Pan Pacific puts a lock on hospitality
The Grumpy Traveller had heard positive feedback about the Pan Pacific Hotel at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before a recent visit.
A fellow passenger on the shuttle buggy moving Grumpy from the arrivals hall to the hotel was keen to chat about his experiences. “You’ll like this hotel,” he said.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite turn out like that.
At 11.30pm, check-in at the hotel was frustratingly slow. The two check-in staff on duty were doing their best to cope with a long queue of arrivals but clearly they were having problems.
It took Grumpy 20 minutes to check-in, by which time the queue of arrivals behind him had grown significantly.
Maybe if he had logged on to the hotel’s website he would have discovered that guests can also check into their room at the hotel counter in KLIA’s international arrivals hall.
No matter, with room key in hand it was time to flop and de-stress with a drink from the mini-bar before an early morning checkout at 6am.
Except the mini-bar was locked.
Grumpy called Room Service to be told that opening the mini bar would incur a 100-ringgit deposit. He wondered what kind of guests the PanPacific attracts if it needs to ask for a deposit to unlock the minibar.
Grumpy finally got his beer but only after another 10-minute wait for someone to come up with the key.
And the early checkout meant there was no time to enjoy the hotel’s website promise of “lush tropical landscape, water features and a soothing environment make for a rejuvenating break for the jet-lagged and weary traveller”.
Next time, maybe.
Ian Jarrett
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