Sovotel Boutique Hotel @ Uptown 28

We've had problems here before: there was no running water on an earlier stay, and this same night receptionist once refused to give us small change and told us to find it ourselves. This time, we were locked out at night because the key got stuck. The hotel still doesn't have an access card system, so we had to ask reception for help. The Indian lady on the night shift couldn't open the door. She rolled her eyes and asked, “How did you lock it? Did you check or not?” as if we'd caused the problem ourselves. We took her key and tried it, and the door opened straight away. She looked embarrassed but wouldn't admit she was wrong and brushed it off. We felt unsafe with a faulty door and asked to change rooms. She refused, saying online bookings aren't allowed to switch, even though we could see plenty of empty rooms. She kept calling it “hotel policy” and acted as if we were the problem. When we arrived, a lovely Borneo receptionist had given us some hope, but the rest of the service was so unprofessional. If management thinks this is how a hotel should run, good luck keeping customers. People won't come back for service like this.

We got locked out because of the faulty door, and instead of helping, the Indian lady on the night shift blamed us. She looked annoyed and was completely unprofessional. We asked to move rooms, but she refused and made excuses even though there were plenty of empty rooms. This wasn't my first bad experience here, and I'm not coming back.

The location is a big plus, in a prime area with lots of restaurants, from budget options to high-end places. Staff were friendly, and there's a water dispenser on the ground floor. I had a room on the third floor, and there's no lift, which would be tough with heavy luggage. The internet was poor, so I had to use my own data, and my room didn't have a TV.

A budget-friendly rate, and the room was ordinary but about what you'd expect for the price.