Oct 20, 2010 11:56 AM
7758 Views
I have never stayed at any of their properties but have dined in their restaurants in Bengaluru and Mysuru on umpteen occasions. It is indeed a very good group of hotels in the luxury segment. However what I write about is something else which takes away the sheen from their otherwise impeccable image.
Based on my past visits, they approached me with a Royal Orchid Gold(ROG) membership card which, according to them, gave many privileges, notable amongst them being discounts on F&B, room charges, a free night stay at any one of their properties, and several dining vouchers. This apart, ROG was to take care of getting my bookings done and be my interface with the hotel. I only had to give them my travel itinerary. All this cost Rs. 6000/-+ tax.
They came all the way from Shivajinagar to Marathahalli(almost 20 kms in city traffic) just to collect a cheque for Rs. 6617/-. They handed me a letter which was to help me enjoy the privileges of ROG till my membership card got ready. I was impressed.
The problems started thereafter. I wanted to book their property, Hotel Metropole in Mysuru, for 3 nights during the Dasara time(October 15 - 17, 2010). I wanted one night to the treated as the complimentary stay that came with the membership card and the other two nights to be billed to me with the 20% discount offered with the ROG membership. When I called up ROG, they said that since it was festival time, I need to call the hotel directly to check if they have vacancies. So, contrary to their earlier promise, the ROG was no longer the interface with the hotel. Fine. I called up the hotel and they said that rooms were available on those days but I needed to call up ROG for the privileges. So I go back to ROG and they send me back to the hotel. After this ping pong continued for a while I gave a piece of my mind to the ROG folks. That's when one Mr. Vikas Bhatia who is the manager at ROG called me up and informed me of the fine print in the offer. The most salient points in the fine print boil down to:
1. No privileges on festival days(Dasara, Diwali, Christmas, New Year, . the list is endless)
2. No privileges on Saturdays and Sundays.
There are several more and one needs to read through all of them to realize how farcical the membership is.
Now who wants to travels to Mysuru on a weekday? For that matter even for the other places too the same condition applies. If at all anyone travels on a weekday, it is most likely to be on some business. If it is on business, it is usually the company who pays for it. So why should I pay for a membership card when the discounts will be enjoyed by the company?
Now the icing on the cake. The whole program is managed by a company called Radius Concepts. They are a different entity from the Royal Orchid group of hotels. By their own admission over phone, the membership card may not be honoured by any of the Royal Orchid group of hotels depending upon the prevailing conditions. So Radius Concepts is using the Royal Orchid name by the permission of the Royal Orchid group of hotels to sell their membership cards but Royal Orchid group of hotels is well within their rights to refuse to honour the membership card issued by Radius Concepts. What a con job! No wonder the hotel was sending me back to ROG.
I finally told them that I do not need the card and they can have the money too since they said that it is non-refundable. The case would not stand in a consumer court since they have the fine print in place. So I prefer not to pursue it there for a mere Rs. 6617/- That is less than a one night's room charge in any of their properties.
But my sincere advice to other consumers. Do not fall for it! After all Rupees six thousand six hundred and seventeen is indeed Rupees six thousand six hundred and seventeen and we have to earn it by hard work. I have foregone my money but you shouldn't have to. Besides, if we can afford to pay for the normal room charge then why fall for such dubious discounts. Pay the full charge and stay without any obligations. If you feel they are expensive, then look for other reasonable alternatives.
