Review: Pullman Khon Kaen Raja Orchid

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Thailand Fly & Drive – Part 37 (Khon Kaen)

We were looking forward to spending a few days in Khon Kaen at the Pullman hotel, one of the few 5-star accommodations which we had booked for this trip.

At the Ibis Styles Chiang Mai, we enjoyed 5 star service in a 3 star hotel. Here, sadly, we experienced the opposite… 5 star hotel but worse than 3 star service.

To be fair, the facilities are great, all that you would expect from a 5 star hotel. Huge rooms, big toilets with both a bathtub and shower. Art and sculpture in the room. The fittings and carpet are aging though, and are in need of a refresh, but considering the price we paid, really cannot complain. US$400 for 2 rooms for four nights, inclusive of breakfast, using our Accor Plus member privileges.

We had a lovely view of the city from our room window.

Our main gripe with the hotel is the really sloppy service standard, sadly unbefitting of the Pullman brand. We have had so many wonderful experiences at other Pullmans all over the continent, never has the service been this bad.

Firstly, we arrived at 3pm, and our rooms were not ready, the service staff took such a long time to get us checked in. When we finally got checked in, we were given WIFI slips that didn’t work. We asked our daughter to bring the slips down to exchange for new ones, and when she returned, the new slips didn’t work either. Poor daughter had to go down yet again to get new slips.

In our room, the bidet was faulty. In our other room, the television could not be turned on. In our first our at the hotel, the list of inconveniences keep growing and growing.

We go downstairs to try the a la carte spread at the hotel restaurant. The food took awhile to come. The taste was so-so, nothing compared to the wonderful food we had at the Ibis Styles Chiang Mai. They also got my wife’s order wrong and we had to send it back to be replaced.

My wife asked for cut chili, and we were given a pathetic bowl of sauce with like 3 scraps of chili (see bowl of chili on the left below). My wife then cleared the chili quick and asked for a refill as it was plainly not enough. When the service staff came back with the second bowl. It was like an overdose this time (see bowl on the right). Really strange contrast. 😛

The breakfast spread during our four days there honestly was disappointing, considering it was supposed to be a 5 star hotel.

All these little things really disappointed us, coming in the way of us having an enjoyable stay.

Our Rating

Price: (7 / 10) Value for money.
Location: (8/ 10) A good location in the middle of the city.
Condition: (6 / 10) The furnishings are a little dated, and in need of a refresh.
Food (5 / 10) Ordinary food, and terrible service.
Staff: (5 / 10) Bad service. No attention to detail.
Overall: (6 / 10) We were looking forward to our stay, but in the end, we were quite disappointed.