We originally wanted to stay at the Apostolic Residence so part of this review also appears on that page too.
Our initial reservation was made via the Apostolic's website - or so we thought. Having stayed there before we were keen to have the same room; lengthy emails were exchanged and we were assured that all was sorted. We accepted the offer of a free airport transfer and were left at the Apostolic by our driver.
To check in we had to go to the Grand Hotel - instead of then being taken to our room at the Apostolic we were taken to a room in the Grand; not what we booked. We asked what had happened and were told that that our room wasn't available. We were offered another in the Apostolic - after looking at it we saw that there were no curtains; we declined.
With no senior staff on duty (it wasn't late but the staff consisted of a porter and a receptionist with very poor English) we agreed to take the room at the Grand.
The receptionist on duty the morning was great. She apologised for the confusion and offered us the correct room - but said it wasn't available until the following day. ... Due to the fact that we were only in Prague for five nights we didn't want the hassle and agreed that a compromise would be a discount (for which she'd have to see the manager) and a bottle of sparking wine.
Later that day we had the immense displeasure of meeting the 'manager' - probably one of the surliest people we've ever had to deal with. Dismissive, unapologetic and rude, she was the blueprint for how not to deal with unhappy customers. After telling us that we'd booked through the wrong website (we'd apparently booked via an agent who had the same website as the official one) she said that it wasn't her problem that an error had been made - and that the fault was fimly ours.
?! Our fault that they have a dupe website that misleads their customers. Hmmm...
After what felt like an eternity she agreed to a 10% discount and then ended the conversation by sloping off back to her office.
The room itself (312) was good - we had great views of the Old Town Square (with two different view points) and the bed, exceedingly comfortable. The shower was OK but the cubicle was grubby and could have done with a really good clean.
The TV didn't work and neither did the safe. These faults were reported but no action was taken to repair them. The TV wasn't an issue but not having a safe was a pain as we kept our valuables in the hotel safe; and going back and forth to reception was a palava.
Thinking that we'd had our run of bad luck at this hotel there was one final treat for us when checking out - the card machine wasn't working as the phone lines were down. We were paying by credit card and were asked if we'd mind going to the ATM and paying in cash. We refused and the receptionist eventually agreed to take the payment later.
When our friends went to pay with their credit card and the same thing happened to them. Except that they were told that we'd agreed to pay in cash and had gone to the ATM - so that's what they did. ... None of us appreciated them being conned like that - poor service is one thing; to tell a bare-faced lie is something else.
The hotel is keen for people to write good reviews - we received a note that promised us a trip to the Castle if we wrote something positive whilst staying there; and saw another couple being given some chocolates in exchange for the hope of them being kind on here.
A hotel should sell itself - one that needs to persuade guests to write a good review is probably one that needs to take a long hard look at its customer service.
We were immensely disappointed as this was a birthday treat. The location was good and the hotel, nice; just not what we booked. The customer service was appalling and for that, we'd recommend that you look at staying somewhere else.
- Grand Hotel Prague
