We reserved and paid for our rooms in this hotel as early as October.
I arrived in Bangkok Dec 8. It was my first time to shop in MBK. I waited for my sister and my husband (who flew in via late flight) and we all checked in at 330am. The hotel has a long driveway from the main road, but you can already hear the loud throbbing music of the hotel's bar from far away. We thought at first it was a bar from another part of Siam Square. To our dismay, it came from the hotel. In the lobby, we could barely hear each other amid the noise. Too bad it was prepaid, because that was already an ominous sign.
I washed some underwear and clothes I bought. I do not like keeping dirty clothes. My sister brought an anniversary cake for me and my husband, and put it in the ref. We were woken by the loud drilling and construction noise at 7am. Tired and sleep deprived, it was worse than a hangover. So we asked to be transferred to a quieter room. We then went out to go shopping. That day, we found out that some stores offer a tax refund. So when I went back to MBK I asked the store if they can issue an official receipt & VAT form for my purchases the day before. The store complied; the print out was of course dated 9 Dec. The form stated that customs might want to check the items so I reviewed the items. I discovered that I was missing the clothes I washed, and the anniversary cake. So I called Novotel's Dial a Smile around 10pm and asked them to please return my things. They said they'll call back, but did not.
That night, we thought we could fianlyl gewt some shut-eye. As it turns out, the hotel bar's noise and obnoxious music could be heard til the wee hours. Much as I hated it, and mucha s i hated dirty clothes, ir efrained form movign or washing clothes since I was afraid I'd lose more things.
Next morning, I called again and asked about my missing things. They said they could not search the room for some reason. I checked again on Dec 10, and they said they could not find my things, even insinuating that the items did not exist. On Dec 11, they returned only my underwear. It is strange that they found one item and not the other items with it, so I asked the front desk about this on our way out. The two clerks just shrugged and turned away.
During checkout, we were charged for items that we never consumed. They said it was because housekeeping saw empty bottles in our room. So I told the clerk, "You mean like this?" and showed her the juice I was drinking. She nodded. We bought our drinks from Paragon's Gourmet Market, which was just across the street. The hotel's mini bar and menu does not even carry that item!
Insulted, I asked why they did that, and why they returned only my underwear, which was with my other clothes. They said that since housekeeping did not turn in other items, it means the other items did not exist. Insulted, I showed them the receipt just to prove that the items are existent. Meantime, my sister already went out, and I asked my husband to go ahead with his business meeting. I was supposed to be in that meeting too, but I had the hotel staff to reckon with. Hotel security then insisted on searching our bags as though we were criminals. I asked them what they were looking for, and they said that my sister probably stole my clothes and/or that I was lying! Enraged I told them they had no right to search my things, that they do not have an idea what they are looking for anyway. But they insulted me even more. They treatened me, so I complied with the search. After all, I was telling the truth, and had nothing to fear.
After over an hour of frantic searching (and nearly disfiguring our luggage), they asked me what the missing blouse and pants looked like. My sister also bought a shirt like it with a different colour, and they demanded for my sister's receipt. I stared in disbelief at this new outrage. Another security personnel said that I just had to describe the missing items. I told them it had a similar neckline to what I was wearing. Security suddenly yanked me from behind. They then told me that what I was wearing looked old, and therefore that made me a liar. Huh?!? So now, they were discriminating me for wearing comfy clothes, on top of their injury and numerous insults.
They then said that they will just deduct the cost from our bill. I told them I already paid our bill at checkout. It was not the money. I wanted them to return my missing items, especially since one item was sentimental. I wanted them to apologize SINCERELY. I was just asking them to be civil and decent.
All this time they never apologized. All they did was heap insult upon insult, cause embarassment and stress; on top of them losing my things. The thing is, Thais have a sing-song tone, which makes them sound polite even when they are far from it.
Disgusted, I left for a meeting. When we got back, it was just to get our our bags to head for the airport. Our airport limo already arrived so we started loading our bags.
My sister's laptop bag had a padlock, and suddenly it was missing. The hotel staff broke open our laptop bag in our absence, and of course without permission.
We were seething. The duty manager approached us, not to say sorry but to accost me with more insults. They said that we were liars, that they owed us nothing, etc etc. And she tried to keep us from going to the airport.
So I finally set poise aside and loudly told her to back off. I told her that the fact is, they lost my things, that they never apologized, and they did nothing but insult us and aggravate the situation.
She then ran towards my sister and accosted her. So my sister told her we were too mad, and asked her to please go away. The manager wouldn't. She followed us to the door and kept insutling us in her sing-song tone.
Novotel Siam's staff lost my things. They never apologized, and instead showered us with a barrage of insults. And yes, they discriminated against us.
So yes, this hotel is a trip to hell. There are many other hotels with a great price and great service in the area. Unless you are a masochist and badly in need of a beating, do not go to this hotel.
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