Mango An P.
Google
My family had just returned from vacation and decided to stay in Saigon for two nights. I booked a 2-night stay through a third party website because I wanted to try this hotel, as I’ve stayed at other hotels before.
When we checked in, there was a small issue. The receptionist initially said I had only booked 1 night, but I showed my confirmation for 2 nights. It turned out she was looking at another guest with the same first name but a different last name. The situation was sorted out quickly, and we went to our room. The bellman was very helpful with our luggage.
However, after we went out for lunch and returned, there was a very strong urine smell in the room. Before heading out again, we informed the front desk and asked if someone could clean it. The receptionist handled the situation very professionally and offered to change our room immediately. The staff transferred all our belongings to the new room. When we came back later, there was a handwritten apology card and a fruit plate from the supervisor for the inconvenience. That left a very good impression on us, and we appreciated how quickly and nicely they handled the issue. Because of that, we decided to extend one more night.
Unfortunately, this is where things changed.
When I opened the door to go out, the security swing bar (door latch) suddenly fell off and broke. We never used the security latch during our stay, so it wasn’t damaged by us locking it. It just came off when I opened the door normally. Later that evening, I informed a staff member about it, and he told me not to worry and that he would report it.
The next morning at checkout, my husband handled the check out while I stepped away to grab a drink. He called me and said the hotel claimed we broke the security latch and that we would need to pay for it & 800,000 VND+. They said it might have happened because we open the door forcefully with the security latch engaged….That was not true. If we had locked the latch and forced the door, I could understand, but we didn’t use it at all.
At that point, I told my husband to just pay it because I didn’t want to argue. If it were truly our fault, I would take responsibility. What if the previous guest had already damaged it or there was a small crack before we checked in, and it just happened to fall off during our stay? That would simply be bad luck on us. The receptionist mentioned that staff check the room every morning, but realistically, how thoroughly can you inspect something like a small door latch? If there had already been a crack or loose screw, it might not have been obvious during a quick daily check.. Also, if the hotel believed there was damage, they should have informed us immediately after I reported it ….not wait until checkout to charge us.
This experience really changed how I felt. I was very happy with the hotel and staff at first, especially how they handled the room issue. But ending our stay like this left a negative impression. It’s unfortunate because we had planned to come back, but after this situation, we won’t return.
Lesson learned !!!!!! next time I check into a hotel, I’ll inspect every door latch, glass, chair, and corner to avoid being charged for something that wasn’t my fault.
