Aya Boutique *Stay Review*

[balbol]

Hey all, 

 

Had a reservation beginning of this month there for a whole week, was with a friend and we booked 2 rooms (connecting).

 

This is my 3rd stay in Aya in the last 2 years, no major issues in the first two times. 

 

Although it mentions on booking.com that no reservation/deposit fee will be charged i did get charged for 2 nights! funny part is that they did this about a week before i actually check in and without informing me! this hasn't happened to me in the first two stays and was really strange, i sent an e-mail to booking asking about the reason, first customer service representative told me that i got charged for the first two nights  i was like ok fine.  and that i can just pay for the rest of my stay in cash once i am there. 

 

called booking.com the second day as i wasn't happy about this from the hotel's side the guy told me it was done by mistake (after he spoke to the hotel) and they will need a few days to remove the block on the amount. so good move booking, two guys two different answers two days. and an even better move from Aya Boutique , like couldn't they at least check my name in their system and see i have stayed before? couldn't they at least have the courtesy to stick to their posted policies and RULES on booking? i really didn't care much about the amount (around 4,000 baht) as i just felt scammed.   

 

After a week i land in BKK, take a cab go straight to the hotel, once i reached i asked  them why did you do this? they were like we always charge everyone since it's our hotel's policy from day one, i was like no it's not correct as i have stayed there twice before, the receptionist was arrogant and rude, and she was even passing comments in Thai to her colleague .  which of course wasn't professional and wasn't something a 4-star boutique hotel would do! she then told me it's a block on my card and they will release it in 14 days from the day of the block which was a week ago ! i was okay thanks i will wait, paid for my whole stay in cash in advanced (before i even check-in) , my friend did the same. we both got a hand-written tiny invoice. not even a print-out. no envelope. lol

 

Rooms were on top floors and connecting that was the only good thing in this hotel. 

 

In my 7 night stay , twice room service didn't clean my room at all, although the green light (room cleaning sign) was on. i called the hotel once i came back and they were like sorry housekeeping leave at 5pm and you have to wait till next day! although i have left the room since around 9am. also their biggest issue is that they only provide towels and arrange your bed-sheets, they don't wipe the floors of the room properly, when you walk you can feel and see the sand and dirt that sticks to your feet! of course through-out my stay the A/C was loud and noisy. not only that but the fridge was so loud too. doors were paper thin, you can hear everyone walking in the corridors, and if they talk it's like they are with you in the same room. water-pressure was weak for the shower, hot water wasn't available all the time. room cards didn't work several times so we had to go down, change them and go back up. 

 

Also twice i got asked in my face for a 100 baht tip from the security guard at the night shift and i just pretended i didn't hear anything.

 

The gym is a joke, 1 bench 1 treadmill and a few dumbbells , the A/C is always off so it's too humid and hot , and if you want to turn it on you would have to wait for at least 30 mins till the rooms becomes cool. The water in the pool looked dirty, and was freezing cold, breakfast was the same for the whole stay and not so many choices, lacks taste too. 

 

Okay, so after my 1 week stay i check-out and ask them about the hold/block on my credit card they say i should get the money back today or tomorrow, i was like fine. 

 

problem over? no! it's around 3 days after i check-out money is still on hold, i sent an e-mail to booking and the hotel waiting for an explanation. 

 

after another 2-3 days i get a lousy written e-mail from Aya (booking never replied this time!) telling me that they would need 1 extra week to release the block! so total time was a little over 3 weeks. 

 

This will for sure be my last time i stay in Aya and the funny thing is that i posted a negative review about them on booking and mentioned they don't follow the posted policies, of course booking didn't post my review!! so don't know if it's an issue from both sides (booking and hotel) or just Aya. i prefer Agoda, specially that i can pay in advance for my whole stay and finish it off.