Novotel Kolkata Hotel and Residences

I didn't like the cleanliness. The coffee mug had coffee stains in it. The staff at in-room dining were horribly slow at providing the food, and in the morning, when I called to order breakfast, they didn't even answer my call at all! I had to end up going down to the Caf and ordering food to be sent up to the room, which took yet another 40 minutes to show up! The price for food and drinks is also exorbitant for the quality served. Many of the staff are deaf and mute, which even though it is a wonderful opportunity to provide job opportunities for them, they have not been given adequate training in order to address guest needs or even attempt at aiding guests, and I found myself having to be transferred numerous times to various places and staff members until I could find someone who could understand what I was saying in order to place a simple request. The check-in process was haphazard and chaotic, with the staff running around all over the place. For a hotel of this standard, the behaviour and upkeep of the staff was very disappointing and unprofessional.

To start of with, my review could be harsh as I would compare to various other A grade hotels where I have stayed during my travels to around 12-13 countries in the world. For sure the staff was good and polite, but there is some level of improvement which management should think off; which are 1. In room dining pricing: I found the pricing of in room dining menu exorbitant high. The management is free to quote any price as I understand the quality of food is good, but when I ordered a single cup of hot chocolate and a bread portion with butter and jam for my son, it costed me in 4 figures (inINR). Which I feel is just doesnt justify the price and the food ordered. 2. Wee hours support by the staff: - The AC of my room wasnt working so I called the guest services to send a technician to check it at 4 am. I waited for 30 mins and no one turns up. Upon calling back the guest service, it seemed the person missed informing the technician on the floor to visit us. Hence, we spent another 30-40mins in sweat in wee hours anticipating the technician to come over. - Commitment of Concierge service: I booked airport transfer early morning for 630am and asked the concierge for a wake up call at 515am, which I never received. I was lucky to set up my own personal alarm and not rely on the hotel staff to wake me up or else I would have missed my flight. So if you plan to rely on hotel staff to wake you up, its at your own risk. When I later called the front desk to check why I was not woken up, apparently I was told that no one informed the night shift front desk person for the wake up call. I would expect concierge to do there job of proper shift handover protocols. 3. I asked for a non smoking room, however, the room I received had a strong constant odour of smoke in the air, which was unpleasant. Management should check on this. And lastly, 4. I had to remind and follow up with the hotel staff multiple times to refill the toiletaries (shower gel etc) .