Mar 20, 2015 09:27 PM
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We stayed in called Surya Retreat, which is located between Mahabaleshwar & Panchgani & is probably one of the most well known Hotels in that area with a 4-5 star rating.
On arriving at the Hotel we were informed that the Hotel was under renovation hence the Swimming Pool & Health Club & some rooms where being re-done hence were non functional, hence were being offered a discounted rate of Rs. 3500 per night, which in itself is pretty high, however looking at the hotel reputation we decided to go ahead with the deal.
When we entered the room we checked with the housekeeping staff if the A/C was working properly, he promptly put on the A/C and informed us that it was in order. We then went out for shopping & on returning in the evening we realized after sometime that the A/C was not working, only the blower was on. When we complained we were informed that someone would be at the room to check the same, however no one came. Since the balcony window was open it was quite cool hence we forgot about it & closed the balcony door & went to sleep. Within a few hours it started becoming warm & we got up due to the discomfort, we called the reception at about 2:30 a.m. & were informed that they would be sending someone to rectify the issue.
When no one came for half an hour we tried calling again however there was no reply, so I had to walk till the reception in the middle of my sleep & in the middle of the night, where I found everyone was asleep. On waking them up one hotel staff called another & was informed that the A/C plant was not working, hence the issue cannot be resolved. On asking him why the same was not informed to us during checkin at the hotel, I was informed that only the Manager in the morning could help me out.
We obviously checked out the next day & went to the Front Desk, where the front office person apologized for the same. On informing him that we had a totally sleepless night due to the non working A/C & that we would not have checked in if we were informed about it earlier & that the room rate should be considerably reduced if not totally waived due to the discomfort caused to us by the Hotel, he promptly accepted his mistake & waived off Rs. 500 which we had to pay for our previous nights dinner.
However on informing that it was not enough, he informed us that we needed to speak to their Front Office Manager & connected us to Mr. Santosh Kamble, who turned out to be one of the most rude persons we had come across. He not only refused to accept the Hotels mistake & give us any discount, he infact blamed us that in a centrally A/C hotel, we did not check if the A/C was working & that it was all our fault for not asking them during check-in. We were astonished with this reply.
I don’t know anyone who checks if the A/C is working or not in a central A/C Hotel of this category [ though we had casually checked with the housekeeping staff ]. On informing him that we will lodge a complaint against them, he was so arrogant & rude, he informed us “ karo jo karna hai, main bhi tumko dekh lega “ – total arrogance as the local authorities there are all in connivance with these local Hotels who openly cheat customers visiting & on being pointed out their mistake, they just brush it off with their Dadagiri.
Such hotels should not be allowed to function at all by the authorities. We are already in the process of lodging complains to the concerned departments/ authorities.
