“Hello Sir, good to see you again.” So said the doorman at the Ibis Soi 4 Sukhumvit hotel, a modest, comfortable and popular hotel in central Bangkok where I’ve stayed on three occasions in the past 18 months.
Yes, it’s part of the global Accor chain, but last week’s greeting (which came before I proffered any identifying paperwork) disproved the accepted wisdom that these places lack warmth and personal service.
While I have stayed at B&Bs and small, family-run hotels, these days I tend to choose brand-name establishments for my big city stays.
You may say that all Ibis hotels are essentially the same, and you would be right. But what’s wrong with that?
When you’re staying in a big, bustling city for either business or leisure, you don;t want or need surprises — especially unpleasant ones.
You know you are dealing with a reputable company, so you are unlikely to get ripped off on the rate and service, and any problem you have is likely to be fixed quickly.
I find that the staff are generally friendly and eager to please, because the big chains offer them promotion opportunities and work perks that the smaller hotels cannot. That’s not the case in a small hotel when the owner’s son-in-law makes it clear he’d rather be doing absolutely anything other than serving you breakfast or fixing your wi-fi.
In fact, the internet is one reason that all hotels try harder. With the advent of social media, they know their reputation can be trashed in an instant if they don’t act quickly to rectify anything that goes wrong. With the brand-name establishment, something that goes wrong in Bangkok can affect business around the world.
With the advent of Airbnb, it seems that everybody with a spare room fancies themselves as an innkeeper. But not everybody does it well.
