Horror story
Written: Feb 23 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Impeccable service. Opulent rooms. Excellent restaurant.
Cons: Management is imperious and rude. Billing is untrustworthy. Food overpriced.
The Bottom Line: Stay here at your own peril. And read the bill closely, because room service is not the only way they will chisel you.
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| profrabbit's Full Review: LC Hotel Principe Di Savoia |
The Principe boasts a celebrity clientele including Madonna. My stay there was pleasant enough, since the decor and the service were outstanding. Just before checking out, I would have described the place as a luxurious treat, excepting the wildly overpriced food (11 Euros for a bottle of water!).
But checking out ruined the entire holiday for me. When I examined my bill, I found that my room rate had jumped by nearly 100% after the first night. When I interrogated the cashier, he informed me I had had a guest the second night. This was absolutely untrue. I said, figuring my word should be enough. I spent each night in my room alone. I am a married, professional woman, so it was important to me to establish this point. But he simply refused to believe me.
Finally I was able to understand how the management had decided I had a "guest" (at this point it was clear, from their cold and judgmental attitude, that by guest they meant lover). On my second day I had made a lot of purchases in a designer boutique. One of the store's salesmen, a very likeable black American gay man, kindly offered to deliver the packages to my hotel room after he got off work. He did so, and I offered him dinner as recompense. I called down to the hotel restaurant, who said they would have a table ready in 10 minutes. This fellow and I watched the American ice skating at the Olympics on TV for 10 minutes, then went down, ate dinner, after which he left.
Except that the Principe cashier insisted that he'd spent the night, and then went on charging me a double occupancy rate for the remainder of my stay. After I hotly contested the charges, the cashier reluctantly and resentfully reduced the charges for every night except the night the fellow delivered my purchases. He refused categorically to change the one night. Fuming, I paid the bill, then took it around to reception and asked to see the manager. The receptionist refused to let me see him, and said he could take care of me. I explained the misunderstanding, and to my surprise he stonewalled me as rudely as the cashier. What was I doing with a man in my room if he wasn't an overnight guest? Why hadn't the man left the packages with the bell captain, or why hadn't I met him in the bar? His implication was that I was immoral, and lying.
Now I was so angry I got louder. The receptionist, rather than be embarrassed in front of other guests, quickly agreed to credit me the extra room charge for the one night. But, his look said, not because he believed me.
This altercation made me late for my plane, too late to get a customs stamp for the tax refund on my purchases (a loss of some $400), and ruined my holiday. I find it incredible that a hotel which boasts of hosting the likes of Madonna would question the truth of a decent married woman. .
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
profrabbit
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Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
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