I hosted my wedding function at this hotel, during August. Needless to say months of planning had gone into this and since the hotel would not allow outside catering or decorations, we had to liase with them to sort out what we wanted.

Come function day, things did not proceed as smoothly as they should have. For starters, the hotel did not provide adequate lighting for the event and the place was somewhat dimly lit.
We were told that candles would be decorated all over the place but what they failed to specify was that they would not be lit..(Apparently the glass they had over them could not withstand the heat....!!)

At dinner time, the re-filling of dishes was poorly done as guests had to wait a long time. The dessert we had requested was not served, neither was a complementary dish that we were expecting (and were told about). We were later told that on the same day, there was a VIP function being hosted inside so their resources were distracted. This alone should point out just how much importance the hotel gives to its honest paying customers!

Furthermore, even though we had requested the hotel to make arrangements for 250 guests give or take a few, they had ended up laying tables for 350 guests and charged us for over 300 guests. Even though by our count we had less that 270..

Retrsopectively, we shouldn't have paid them the full amount for all the above imcompetencies but did so since the staff on duty had pleaded that they would lose their jobs otherwise. We however told them that we would continue to pursue the matter with higher management.

Unfortunately the disappointments did not end there. With our function, we had hired a bridal/wedding suite as a package. The lady who was coordinating all this said that the room would be decorated with flowers. Needless to say, it wasn't. (Let me also point out at this stage that this was the same lady who had coordinated the wedding function...surprise, surprise..)

I had also tipped a bell-boy/waiter a hefty amount (Rs100--good tip by Karachi standards) to make sure he put the flower basket I got for my wife, in the fridge in their kitchen downstairs so that it would still be fresh after the end of the function. Guess what... it wasn't done...

Our suite, though clean was a disappointment in terms of room service and the bathroom. We ordered a banana split from room service (they didn't know what it was...had to tell them!) ... and an hour later when no one turned up, I called to ask what had happened. Apparently there was some computer error and they hadn't been able to log my request. How hard would it have been to write it by hand or at least let us know instead of making us wait over an hour till we called them!!

The bathroom tiles had cracks on them and the flush looked old and worn. The shower tray had drainage problems and water would start logging back.

My cousin who helped organise the room bookings (and was kind enough to decorate it for us when he did a spot check and found that the hotel couldn't be bothered) lodged a complaint with management. The GM agreed to reduce the room bill for inconveniences faced.. however on settling time he quoted us about 14% more than what he had initially agreed ...upon arguing with him, the GM (a Mr. Mufti <---name and shame!) told my cousin to 'cut the crap!'

The 'pleasantries' of this 'gentleman' extended further when my aunt (who was the main event organiser) called him to chase up on our complaints about the event and to get a refund arranged. He was extremely rude to her and told her that the hotel should just have stopped the number of guests at 250 and not allowed a single additional person through. He then stated that we were not getting a single penny back and slammed the phone on her!

So the moral of the story is, stay as far away from the Carlton Hotel, Karachi as you can for this is one poorly run establishment. One just has to look at the attitude of the General Manager (yes YOU Mr. Mufti) and the APPALLING way he treats his customers (ladies too!) ... enough said...

just to give you an update, we served a legal notice to the Hotel regarding the above events (i.e. to try to get some of our money back) and they have ignored it so far...