“Don't let appearances fool you... Old style Soviet service...DON'T STAY HERE!”
So I was really hoping that in Senator Apartments, I had finally found a consistent and value-based alternative to the high priced hotels in Kiev. I couldn't be more disappointed.
On the surface, this places looks the real deal - new modern rooms, clean bathrooms, quiet location and decent curtains that black out light. Also l'Occitane tolietries in the room...Free WIFI. Unfortunately, that's where the positives end.
Instead of charging me in Euros at checkout, they charged me in local currency at my arrival! At a rate that my credit card company would not match. Of course the unhelpful staff said: "it's written in our terms and conditions" on our website - I booked the room via booking.com. The rate was 125€ per night for a room.
I got up late on Sunday and asked to have my room cleaned. I was CHARGED 5 euros for "towel change"!!!!!
I requested a king/double bed - it was confirmed by booking.com but my room had two single beds that Senator apartments put next to each other and so in the middle of the night, I nearly fell through the middle.
All in all, back to Soviet Style attitudes and service - the company that owns the property: DEOL Property Management Ltd are unfortunately the same as every other property management company in Kiev...disappointing.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
14 July 2010
Dear Guest,
Firstly, let me thank you for your feedback, your opinion is very important for us and please accept our apologies for the inconveniences that you experienced during your stay in our complex and let me explain you the situation.
According to Ukrainian banking system, no companies in Ukraine can charge credit cards in any other currency but national hryvna, otherwise it is illegal. Please note that we accept payments in Ukrainian currency at the exchange rate of National Bank of Ukraine as other high ranking hotels in Ukraine. We would also like to inform you that especially for guests who want to pay in EUR and this matter is crucial, we implemented secure online payment system through our website and you can pay via online whether you wish your credit card to be charged in EUR.
Please accept our sincere apologies for the problems experienced with your bed. We assure you that this matter will be resolved with our staff and this situation will not happen again. We also kindly ask you to accept our deepest regrets for misunderstanding with towel change. Full cleaning with towels and bed linens changing is provided twice a week during the full cleaning of the apartment and light cleaning is provided every day. Towel change is considered an additional service if provided more than twice a week. All our procedures and policies can be found in the Guest Directory in each apartment . However, our personnel was to inform you about the extra cost and we apologize if you were not informed about that.
Once again please accept our deepest regrets for inconveniences, we do hope you will give us an opportunity to serve you in the future and to prove that we are able to provide our guests with European level of service.
Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions or would like to give us a second chance and stay with us again.
Kind regards,
Galina
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC