TWO hotels in Singapore have made a Top 10 list compiled by travel website TripAdvisor. The only problem? It is a list of Asia’s dirtiest hotels.
And it’s not just the opinion of some travel writer.
TripAdvisor bases its list on the opinions of travellers who write reviews after staying at the hotels. On its website, it advertises that it has over 30 million reviews and opinions from travellers.
The two Singapore hotels in the TripAdvisor hall of shame are the Goldkist Beach Resort at East Coast Park and the Royal Peacock Hotel at Keong Saik Street.
Goldkist finished third on the list – behind the Phi Phi Don Chukit Resort at the Phi Phi islands in Thailand and the Raj Residency in Chennai, India.
Royal Peacock finished in the 10th spot.
Goldkist Beach Resort, formerly known as Costa Sands (East Coast), had 16 out of 18 online reviewers rating it “terrible”.
The most recent online review was dated 26 Jan by user rumi55 from Singapore who claimed that when he checked in, he found a used towel left in the room. He also wrote that “the beds were filthy”.
Slimy
Another online reviewer, maggie-girl26, whose location was listed as Queensland, Australia, had stayed at Goldkist last October.
She wrote in her post that she found “the room was adequate and mostly clean”. But she claimed to have been bitten by bed bugs and complained that the swimming pool water had “a greenish tinge to it and felt slimy, as did the ladder and the tiles”.
Miss Tammy Gan, 25, an undergraduate, who checked into a beachside room yesterday afternoon, said that while the room itself was clean, she was put off by the litter found at the patio.
There was toilet paper, a green comb, a packet of nuts and a few playing cards lying on the tiled floor.
“I am quite surprised because this is not the first time I have stayed here and usually, the surroundings are reasonably clean,” said Miss Gan.
But she did not think it was fair that the resort placed third in the list of dirtiest hotels in Asia.
“This is a chalet. It is not fair to compare it with other hotels,” said Miss Gan.
Another guest, Mr Pravin Mahajan, 36, who lives in Australia, said he found the level of cleanliness at Goldkist better than expected.
He had booked a two-night stay with his wife and son via the resort’s website. They had decided to spend some time in Singapore on their way to India.
Said Mr Mahajan: “The standard is reasonable for the price. I have been to worse hotels in India. I don’t think this deserves to be called one of the dirtiest hotels in Asia.”
There are 195 rooms at the resort. Weekend and public holiday room rates at Goldkist range from $168 for a standard room to $208 for a beachside suite. Off-peak rates begin at $98 for a standard room.
Goldkist’s director H D Gupta said the ranking was an unfair one as Goldkist was a resort, not a hotel, and the guests were mostly families who held social gatherings and parties on the premises.
