Thursday, May 14, 2015

Four Points by Sheraton, Kuching

While en-route to my hometown via Kuching, I took the opportunity to try Four Points by Sheraton.

Located just 5 minutes away from the airport, I could understand why it was a favourite place to stay amongst business travellers.

From the outside I was impressed by the modern exterior of the hotel. Considering that few hotels in Sarawak are modern enough or refurbished to adopt the modern decor, I quite liked Four Points for its modern contemporary design. There is no musty odour of old carpet, or lumpy mattresses that haven't been changed for a decade.

View of the room from the entrance

Warm wood colors dominate the room, while yellow lighting creates relaxing ambience to soothe business travelers after a long day at work.

The room is appointed with a queen-sized bed

Modern contemporary design rules while still maintaining the full functionality of the hotel room

The TV cabinet also accommodates a minibar and tea-making facility

Four Points by Sheraton Kuching declares itself as a non-smoking hotel

I am impressed by the non-smoking stance taken by the hotel in their efforts to promote eco friendly practices. 

Lipton tea and Nescafe 3-in-1 for caffeine addicts who enjoy a cuppa first thing in the morning

Marble tiles at the entrance

From another angle of the room

Green frosted glass that separates the bedroom and the bathroom keeps one's privacy while also adhering to the open concept which is becoming more common in modern hotel design.

Simple yet modern bathroom design

Love the colorful packaging of the toiletries

The bathtub sadly is missing one handle despite the hotel being relatively new compared to others

From another angle

The shower cubicle with ceiling mount rain showerhead and hand-held shower

In the wardrobe

Sadly, the hotel service is rather woeful. From the moment I arrived to the minute when I left, the service was such a letdown that I doubted if I should stay here again.

My arrival was greeted by a tired and aloof reception staff who was not interested to find out why the hotel is still charging service charge despite the recent announcement by the Government instructing all hotel and restaurant establishments to cease service charge.

Upon reaching my room, I discovered that the housekeeping staff had forgotten to replenish shower cap and dental kits. So I rang them to request for those items to be brought up. I did not even finish my sentence before the staff hung up on me leaving me fuming on the other end. Around 15 minutes later, a staff knocked on my door and delivered only the dental kits. I was exhausted since it was quite late so I decided not to make a fuss out of it.

Similarly, when I called for room service as I was feeling peck-ish, my calls went unanswered. A staff eventually returned my call but the way he entertained the call made me wonder whether he had ever attended customer service training.

Lastly, I was stressed out during check-out because the staff took ages trying to swipe my credit card despite knowing that I was rushing to catch a connecting flight to my hometown.

There was no sense of urgency or apology offered knowing that I was distressed and kept looking at my watch. Finally after I asked her if it was absolutely necessary for the transaction to go through, she finally asked me to sign an offline version for billing later on. 

It was quite a shame to see such a fine establishment but lacking of trained customer service.

Overall, I may consider to stay here again during family trip (just because the room itself is modern and nicer compared to other older hotels) but staying here as a business traveler may not be the experience I wish to have.

Rating: 6/10

Update: After a brief operation period, Four Points by Sheraton Kuching has now been closed.