Diamond Bay Residence

We left two days early, and the male receptionist was rude and unfriendly. This is supposed to be a five-star hotel, but I really can’t recommend it. The service and hospitality were unbelievably bad. The breakfast was so poor that we stopped going, and if you arrive an hour before it closes, there’s barely any food left. The omelet we ordered wasn’t cooked properly, and even the onion was still crunchy. During our six-day stay they never changed our towels, just folded the dirty ones and put them back. The rooms weren’t cleaned well either. The WiFi barely worked, so we had to use our own data. The elevators were painfully slow, with waits that could reach ten minutes. They wouldn’t provide an iron and told us to use the laundry service and pay for it. They also said we couldn’t take the laundry bag because it belonged to the hotel, so we couldn’t use it for our dirty clothes. Apparently, guests can take one and use it anywhere in the world, just not here. At check-in you have to leave a $100 deposit in case you steal the laundry bag. It’s a joke.

Breakfast was good, and the front desk team were so warm and helpful. Matt, Adah, Mun, and Jazzie went out of their way for us. The hotel itself is really nice, though we had trouble turning the lights in our rooms on and off. The elevators were often packed, so sometimes we had to take the stairs. We’ll be back!

The ocean view from our upgraded higher-floor room was the main thing going for it. The room was fine, the front desk staff were professional, and the beachfront location is good, but I wouldn’t stay here again. The elevators are a constant headache. The hotel has just three, shared with the public gym, pool traffic, offices, parking, and the attached residence tower. They stopped almost every trip, especially at the gym floor, and waits were long all day. For somewhere marketed as 4-5 star, that’s unacceptable. Breakfast was also extremely crowded and fell well short of expectations for both quality and organization, so the place didn’t feel like good value at any room price. Management should reprogram at least one elevator to run express, either for guest floors or for the gym and pool. Until they address the congestion, I won’t return. Dave Usa

Matt left me with a very good impression of the hotel. After checking out, I traveled to Korea and realized I’d left my iPad behind, so I was panicking. He helped me work out how to find it, and kept helping even after I had checked out. That kind of care made me feel I’d received the premium service of a five-star hotel.