voco Riyadh, an IHG Hotel

AleksandraK6 months ago

I would kindly ask this review to be transferred to General Manager of Voco Riyadh, Mr. Mark Allaf. I was planning on asking for a meeting with him to bring this and maybe other topics to his attention but decided to start with a review here and see how it would go. Dear Mr. Allaf, Have you ever tried eating hard fruits, vegetables (incl. salad leaves), chicken, red meat with a plastic fork? If not, I would suggest that you should visit the Executive Lounge of Voco Riyadh for a dinner buffet and get this experience first-hand. Words that come to my mind if someone asks me about it - embarrassing (worst case your food will fly from your plate across the room), taсky, unesthetic. Every time I go for dinner at the Lounge I´m bewildered - Is it indeed a top hotel? Why would a reputable hotel do this to their guests who paid for or were upgraded to the Executive Lounge? Even airlines provide proper metal silverware. I addressed this topic by email to our corporate sales manager at Voco Riyadh. Nothing changed. I'm not even sure that he passed it over to anyone. Last 4 months I´ve been staying at your hotel for 2 weeks every month. I´ve started bringing my own pillow, cause I struggle with Voco ones (which is usually not an issue for me at other hotels). Internet is still an issue at this hotel (I addressed it before), it got much better after my complaints but not enough to have an uninterrupted video call presenting from my room. Coming back to plastic forks and knives - is the only way for me to feel that I'm not at McDonald's to start bringing with me on trips my own metal silverware? For my next 2-week trip in January, I've already decided to change the hotel. Whether I will be coming back to Voco or recommending it to colleagues - I'm not sure, unless you start listening to your guests. Customer experience is what matters for me and a lot of people these days. And it's those small things that define it and contribute to it. Thank you for reading it till the end. Best regards, Aleksandra IHG Platinum Elite Member #272157216