rinnah's consumer views|a straight talking, tell-it-as-it-is consumer lifestyle blog

Did you know that there are two Fullerton Hotels in Singapore? I didn’t.

First there’s The Fullerton Hotel.

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And then there’s The Fullerton Bay Hotel.

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And while they look nothing like each other, both hotels are run by the same group and are situated near to each other, just a 5 minute walk either way.

My learning adventure took place last night when I arranged to meet up with a friend for drinks around 9.30pm. While I was on the way, I called up The Fullerton Hotel and asked to be put through to my friend’s room. As luck would have had it, she had already left her room and was waiting for me in the lobby downstairs.

Now, as I left Raffles Place MRT station, I followed the signs to The Fullerton Hotel (note that I did not spot any signs for The Fullerton Bay Hotel then). When I exited, I got disoriented as there were no more signs to follow, so I headed out in the general direction of where I assumed The Fullerton Hotel would be.

Instead of The Fullerton Hotel, I saw The Fullerton Bay Hotel ahead of me. I naturally assumed that the name Fullerton Bay was a recent name change and that the signs had yet to be updated. So confidently, I walked straight into The Fullerton Bay Hotel and asked the concierge to ring up my friend’s room.

You can imagine the shock I had when the concierge told me that the room was listed in the system as unoccupied!

I’ll admit that the concierge did do her best to help me track down my friend by checking for her name in their database only to tell me in the end that there was no guest registered under my friend’s name.

Long waiting story short, I managed to get through to my friend and we soon sorted out that I was waiting for her at the wrong hotel.

However, in hindsight I found it very ironic that the concierge at The Fullerton Bay Hotel did not gently suggest to me that I might have ended up at the wrong hotel. Surely I’m not the first guest to mistake The Fullerton Hotel and The Fullerton Bay Hotel based on their names alone?

It also added to my confusion that the concierge welcomed me to the hotel by saying ‘The Fullerton Hotel’ rather than ‘The Fullerton Bay Hotel’ which was where I was actually at.

I also found out from my friend later that night that guests at either hotel are welcome to patronize the F&B outlets at both places and can have it charged to their room bills, which suggests an integrated database or at the very least the ability to access the other hotel’s guest database. Now how come the concierge did not take the initiative to check with the other side to see if I had accidentally gotten the wrong hotel?

I can easily imagine taxi drivers and foreign guests running into the same confusing scenario that I found myself in last night.

Would I go back to either Fullerton based on this experience? I’m afraid not.

Recently, I attended a wedding function at Cititel Hotel, Mid Valley.

With no offense intended to the bride and groom, I personally do not fancy Cititel as a suitable venue for a wedding reception. My reason? Cititel is a hotel that caters primarily to business travelers and tourists looking for a centrally located hotel between KL and PJ. Also, I am not a big fan of Mid Valley Megamall and its surrounding areas. However, I was prepared to give Cititel the benefit of the doubt when I received the wedding invitation card.

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My poor experience with Cititel began the moment I drove up to Mid Valley. Following the directions to the hotel’s main lobby, I attempted to locate the entrance to the hotel’s parking. For reasons known only to the hotel management, the signages directed me instead straight into Mid Valley Megamall’s basement parking. This meant that I would not be able to get my parking ticket stamped for a flat single entry rate (MYR 6.00, I believe) and instead would have to pay Mid Valley Megamall’s hourly rates. And it was not because the hotel’s section of the basement parking was full, as I saw a number of empty spots available.

The poor experience continued at Cititel’s lobby. You know how most hotels have a little signboard telling you what kind of functions are going on for that day? Well, again I couldn’t locate one to tell me at which floor the wedding reception would be held at. Not very visitor-friendly, I have to say.

The final thing that sealed the deal for me was the poorly installed backdrop on the stage. You know how there normally is styrofoam lettering on a curtained backdrop telling you the nature of the function? Well, less than half way through the function, one of the styrofoam letters fell off into the foliage below because it was not stuck on properly. Less than half an hour later, the whole styrofoam board on which the date was printed, followed suit. So you have a bare backdrop to the stage because the sign fell off. I think it was a case of shoddy preparation on the hotel’s part.

Would I hold a function (of any sort) at Cititel, Mid Valley? If I had a choice, no.