group of Americans? It was ironic given we were a group of designers and this was supposedly the 'design hotel'. On the positive side, the hotel is near the train station and easy to access. it is also just across the river from the beautiful town center and close to fine restaurants. The in house breakfast was good and the wait staff friendly, Dinner was excellent food and service as well. Too bad they decided to treat us so badly. Huh. I travel internationally several times a year. asking for a early check-in is common and almost always given no matter what country I go to. I understand a full house and housekeeping but one would have thought that they could have been a bit more accommodating. Waiting until 3:01 to check us in was a statement all by itself. Early check in is a common courtesy in hospitality, especially for business travelers.
