melissa f
Google
We had a wonderful room over looking the breathtakingly beautiful cathedral – and indeed it is the most stunning cathedral I have ever seen - and a perfect room. |We also had a delicious dinner and fine breakfast with charming and helpful waiters. |However, an hour after we had checked out and as we were on our way South I received a frantic phone call from the front desk sounding quite aggressively accusatory and saying I had gone away with a bottle of water from our room and that either I must return to the hotel immediately or pay €25. |We were by now more than an hour away so to turn around was impractical but equally to pay €25 for a plain glass bottle which I thought was complimentary seemed incredible, and as I was driving on the motorway- equally impractical. |I told her that I would phone when we reached our destination in two hours time and that I had no idea that the bottle was part of the hotels property. |In an unnecessarily rude and threatening tone she said if I did not phone back she would phone me. ||To explain the situation: we had arrived at the hotel the day before and there was a bottle of water on the table with a label beside it. |I cannot remember if it was in English but I did recognise the words saying that it was a complimentary bottle of water. |When we left in the morning we had drunk half the bottle and so I took it to the car, assuming that the word ‘complementary’ really meant complementary – and not just the plain water that had obviously filled and refilled it. |I have to say that this episode and the very ungracious way it was handled really spoilt and left a bad impression of this Hotel. Especially as her tone of voice and vehemence seem to suggest that I had purposefully stolen the bottle. ||I had previously noted that the hotel had a twin hotel in Lisbon, so I paused my journey and telephoned that hotel. I explained that I had apparently misunderstood the word ‘complimentary’ and had walked off with a very plain glass bottle apparently worth €25.| I asked if I could return it to them as it would be closer than Batalha and they sounded very puzzled by the whole situation, but agreed.|When I arrived at my destination 45 minutes outside Lisbon, I called the hotel in Bethalha and explained that I would indeed return their precious bottle to their twin hotel in Lisbon. |She reiterated that some|people take the bottle as a souvenir - and that it was just the water (!) that was complimentary. I suppose I did not read the fine print.| I told her I thought €25 would buy a really special memento rather than a small, very ordinary glass bottle with the name of the restaurant printed on it.|When I told her what a bad impression this episode gave me of the hotel she answered |“But you had a lovely room overlooking the cathedral!”|Yes- this was true, and I truly appreciated it - and paid for it!! ||So tomorrow I am going to be spending an hour and a half of my holiday driving to Lisbon and back to return this bottle.||Might I suggest to management that a far more positive and professional way of dealing with the situation would have been for the staff on the front desk to have politely telephoned me and explained the situation. On understanding that a genuine mistake had been made- it could be graciously and politely suggested that mistakes do happen and in this instance they were happy for me to keep or dispose of the bottle as I wished and to wish me happy journey through Portugal. |By the way, I use the words ‘dispose of’ purposefully, as indeed I had every intention of recycling it after I had finished the water. It is quite a heavy bottle and not very distinctive and certainly would not have been worth it to me to have packed and risked being overweight on my flight home. |Just a couple of other points- IF indeed I had intended to keep the bottle as a memento- it may be looked upon by the hotel group as very good and cheap advertising as I very much doubt the bottle cost them €25! ||I have to say that it seems almost comical that I write this long review about a very plain bottle that perhaps cost a few euro to create. Also, in hindsight, it is a little disgusting that the same bottle is used to fill and refill with plain water and make a big deal about the water being complimentary! |I think there was plenty of that already in the tap. ||So please, manager of the Lis hotel in Batalha - suggest a more guest-friendly and hospitable way of dealing with this kind of situation, and label your complimentary/ uncomplimentary gifts in large clear print and in several languages.
