Novotel Euston, London - passed!

Not sure why but many hotels were fully booked in London this week, so I finally had to settle for the Novotel Euston outside King's Cross and St Pancras...not the best location! But hey, I had no choice.

When I got there, the receptionist from Japan did not speak too clearly and I was tired, so I just got my room card and took the lift up to...the 16th floor, my god, I was on the top floor!

As soon as I entered the room I was amazed by the view in the bedroom, overlooking the whole of London. Then I opened a door, and a whole flat was there with dining room, huge lounge and sofa, another TV, a bar, and a desk. 1 bathroom and 3 toilets, so I grabbed the phone and called reception.

-"Hem, it seems there is a mistake, this is awfully big room, I did not ask for this, can you confirm the price please?"

- "Hi Sir, you got upgraded as the normal rooms were all booked"

This was a good suprise! I did decide to test room service. I ordered stuffed vine tomatoes with mozarella and salmon fishcakes...with icecubes and tabasco. 30 mins later, I got it all but no tabasco, just a homemade spicy sauce. I proceeded to eat my starter, ouch! That was not what I ordered, just sliced tomatoes with red onions. I called room service again, and explained that this is not what I had ordered, so they apologised and resent straight away my starter. In the meantime I ate my tomatoes, so when the proper dish arrived, the waiter asked for the wrong one. When I told him I was hungry and that I had eaten them, he said it was alright.

The main dish was delicious, it was Salmon fishcakes on a bed of sautéed spinach with vanilla and rosemary cream sauce, great combination! I told the waiter to congratulate the chef.

Pleasant evening with a lovely sunset over London.

The next day, I decided to test their speed for check out. I called them before going down the 16 floors and asked them to prepare the invoice. Once I had gone down the 16 floors, the invoice was ready, but the chinese trainee receptionist managed to break the credit card billing machine and had to ask for help. As I was telling them I was going to miss my train if they did not hurry, they told me that they were going to send me the receipt, but the address was not even correct. I remarked and they apologised...

Apart from the checking out episode, which was a bit amateurish, the place and the services were excellent.

Novotel Euston

Edwardian Radisson, London - failed!!!

The Vanderbilt hotel now owned and run by the Radisson luxuary brand, Radisson Edwardian, is certainly a looker in the south Kensigton area of London. I decided to give it a series of tests to double check whether it was to match what it claims it stands for:

"The Edwardian Era was the age of innovation. For so many reasons, that era provided the inspiration for the name Edwardian Hotels."

As John Kennedy, programme director at Edwardian Radisson, was just putting it:
"This is just to let you know that now when you stay with us throughout Europe, the Middle East or Africa you can now get Broadband access as part of our E@syConnect Service at Radisson SAS hotels and you won't have anything to pay." Worth doublechecking this piece of news so I called the hotel and asked reception whether wifi was enabled in each room. It did not take them long to figure out who could help but I did not get a response straight away, mind you, not many hotel staff know about wifi in my experience. I got a call back later so I guess they passed this first test eventually.

Second test, I did forget my my frequent traveller card Goldpoints in purpose but had the number stored in my Pocket PC. The receptionist was kind of confused, was not sure of this programme but eventually took it to store it with my stay so that I can reveive my points.

A couple of weeks later, there were still no points so I contacted the customers' services
and here was the reply:
" Unfortunatelly it's not possible to receive points for Radisson Edwardian hotels with goldpointsplus card.

You can only receive points for Radisson SAS, Park Inn, Country Inn or Regent hotels.

Kind regards,
Epp Saks

Membership Services
goldpoints plus"

Meaning that the receptionist had no clue, I specified in my reply that I was not told this was the case and I went through the whole hassle of searching and giving out this long membership number.

3 days later:
"Thank you for your email.

I am sorry that our programme is leaving you unsatisfied.
I will forward the email you have sent us to the London
Vanderbilt hotel, before I do that please specify who
exactly has promised you that the points will be added, was
it just the reception staff or did you make any agreement
with Managers? If you could send us any names then this
would be very helpful for the hotel in their investigation.

I am looking forward to your reply.

Kind regards,

Maile
goldpoints plus
Member Service Center"

Another person, who was a bit more understanding and apologetic but nothing came out of it of course, I did not take the person's name down and anyway, it was more of a training issue with their staff as I explained this back to Maile at Rezidor SAS Customers' Services

So at the end I threatened them to close my Member account and avoid all Radisson hotels in the future, which they did:

"I am truly sorry to hear this but understand the negative
emotions that you have and the reasons why you wish to
close your goldpoints plus account- this has been a very
unprofessional case handling from the hotel's side and I
will be sure to report it to our Head Office. I am sorry
that the answer you received was unsatisfactory.

As requested I will then close your account and update your
account profile so you will not receive any newsletters or
promotional mailings from goldpoints plus.

Please again accept my sincere apologies for the
inconveniences this has caused you."

Although they tried hard, they failed to retain a high spending customer.

Verdict: Radisson / Rezidor SAS / Goldpoints - failed!!!

Radisson Edwardian

Planet Hollywood, Marne la Vallée - failed!

What about starting with a test of a leading US food company in Paris? Hard Rock Café, too simple! I need a symbol of America, Planet Hollywood in the fairy Kingdom of Disney seemed perfect!

So off I am heading towards to Marne-la-Vallée...easy to park and find the target restaurant in what they call the Disney Village, all the bars and restaurants outside of the resort.

There is a high security level in place, but its quick to go through. Once I am in the restaurant, the queue is longer but you get to have a drink while u wait at the bar. They let you know anyway how long it takes... so after 10 mins, I get a seat!

Easy to get a menu in English, the staff speaks English willingly too...I guess there are so many tourists they just used to greet everyone in the language of Shakespeare.

Burger too cooked so I got them to prepare another one which came with another plate of chips, the waitress apologizes again...so far so good!

But holy cow, the toilets were a mess! I had to take a picture...but really what does it say about Demi Moore's toilets??

Welcome dear shoppers!

Le Shopper is not another super hero, he is just an average shopper who demands a proper customer service and expects quality for what he is paying for.

Another mystery shopper? Well, that one is French, and as you know French people can be arrogant and extremely rude, so let's see how Americans and British amongst other foreigners can cope with some attitude à la française...

Any reports in this blog are truthfull and also exist in French at the url below: http://mysteryshopping.canalblog.com/