If you’re looking for quality accomodations in KenTing and aren’t too concerned about price, stay away from the Chateau. Facilities are great (pools, private beach, nice rooms), but service is frighteningly bad.
If you want to go with a 5-star place in KenTing, stay at the Ceasar. The service there was much better when I stayed there.
One more little tip–rent a scooter if you don’t bring your own ride. You can rent one for $400 a day (don’t let them rip you off) from one of several rental places. If I drove a car to KenTing, I’d still rent a scooter for the convenience. We saw all sorts of places that we wouldn’t have otherwise seen thanks to the scooter.
As Ihave said in previous posts - the Chateau is great. Out of the 10 or so times I have been to Kending I have stayed there 9 times (9 times)… and each and every time the service has been great, the staff super helpful and friendly and more than willing to go the extra mile. Maybe I have just been lucky on 90% of my time?
Sorry to hear you were less than impressed Tomas – I like the Chateau far more than the other hotels in the area, but granted, I’ve never really made use of the service, so I don’t have an opinion one way or the other, save that the rooms were always cleaned and tidied, we were never disturbed by housekeeping if we slept late (which I can’t say for Ceasar’s Palace) and the only other staff we saw – the bar staff at the poolside bar – were always friendly and attentive.
Here’s a list of problems I encountered at the Chateau:
-Told on my initial call that there would be no problem booking a four night stay. Called back a half hour later to hear that they only had a room available our first night. Was told “You should have booked your room the first time you called. Then you wouldn’t have this problem.” Poor attitude.
-Meals at a restaurant included in the price of the room, but the set menu remained the same, day after day. Who wants to eat the same thing each day over the course of a four day stay?
-Air conditioning frequently broken. Management’s attitude: “There’s nothing we can do at the moment.” Actually witnessed a 30 person hotel guest protest in the lobby as I left my stifling hot room for a walk on the beach at 1am.
-Was accosted at the door by an overzealous employee who demanded my name and room number so that he could make sure I wasn’t going to use the pool without being a guest. Guy was rude enough about it that I told him to go fuck himself. I’m normally a nice guy, but this guy was out of control.
-Inadequate supply of beachside seating, with many broken down chairs and tables. Why have a private beach if your guests have to scramble to grab a broken chair as soon as someone leaves?
-Outrageously priced bicycle rentals. NT$150 for 2 hours, NT$50 for each hour after than. Scooter rental down the road is NT$400 per 24 hours. Let’s fleece our guests for as much as possible.
-Was told that we could grab a ride on a shuttle to Kaohsiung for NT$300 each. Unfortunately, not told that we had to arrange this prior to 11:30am on the day of checkout. When I asked the manager what other options were available, she told me “Nothing. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself.” Great attitude.
-The two times we did eat in the restaurant, we waited 20 minutes and 30 minutes, respectively, for our first course to come out.
I did like the kids running the bar, and the people cleaning the room. Very nice people.
Perhaps if I stay at the Chateau nine more times, this will turn out to be the exception. I doubt it. Maybe it’s under new management. Piss poor management.
I once checked out every top hotel in KenTing and came back to Ceasar’s. I think I remember that the rooms at the Chateau beach hotel were kind of small compared with the rooms at Ceasar Park. Also, at the Chateau I thought that hotel looked from the outside like the elementary school that I went to as a kid. Also, if I remember well the Ceaser Park has a better location with more of an easy walking distance to downtown KenTing (It is basically in downtown KenTing). The best rooms at the Ceasar are of course the ocean side, book ahead on the high floor with a view.
By the way, why be Taiwanese and go to KenTing when it is unbearably hot. Go to KenTing anytime besides the summer for cheaper prices, less crowds and weather that is not so unbearably hot. I prefer winter myself. I would say that now is the time to go to the mountains where it is cooler.
Tomas [quote]Air conditioning frequently broken. Management’s attitude: “There’s nothing we can do at the moment.” Actually witnessed a 30 person hotel guest protest in the lobby as I left my stifling hot room . . .[/quote]
I think if you go often enough you can eventually have a bad experience at any hotel. I have stayed at the Ceasar Park 4 times . 1 & 2 were great.
3rd time the room smelt funny, there was a stain on the floor, TV remote didnt work & worst of all there were toe nail clippings on the balcony…ugh. I didnt go back for a long time after that. Revisited again early this year & it was fine + did the scooter hire bit for 2 days
which was great.
Funny, funny. And point taken–the only truly miserable part was the lack of a/c at night. The rest of the stuff is just low quality but not miserable, but the point is, I paid a nice premium to stay in a nice hotel. I didn’t get what I paid for. I’m not going back, and I’m sure they won’t miss me.
Funny, funny. And point taken–the only truly miserable part was the lack of a/c at night. The rest of the stuff is just low quality but not miserable, but the point is, I paid a nice premium to stay in a nice hotel. I didn’t get what I paid for. I’m not going back, and I’m sure they won’t miss me.[/quote]
Tomas, no rolling eye thing, so I was actually being serious – your stay really does sound like a bit of a let-down and I too would have been seriously pissed off. As you say, things do go wrong from time to time, but if the attitude is also fucked up, that’s a whole different kettle of fish. For the a/c thing, I’d have been shouting for a refund or at least some free drinks coupons or something. Their reactions sounds extremely shabby. As for the other stuff, that just sounds standard Taiwanese, which I found strange – the thing I like about the Chateau was that the staff didn’t seem like that at all – then again, its a couple of years since I’ve been, and a lot of things can happen to a place in two years.
sorry to hear these bad experiences - the last time I stayed there was 18 months ago so perhaps there has been some changes… but yeah i have had good times everytime there.