Great Service, not so great hotel
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 04/12/06
My stay at the Hotel Royal Orchid was cut short for a reason. I stayed at the beginning of April 06 for a week. I stayed in a top floor (5th floor) room for a rate of $300 per night. I am not sure why this hotel in a 5 star class.
Dislikes--
The walls are paper thin!!! You can hear the TV, phone ringing and not to mention the door bell from rooms next to you. The linens including the robe hung in the bathroom had stains on them. The furniture was banged up pretty bad. The shower would not stay on, because the lever one would pull out to make it a shower, kept slipping back. I had to MacGyver the clothesline string to keep the shower running. Being next to the golf course was more of a drawback for me. First, the Golf Course has an open area where they throw all of their trash. This causes a pack of about 15 dogs to stay close. And for some reason at 3am, they will go nuts barking. Second, the Golf Course burns their trash. Coupled with the open sewer line and you get a very foul odor that will travel into your room. The outdoor functions were fun to see/hear the first night, but every night until midnight, got ridiculous. My room was also quiet small, with a very tiny bathroom.
Likes--
I would say the food at Ginsengs and Geoffreys was good. The staff is very attentive, and I give them high marks. They also had happy hour in the Exec Lounge from 7-8pm that was nice. There was a pool on the roof, but it was only 4 feet deep.
I ended up calling the Leela Palace to see if I could get a room there at a similar rate. I got the Conservatory Room for the same rate of $300 per night (Corporate Rate). And WOW....if you can, stay at the Leela. The room is twice the size, with a huge all marble bathroom. I would highly recommend this place, although the food and other items are a tad more expensive, it is worth it, especially if you are on business travel.