We went for a staycation to relax, but the lackada...

We went for a staycation to relax, but the lackadaisical attitude of this hotel ended up stressing more than relaxing us.

First things first: the hotel and its grounds are absolutely beautiful, which is why we chose the place to begin with. The spa was another reason but as you will see later, we would have been better off going to any other hotel. We paid full price for our rooms, and certainly did not deserve to be treated as badly as we were.

I booked the rooms one month in advance, during which I specifically enquired about the spa. I was told that hotel guests were entitled to a 10% discount, and that I could book the spa during check in.

Foolish me assumed that this meant that there were spaces reserved for hotel guests - so I was mightily disappointed to find no more availability on check in 3 days before the stay. I emailed the hotel and was informed that I should have booked the spa 3 weeks before and it is on a "first come first served" basis. The hotel has thus far not replied to my question on why I was not told this one month ago.

On the day of check in itself, I had already informed the hotel that we would be arriving at 1 pm, but our rooms were not available yet (which is fair as official check in time is 3 pm), so we went for high tea while we waited. Unfortunately, at 4 pm the rooms were not ready yet, and we only got our rooms past 5 pm.

Our pool reservations were also screwed up by the hotel, and we were only at the pool for a few minutes when we were asked to leave because the staff claimed our time was up.

It became a running joke how slowly things took to come when we requested for items to be brought to the room. A request for 2 hard pillows became 1 soft pillow brought to the room, which I had to walk down to the concierge myself to rectify. A request for cutlery made 2 days ago, as well as to fix our TV remote, has still not been addressed at time of check out.

Dirty dishes from the night before were left outside our door for another night which must have delighted the resident lizards.

During check out, we were billed for breakfast which we did not have. When I disputed that, a manager appeared who did not seem to believe me and kept asking if I was sure my friends had not gone out of the room for breakfast. I was kept waiting while she personally went to the restaurant to investigate if this nefarious felon of a hotel guest was trying to pull a fast one on her. In the end, she told me that it had been taken off the bill and walked away with nary an apology.

Our stay at Sofitel has left us with a bad taste in our mouths. Needless to say, we will not be back. I have had better service from a backpacker's hostel