Crowne Plaza Liege - improvements needed at that time for 5* in Lüttich
CosmopolitanLady
2016-03-20
Views 24
If you are not familiar with Liege the directions on the hotel page won’t help! A call from the city center hardly did due to language problems and the complicated road directions made us drive around the district for far too long. No signposts to this hotel anywhere, while such for Ibis hotel and Mercure (which are nearby) can be found throughout the city!
At the too late arrival and a little frustrated we expected to be able to leave our car at the car park opposite to the hotel entrance which for unexplained reasons we could not. The car had to be driven into a public parking lot without direct entrance to the hotel, approx. 100m across the road, at €20,- per night.
The outer appearance is impressive due to the fact that the original “palace” is integrated and nicely lit. But you get into a big “cool” too cold entry hall with 4 small desks on one side. (Receiption? Car service? And?) A big seating area on the other side. There were 2 more desks occupied occasionally but it was not clear whether it was part of the hotel or an event that took place.
Room (5th floor): A long way to go from the lift! Big enough with view into a small park but the window could not be opened for some fresh air, which also lacked in all the floors, the whole building. The TV control did not work and the number of TV programs was too poor for a 5* hotel and the location (NL / B / D / F / LUX). Very small selection in the minibar. Enough room for luggage and enough storage room. Safe also there. The bath was not very clean in general and especially the shower walls (fungus?). The water was warm but not hot. 2 pcs of soap altogether, 2 flacons of shower gel, 1 flacon of bodylotion but NO shampoo (for a double room). No glasses for tooth brushing but cheap plastic. 5* standard to me means all such articles are in high quality packing and extras e.g. comb, shoe cleaner, cotton pads, etc. are in the room – not “available on request”. The smell of the shower gel was terrible (cheap men’s deo? sandalwood?) and unacceptable for females. Worst of all was the light in the bathroom. No lights in or around the big mirror (make-up mirror not lit as well). Halogen spots from the ceiling made it impossible to make your face up in the bathroom.
Service: In general an overall lack of guest care which is a must for 5*. No smiles, no apologies. When a certain drink from the menu in the bar was not available due to an ingredient missing: No alternative offer. No excuse.
Very long waiting time at the receiption desks and hardly ever 2 receiptionists.
Room service: The menu had enough items of many variations – from soup to steak and sweets at “reasonable” prices BUT a surcharge of 8,- for room service!
Breakfast: poor selection of everything for 21,- ! You find more in many 3* hotels! On day 2 many plates and bowls were empty (cheese, fruit, bacon) and no preparation of eggs for a long time possible.
Dinner: We tried the restaurant one evening. The menu only in French, which is a no-go in the 3-country-region (NL, B , D). We did receive a computer print on request with English, Dutch and German which is an absolute joke. Had it not been for the NL and GB translation we would never have read through it. Just 2 examples: “Fetzen von Paprika” and “Rinderherz” which was the translation for “big tomatoes”! The ordered meal was returned immediately. I could not smell / eat it and the same happened on the table next to us …. The next course, however, was OK.
Information in the room said, that the concierge (which we never located!!!) will give a hint on nearby smoking places. Neither this nor any other information that we wanted could be clearly answered by any of the employees. We asked 3 or 4 and had 3 or 4 different answers. E.g. the confusing lifts: 2 of them looked like being under construction. Only 1 lead to the bar. Some of them clearly indicated “access to street level” but it never worked and nobody could help us. So, whoever, walked into town had to overcome 128 stairs twice!
Generally spoken: from the many 5* hotels I have seen this was clearly the poorest and a lot has to be improved to justify that classfication!
Melting a historic palace with coolest, modern decoration is certainly a challenge and in the end a matter of taste. Would perhaps be more successful if the team acted not as “cool” as it does but much friendlier and much more service-orientated….
At the too late arrival and a little frustrated we expected to be able to leave our car at the car park opposite to the hotel entrance which for unexplained reasons we could not. The car had to be driven into a public parking lot without direct entrance to the hotel, approx. 100m across the road, at €20,- per night.
The outer appearance is impressive due to the fact that the original “palace” is integrated and nicely lit. But you get into a big “cool” too cold entry hall with 4 small desks on one side. (Receiption? Car service? And?) A big seating area on the other side. There were 2 more desks occupied occasionally but it was not clear whether it was part of the hotel or an event that took place.
Room (5th floor): A long way to go from the lift! Big enough with view into a small park but the window could not be opened for some fresh air, which also lacked in all the floors, the whole building. The TV control did not work and the number of TV programs was too poor for a 5* hotel and the location (NL / B / D / F / LUX). Very small selection in the minibar. Enough room for luggage and enough storage room. Safe also there. The bath was not very clean in general and especially the shower walls (fungus?). The water was warm but not hot. 2 pcs of soap altogether, 2 flacons of shower gel, 1 flacon of bodylotion but NO shampoo (for a double room). No glasses for tooth brushing but cheap plastic. 5* standard to me means all such articles are in high quality packing and extras e.g. comb, shoe cleaner, cotton pads, etc. are in the room – not “available on request”. The smell of the shower gel was terrible (cheap men’s deo? sandalwood?) and unacceptable for females. Worst of all was the light in the bathroom. No lights in or around the big mirror (make-up mirror not lit as well). Halogen spots from the ceiling made it impossible to make your face up in the bathroom.
Service: In general an overall lack of guest care which is a must for 5*. No smiles, no apologies. When a certain drink from the menu in the bar was not available due to an ingredient missing: No alternative offer. No excuse.
Very long waiting time at the receiption desks and hardly ever 2 receiptionists.
Room service: The menu had enough items of many variations – from soup to steak and sweets at “reasonable” prices BUT a surcharge of 8,- for room service!
Breakfast: poor selection of everything for 21,- ! You find more in many 3* hotels! On day 2 many plates and bowls were empty (cheese, fruit, bacon) and no preparation of eggs for a long time possible.
Dinner: We tried the restaurant one evening. The menu only in French, which is a no-go in the 3-country-region (NL, B , D). We did receive a computer print on request with English, Dutch and German which is an absolute joke. Had it not been for the NL and GB translation we would never have read through it. Just 2 examples: “Fetzen von Paprika” and “Rinderherz” which was the translation for “big tomatoes”! The ordered meal was returned immediately. I could not smell / eat it and the same happened on the table next to us …. The next course, however, was OK.
Information in the room said, that the concierge (which we never located!!!) will give a hint on nearby smoking places. Neither this nor any other information that we wanted could be clearly answered by any of the employees. We asked 3 or 4 and had 3 or 4 different answers. E.g. the confusing lifts: 2 of them looked like being under construction. Only 1 lead to the bar. Some of them clearly indicated “access to street level” but it never worked and nobody could help us. So, whoever, walked into town had to overcome 128 stairs twice!
Generally spoken: from the many 5* hotels I have seen this was clearly the poorest and a lot has to be improved to justify that classfication!
Melting a historic palace with coolest, modern decoration is certainly a challenge and in the end a matter of taste. Would perhaps be more successful if the team acted not as “cool” as it does but much friendlier and much more service-orientated….
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