Malacca Dirty hotels claim disputed

State tourism authorities have brushed off travellers’ reviews in TripAdvisor, which ranked two hotels here as among the top 10 dirtiest hotels in Asia.
It was not an accurate representation of the situation here and was carried out without a proper rating system, said state Tourism, Culture and Heritage Committee chairman Datuk Seet Har Cheow.
The US-based travel portal, which forms the world’s biggest travel community, has listed on its site the 2010 Dirtiest Hotels in Asia.

Thorough checks: Malacca Tourism Promotion Division general manager Nazary Ahmad checking the bedroom linen while a Malacca Historic City Council officer (below) inspects the toilet in one of the rooms at a hotel in Malacca yesterday.

A Thai resort topped the list, while two Malacca hotels were ranked at the fourth and ninth positions.
The results was based on accumulated feedback given by hotel guests over a four-year period.
Speaking to reporters yesterday after visiting Mahkota Hotel, which was ranked fourth, Seet noted that the complaints raised by travellers were not solely on the cleanliness issue but also other aspects such as service quality and others.
“The review is not a good reflection of the hotel’s true situation.
“There were both negative and positive comments,” he said.
However, Seet, who was accompanied by health officers from the Malacca Historic City Council and tourism promotion officers, said the state would take note of the views and work on any short-comings.

“The hotels named in the list should take note of the reviews,” he added.
Edward Lau, general manager of Mahkota Hotel, located along the Banda Hilir coastline, said the management was taking steps to address grievances raised by its former guests.
“We have also e-mailed to the website concerned to get a proper clarification on how they carried out their online rating system,” he said.
He said it was unfair for the website to introduce such a review with no proper criteria in the rating system, which was based on feedback received over an extended period.
Seri Costa Hotel manager Helen Yap also shared the same sentiment, saying that it was unfair for such a review to seem to “represent” entirely the cleanliness of hotels.
“We always make it a point to look into complaints made by our guests to improve the hotel further.”
The review has listed Seri Costa Hotel at the ninth spot.


Source : STAR
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