We're pretty well travelled. I'd think I've stayed in over 100 hotels at this stage in my life. Golden Lotus was undeniably the worst one I've stayed in yet. We were booked for 6 nights in their only suite. We bailed after 1 night. Mercifully, we received a refund. We arrived at noon, and we were told our room wouldn't be ready until 1:30pm. As we sat there, two dozen travellers turned up, and they were all told their room would be ready in 20 minutes. The lobby looked like a godown after a bit, with alot of abandoned luggage. At 1:50, reception was still telling people their rooms weren't ready. At 2PM, on the dot, the reception started handing our keycards like she was distributing candy. And just like that, the reception was empty. Got to our room, turned on the AC, and went about unpacking. Quickly noticed the door between the bedroom and living room of our suite didn't close. And by the time we set out for lunch at 3PM, we noticed the room was still VERY VERY WARM. I left word with reception on the way out to look into it. Returned at 5PM, called in another request to send in maintenance. Another at 6PM. Another at 7PM. We ate dinner sat on the cabinet that housed the minibar, in our underwear, as it was directly under the air vent. My baby monitor has a sensor on it that read 28C. At 8PM, I contacted my third party booking platform, to see what my options were. They promptly called reception, and 5 minutes later, maintenance was in my room. Only took 5 hours and 5 reminders, and one International call from the middleman who has a bit more clout than me, the guest in your only suite. Anyways, maintenance did nothing. They turned the thermostat from 16C to 22C, claiming higher is better. We attempted to shower, but after my wife and daughter were done, the shower was flooded, so I passed on the shower. At 9PM, when nothing had changed, they visited again, and turned it to 20C. At 10PM, I stepped out of the building for a cigarette, and it was cooler outdoors. When I brought that to the attention of the receptionist, he offered me a table fan. And so, we went to bed, with this noisy table fan circulating warm air. I woke up at 5AM in a puddle of sweat. Opened up the balcony door as it was cooler outside, that allowed my wife and 2 year old to sleep just a little longer. I went for a long walk inquiring about availability at other hotels. When I returned, we went to breakfast, which was awful. The restaurant was aged and dirty. The sausages smelled rank. The cream rolls were store bought. It was after breakfast at 9AM, that I managed to find the Sales Manager. She reluctantly came to my room. She said the room felt cold to her, and that Hanoins don't like AC. This while my baby monitor reads 28C. And as for the shower flooding, she said I needn't worry, as there was another drain under the sink, all the way across the bathroom, and that the water would drain out of that one. Not inconvenient, or a safety hazard, I suppose, more a bonus activity for my 2 year old? And either she didn't notice I was in my boxers, sitting on top of her minibar, or she chose not to comment on it. Mercifully, she offered us a refund if we left before noon. And so we took it. And fled.
