The missing charm…..The Ritz-Carlton Singapore

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  • Anonymous
    Guest

    M.Moose
    Participant

    My wife and I recently visited Singapore and stayed a night at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel – once acclaimed to be 6-7 star rating. Stayed there about 10 years ago, can’t say it’s the same. They have somehow lost it’s charm and personalised service.

    We were celebrating our anniversary. Despite informing the hotel earlier, no effort was made to recognise the special occassion. The rooms looked dated (though the bathrooms are still unbeatable!). Had to pay to use the tennis court!

    We checked out the next day and went to the St. Regis. It was a totally different world there! Bose sound system in your room – you cant’ get better than that! Butler service was excellent. We were give complimentary breakfast (for the special occassion) and the hotel also gave us a small cake in our room.

    I used to speak highly of The Ritz-Carlton Singapore, however after my recent experience, I’m less inclined to think so. The St. Regis is a better benchmark of a luxury hotel.


    jyoung2009
    Participant

    Thanks for sharing! Must be really a disappointment to experience the least expected from an expensive and a reputable hospitality service provider in Singapore. I’ve long suspected that many established names in the hospitality industry are threading on their past glory these days and not really living up to it.


    wanula1
    Participant

    I was fortunate enough to attend an awards dinner at the Ritz-Carlton a couple of weeks ago and I have to agree that I was unimpressed with the overall service. You practically had to tackle the serving staff to the ground to get a drink from them and even then it was odds on that your requested drink would arrive

    However I don’t think this is just a Ritz Carlton issue as I generally have found that service in most Singapore hotels and SQ has gone down hill lately. Maybe we have got so used to Singapore generally delivering a good service that when it doesn’t it becomes more noticeable?

    In saying that the Intercontinental Hotel in Singapore last week was at its usual high standard


    TomasReisinger
    Participant

    Hello, i stay in Singapore very often. I can recommend Conrad Hotel in Two Temasek Blvrd. and Mandarin Oriental near Marina bay and Four Seasons and St. Regis (how you wrote too) near Orchard Rd. All of four hotels still have the best standards! Have a nice day and enjoy Singapore.


    gintonic
    Participant

    this statement is certainly true…

    we used to stay there to celebrate my daughter’s birthday or near christmas over the past few years but since last Aug in 2009, i too felt that the RC has lost its warmth and welcome though the professionalism was still there.

    the only good part of the RC which many hotels here still lack is the genuine willingness to accept kids as guests at the club floor which is a true welcome for parents like me. i believe these changes has to do with the management and perhaps the cost cutting came with the result of appearing aloof.

    have to say that intercontinental still surprise us with their desire to please, and i am impressd by their superb initiative even at their dining outlets, which showed high consistency in svc levels throughout the hotel. mandarin oriental is definitely worth a commendation for their service with the exception of barring kids at the club lounge which means that as a parent, i hardly have a chance to enjoy the food and drinks there since there is no one to watch the kids and so staying at a suite there isnt quite worth the money.

    the worst i have had of late is at the swissotel where i have had to complain to management. incredible but true but after rejecting a room that stank terribly of smoke at 10pm on arrival with our 2 kids in tow, we were thrown into another and the duty manager called in the morn to tell us that the housekeeping has confirmed with her that what we said is untrue!!! (which implies we were liars, and then when asked if she went to the room personally to check, the answer was no). shocking aint it?!

    the reservation team of conrad shows a great lack of respect (they demanded to know where i was calling from before they could bother to assist… i wanted to tell the person i was from venus just to check her response!). they sent me a confirmation email with italics, colorful highlights and even a change of font and font size to emphasize that my kids will not be permitted in the club lounge no matter how well behaved or discreet we are. not very tactful nor friendly. first and last time for me.

    pan pac refused entry to my hungry kids at the club floor when i checked in at 8.30pm into the exec suite and there wasnt even a single guest in the club lounge and i had wanted to give the hungry kids a snack while i asked for a menu to order room svc for their dinner – bad call judgement there which shows the immaturity u can expect from the staff manning these club floors).

    gotta say that the fairmont here delivers value for money. great service, unexpected delivery of professionalism, and believe it or not, an in room dining menu which impresses and when i called for an order, the lady actually makes her recommendations!! i find that very exceptional, i enjoyed the great personalised service, right up to the doorman and valet. we stayed at a raffles inc suite and i would return because of the good experience. the very lovely staff even delivered my in room dining order personally and since there was a small hiccup, she organised for a complimentary dessert at prego where she learnt of our reservation the next day. very very impressive.

    conclusion: though the RC has fallen short in some ways, they make up for it in others. the staff on the club floor has consistently shown higher EQ than most of them i have encountered in these 5 star hotels. will attempt to try the st regis soon… hope they pass my litmus test 😉

    cheers and happy lunar new year!


    PaulJennings
    Participant

    I would recommend the Traders in Singapore. The Traders is the ‘express’ brand of Shangri-la. Think comfortable rather than luxury, but this is Singapore so it is high standard. Nice rooms and good service, with keen pricing. Club upgrade is not expensive and well worth it (free club lounge, breakfast, early check-in and late check out till 6pm – very useful for flights back to Europe.)


    ffidrac
    Participant

    Invariably stay in Shangri-La. Horizon club rooms (esp Premier ones – double size) good, free in room broadband, cooked to order breakfast. Horizon club staff variable, but generally helpful. Kids have entered the club lounge (and usually well behaved – see other thread elsewhere). The main problem has been the expansion of hotels over recent years, and poaching of the best staff by other hotels. Keeping good staff is a problem (especially at the demanding high end)


    VintageKrug
    Participant

    I still like this hotel; the bathrooms with their sweeping octagonal framed views of Singapore are worth the price of the stay in themselves:

    http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/38/a4/4b/the-bathroom-with-a-view.jpg

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