We stayed here for Christmas but soon after check in to our room my wife went to pull a towel off the shelf in the bathroom and caught a shard of chrome plate in her finger - very painful and lots of blood. On closer inspection much of the chrome plate on the shelf rails was peeling off. I returned to reception and asked to given another room but the two ther rooms the hotel was prepared to let us switch to had towel rails with exactly the same problem. Eventually we had a call from the duty manager to ask how my wife's finger was and to offer us free breakfast the next day as compensation !!
After viewing the restaurant we decided to book Christmas Day lunch at the Novotel which was exceptionally good and wish we had stayed at that hotel but we were pre-paid at the Holiday Inn so were stuck.
Around 2.15 on Boxing Day morning an earthquake struck which, although only 5.7 on the scale, was quite scary. Slightly more scary was that there was no contact from hotel staff and no answer from reception which made us wonder if the hotel was actually staffed at night. Not being used to living with earthquakes we went out in to the hallway to see if we could find out what we should be doing and found other guests in the same quandry but no staff to be seen.
We reached the conclusion that the hotel must be unmanned but that as it had withstood the earlier quake in September, we should probably stay put - just as well as we found when daylight broke that a number of older buildings near the hotel had fallen over onto pavements and into the road.
When we came to check out later that morning I mentioned the lack of staff during the quake and the problems we'd had with the towel racks. The rather snooty old guy on reception, without making eye contact, could only bring himself to say he was "sorry the room was not to our liking" !!!
IHG just don't seem to have any control over their franchised outlets which means that booking a stay at a Holiday Inn (or Intercontinental Hotel for that matter) is a lottery.
After our experiences with IHG hotels in New Zealand and Australia we've decided to stop playing the IHG lottery.
Accor group hotels here we come !
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
7 February 2011
I am disappointed to read that you feel that your stay with us was not up to the usual high standard we pride ourselves on. I have fully investigated your comments and feedback and can respond as below, I am only sorry that more was not brought to my attention at the time of your stay with us.
As part of our refurbishment of all guest bathrooms new curved shower rods are being installed, along with new shower curtains. The hotel was not aware that the room originally allocated had issues in regards to the chrome. Any maintenance incidents are noted in the maintenance diary and brought to attention at the daily morning meeting.
In regards to the Boxing Day quake allow me to assure you that there were as on duty two key and well trained staff members. The hotel has also stood up exceptionally well to all major quakes and subsequent after shocks and is fully structurally sound.
Following the earthquake that morning, both staff donned high visibility vests and stationed themselves in the lobby area. They then turned the radio on and listened for official versions of the incident from the media. Rather than call each and every room to confirm there were no issues they came to a joint decision that they would not disturb the guests further, and would only evacuate the guests should there be a further shake.
During this time they also dealt with guests who arrived from the airport, and fielding telephone calls from guests throughout the hotel reassuring them that all was well. They did this in a friendly and courteous manner advising the guests that they would take no risks with their safety and should they feel it was necessary the hotel would have been evacuated immediately.
Some guests chose to make their way to the lobby, these guests who remained in the lobby were reassured that the hotel would take no risks with their personal safety and guests were kept fully informed of the situation from reports from the radio. The hotel also accommodated guests from the opposite hotel who had been evacuated. These guests and the hotel felt very appreciative of our hospitality and many of them shook hands with our staff as they left.
In regards to the lifts, they returned to their default positions due to the quake All guest access ways are clear and well light and all guest rooms have emergency torches should they be required. I can assure you that once a certain amount of normality had returned to the hotel the Duty Manager completed a full physical check of all floors to ensure that all was well and secure. I can assure you that our staff followed all agreed procedures following any emergency although we appreciate that times such as these are upsetting for all involved.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
