With Christmas in the books and 2011 behind us, it was time to focus our efforts on closing out the old year and bringing in the new one.
We received such great feedback for our Halloween party, we were hoping to host a smaller, but just as fun, New Year’s Eve party for those who did not return to their home country. Unfortunately, only one other couple was able to commit far enough in advance for us to make proper arrangements, our two families decided to book rooms at the Shangri-La in Jakarta and attend the New Year’s Party at the hotel club BATS (Bar At The Shangri-La).
No sooner had we booked the room and purchased our non-refundable tickets then the inquiries started coming in. What are you guys doing for New Years? Are more tickets available? Can we bring friends? Our party of five quickly ballooned to a party of 19….a great size for a hosted New Year’s Eve party that would have saved us all money on hotel rooms and tickets to the club.
For my family, the hotel needed to accommodate three adults and three children (my wife’s cousin from Idaho was joining us). My booking was for a suite with an adjoining deluxe room with a baby cot and additional bed in the suite. When we arrived, we were told the rooms were already setup with the additional beds and were on separate floors. I objected, showing them the confirmation on my reservation. Forty minutes later, they had moved us to a new location, but said they would have to give us keys to the adjoining room later because it was “dirty” and needed cleaning.
The family we originally made reservations with sent me a text notifying that they were at the hotel and in their room. He complained they had moved them from their first room because something was broken. I asked what number he was in. He said they were being asked to move again because of an “engineering issue” in their room, then told me the number they were currently in. It was the adjoining suite! I knocked on his door and said: “You’re moving because you are in my suite. You must be the ‘dirt’ they were referring to.” The hotel apologized for the mix-up by providing them with a $300 bottle of champagne with which to bring in the New Year.
After settling into our rooms, my wife and her cousin went shopping for a dress to wear that evening and I took the kids to the pool. My son amazed me by jumping from the wall into the pool and swimming to me. He hadn’t shown the capability in the past and, once he realized he could do it, he spent the rest of the afternoon doing it non-stop. My daughter amazed me with her patience. I couldn’t entertain her and catch my son at the same time. She waited until he was tired and ready for a break, then her and I went and swam together for a while. A thunderstorm finally drove us inside.
We ordered the kids a room service dinner and got ourselves ready for the night. We were meeting friends for drinks at 8 then heading down for a 9 PM dinner. The kids ate and we got them ready for bed. Then, the beds for the kids never showed up. The second time we called, they told us they had none to bring us because they were sold out.
We left the kids with our nannies at 8 PM and went to the Club Lounge for drinks prior to heading down for dinner. The club lounge is for guests in suites and those who have paid extra for access to the floor. They have a special concierge for these VIP guests. I explained our bedding situation and asked them to rectify it quickly because our kids were ready for bed. I showed them the confirmation and said I wanted them to fix it even if they had to take a full size bed out of another room and go to the store to buy a new crib. Twenty minutes later they came back to tell me everything was fixed and they gave us a bottle of wine for our troubles. I love companies that recognize when they make a mistake and apologize for it. A strong track record before this incident, and the way they handled this one, are why we will continue to use Shangri-La hotels.
After finishing our drinks and meeting a new couple who would join us for the evening, we headed down to BATS for the evening’s festivities. Dinner was great, and they special ordered me a few items because of my allergies to seafood. Most people had a first course of Shrimp, followed by a lobster bisque, then a Salmon main course. I had a garden salad, tomato soup, and a nice steak. After dinner a live band covered the major hits and introduced the New Year. I made a fool of myself on the dance floor and we were all ready to crash when we finally went to bed at 2 AM.
The next morning we woke with the kids at 5:30. We waited until 9 to go down for the buffet breakfast, only to find ourselves standing in a very long line. We changed our mind and instead went back up to the Club Lounge and had breakfast there (both were free to us).
After breakfast we returned home and spent New Year’s Day fighting to remain awake while the kids played.
We received such great feedback for our Halloween party, we were hoping to host a smaller, but just as fun, New Year’s Eve party for those who did not return to their home country. Unfortunately, only one other couple was able to commit far enough in advance for us to make proper arrangements, our two families decided to book rooms at the Shangri-La in Jakarta and attend the New Year’s Party at the hotel club BATS (Bar At The Shangri-La).
No sooner had we booked the room and purchased our non-refundable tickets then the inquiries started coming in. What are you guys doing for New Years? Are more tickets available? Can we bring friends? Our party of five quickly ballooned to a party of 19….a great size for a hosted New Year’s Eve party that would have saved us all money on hotel rooms and tickets to the club.
For my family, the hotel needed to accommodate three adults and three children (my wife’s cousin from Idaho was joining us). My booking was for a suite with an adjoining deluxe room with a baby cot and additional bed in the suite. When we arrived, we were told the rooms were already setup with the additional beds and were on separate floors. I objected, showing them the confirmation on my reservation. Forty minutes later, they had moved us to a new location, but said they would have to give us keys to the adjoining room later because it was “dirty” and needed cleaning.
The family we originally made reservations with sent me a text notifying that they were at the hotel and in their room. He complained they had moved them from their first room because something was broken. I asked what number he was in. He said they were being asked to move again because of an “engineering issue” in their room, then told me the number they were currently in. It was the adjoining suite! I knocked on his door and said: “You’re moving because you are in my suite. You must be the ‘dirt’ they were referring to.” The hotel apologized for the mix-up by providing them with a $300 bottle of champagne with which to bring in the New Year.
After settling into our rooms, my wife and her cousin went shopping for a dress to wear that evening and I took the kids to the pool. My son amazed me by jumping from the wall into the pool and swimming to me. He hadn’t shown the capability in the past and, once he realized he could do it, he spent the rest of the afternoon doing it non-stop. My daughter amazed me with her patience. I couldn’t entertain her and catch my son at the same time. She waited until he was tired and ready for a break, then her and I went and swam together for a while. A thunderstorm finally drove us inside.
We ordered the kids a room service dinner and got ourselves ready for the night. We were meeting friends for drinks at 8 then heading down for a 9 PM dinner. The kids ate and we got them ready for bed. Then, the beds for the kids never showed up. The second time we called, they told us they had none to bring us because they were sold out.
We left the kids with our nannies at 8 PM and went to the Club Lounge for drinks prior to heading down for dinner. The club lounge is for guests in suites and those who have paid extra for access to the floor. They have a special concierge for these VIP guests. I explained our bedding situation and asked them to rectify it quickly because our kids were ready for bed. I showed them the confirmation and said I wanted them to fix it even if they had to take a full size bed out of another room and go to the store to buy a new crib. Twenty minutes later they came back to tell me everything was fixed and they gave us a bottle of wine for our troubles. I love companies that recognize when they make a mistake and apologize for it. A strong track record before this incident, and the way they handled this one, are why we will continue to use Shangri-La hotels.
After finishing our drinks and meeting a new couple who would join us for the evening, we headed down to BATS for the evening’s festivities. Dinner was great, and they special ordered me a few items because of my allergies to seafood. Most people had a first course of Shrimp, followed by a lobster bisque, then a Salmon main course. I had a garden salad, tomato soup, and a nice steak. After dinner a live band covered the major hits and introduced the New Year. I made a fool of myself on the dance floor and we were all ready to crash when we finally went to bed at 2 AM.
The next morning we woke with the kids at 5:30. We waited until 9 to go down for the buffet breakfast, only to find ourselves standing in a very long line. We changed our mind and instead went back up to the Club Lounge and had breakfast there (both were free to us).
After breakfast we returned home and spent New Year’s Day fighting to remain awake while the kids played.
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