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Review of Renaissance Phuket Resort & Sp...

As a Canadian expat living on the island of Phuket...

As a Canadian expat living on the island of Phuket for the past 20 years, my wife and I have had opportunity to experience many of the finer hotels in S.E. Asia, including The Oriental, Raffles, Banyan Tree, Twin Palms, etc.

Recently, I purchased a Spa Package (Revitalize Massage and Fresh Bath for 6,685 Baht incl disc) at the Renaissance Quan Spa in Phuket for my wife as a surprise gift for use will I was away at work in Abu Dhabi where I am employed as a pilot. When I purchased the gift voucher for my wife I had a brief conversation with the spa manager explaining what I wanted to purchase. The spa manager was very nice and arranged for a voucher to be posted to our home address in Phuket, where my wife received it several days latter.

Unfortunately, when my wife arrived for her requested scheduled appointment at 12:00 noon, she found herself waiting for almost 30 minutes despite having been told to be there at 12:00 noon "sharp" by the spa staff when she made her booking the day before.

While waiting for her spa treatment, my wife, who is also Thai, but with much darker skin color than most other Thai's, found herself being ignored and talked down to by the spa receptionist. My wife who is unfortunately accustomed to this in Thai society, found herself on the receiving end of a very unpleasant situation, being talked down to by a hotel staff member because of her darker skin color. She was suppose to have gone for a nice relaxing spa treatment, but found herself upset and angry, while waiting for almost 30 minutes for what was suppose to have been a very pleasant relaxing experience...... It wasn't.

Getting past the way my wife was treated by the desk staff, my wife said that the massage was good and that the masseuse knew what she was doing, but for some reason the spa did not provide the "Bath Package" for which I had also pre-paid. No explanation was given and the spa manager with whom I had previously talked with, was unfortunately not in the office that day.

Driving home from the hotel and spa, my wife phoned me providing me with all the details, adding that she would never go back to the Renaissance Quan Spa, because of the way she was treated by the staff.

The next gift voucher I buy her, will be for a return trip to Banyan Tree.