After so many negative posts, it’s time to sing the praises of an establishment which has the best customer service that I have ever encountered.
The establishment is the Wassamar hotel in Addis Ababa and I have been there on three occasions after arriving at Addis Ababa in the evening with my onward flight taking place the following morning.
Why do I hold this hotel in such high regard?
- On each and every occasion, the staff are extremely courteous and friendly. I have yet to encounter a poor member of staff at this hotel;
- If the hotel takes more than half an hour to reply to an email, I am surprised. The hotel treats emails as if they were phone calls: if somebody asks them a question, they reply pretty much immediately, not several hours or days later;
- On one occasion, after arriving over 6 hours late on the inbound flight (so I only had four hours at the hotel), the receptionist forgot to charge me for some (very) early morning coffee. When I pointed out the error, the response was “we’ll just call that part of your breakfast”, which is included in the room rate. The small act of kindness was duly rewarded on Tripadvisor;
- Unlike most of the hotels near Barajas airport, the restaurant is open 24 hours a day. In other words, the hotel is run for the benefit of the customer; and
- On my last trip through Addis in September 2013, the immigration authorities would not permit me to leave the airport. Even though the hotel was within their rights to charge me for this room, they decided not to do so.
How much do you have to pay in Europe for this quality of service?
