EBC News reports, that a group of 10 Taipei tourists booked three rooms at a five-star hotel in Kenting, spending over 200,000 NTD. However, they encountered a series of insect crises.
On the first day of their stay, there was a centipede in the bathroom of the 4-person room, nearly stepped on during showering.
On the third day, the toilet seat in their villa had cockroaches. It took 40 minutes to notify housekeeping, and in the process of flushing water, the previous tenant’s underwear unexpectedly flushed out.
The guests criticized the poor hygiene, and the hotel only refunded 2,000 NTD. The hotel apologized and offered a “sincere” discount. They also implemented routine disinfection and enhanced cleanliness standards.
A magnificent and spacious 150-ping villa with a stunning tropical design featuring a private courtyard garden, swimming pool, and a gazebo for relaxation. It has been hailed as a must-stay destination for a lifetime.
However, the five-star hotel is now facing allegations from guests regarding an insect crisis.
Now, as you can see from the video that EBC news published, they do not disclose the name of the hotel, however, for me, as an author for a resource that is all about the Kenting I know from the screenshots and pictures exactly which hotel it is – and since in Kenting there is not so many 5 star hotels and even less who offer such separate multi floor villas, you can find out in few minutes which hotel is this – slight hint – it is in Xiaowan (Small Bay).
Having said that, while I think that it is a shame for a 5-star hotel with such a price tag for these villas to have underwear in the bathroom (2300 NTD B&B behaves same as we saw), I do not fully justify hailing them for having spider or centipede in a huge tropical villa located in the lush gardens in a tropical climate.
I have been in resorts ranging from expensive ones in Maldives such as Jumeirah, and cheaper ones, for example Anantara Resort, and yet, I have seen small insects in the room, because guess what – you are not isolated in vacuum, this is why it is a tropical villa near the beach, there are living organisms around you and some of them go into your room,
Just as soon as we arrived, the problem arose. We barely had time to settle in and be content, as it felt like we didn't even have a proper vacation throughout the entire holiday. And to make matters worse, we spent a fortune on a villa room, only to find out that all of us, a dozen or so people, were busy dealing with a single pest.
Mrs. Wu express frustration about her experience in 5-star villa with her face fully covered.
Ms. Wu, one of the tenants, expressed:
“We can tolerate one centipede, but when a spider showed up as well, it felt like our entire vacation was ruined. We spent so much money on an expensive villa room for the night, and all 10 of us were busy trying to catch that spider.”
A group of 10 friends and relatives from Taipei traveled to Kenting on May 27th, staying at a 5-star hotel for 4 days and 3 nights, costing them over 200,000 NT dollars.
They booked a villa with one 4-person room and one 2-person room. On the first day of their stay, a large centipede appeared in the bathroom of the 4-person room, nearly stepping on someone taking a shower.
Two days later, in the private villa, another spider was in the bathroom. What was supposed to be a joyful gathering turned into a spider-hunting mission for the 10 people.
They called the housekeeping staff, but it took 40 minutes for them to arrive. In the meantime, they had no choice but to flush the spider down the toilet using water, only to accidentally flush out the previous tenant’s underwear from the toilet tank.
I also want to add some comments here about the staff which took 40-minutes to arrive according to the customer.
First of all, I am not advocating for the hotel in any way, but I suspect that they are seriously understaffed now since it is a worker lack and crisis now in Kenting; we discussed this in this article. This particular hotel which I deliberately do not mention the name of, same as EBC news did (but at least I gave you a hint), is in the list of those biggest four 5-star hotels in Kenting that released 120 job openings and barely got any applications. The situation is actually so bad that the government needed to step in.
Having said that, if this, what guest says is true:
“(The housekeeping staff) even doubted once that we didn’t have anything, but we insisted that it couldn’t be true. In the end, they sprayed insecticide, and then (the underwear + spider) came out. We were scared by bugs for two days, and the guests also complained that the amenities were stingy. We only had one bottle of water for 4 days and 3 nights, and once it was used up, there was nothing left. The housekeeping staff responded negatively, telling the guests to handle the insect killing themselves.”
Considering the price tag they paid, this kind of attitude is not acceptable, and I understand why guests were so angry that the case made it to the news. Shame to management, then.
Hotel staff disinfecting place where underwear was found
Guest complaints also that: “The hotel charges a 15% service fee, and you provide us with this kind of service. Ultimately, you said you would compensate us with a complimentary cake (!), but the total amount is probably within 2,000 NTD.
A 15-centimeter-long centipede was crawling around. Over a year ago, another female guest was bitten by one. Although the hotel arranged for her to be taken to the hospital, management did not apologize when she returned after getting the injection.”
here are still guests staying in the rooms, encountering issues like cockroaches and fangs repeatedly. The establishment has apologized for the inconvenience. The hotel is located within Kenting National Park, which is an open space. To address foreign object invasions, regular disinfection is conducted monthly, and hygiene cleaning has been further strengthened. The hotel has offered a discounted room rate as a gesture of goodwill towards the guests.