LK The Empress Pattaya

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LK empress this our about 7 times here we been going back here for that lent of time this year we bring our granddaughter we use the the reception to book all our trip excursion we been tiger park notch notch park elephant ride and the aquavers the hotel porter who help us call boy he is the one making all that booking for us very good all the trip the hotel was good as always just been dated now need to remake up the hotel as getting Old now but still good staff friendly cleanliness from breakfast to the room Spot on 10 out of 10 we still go back from time to time now recommended to everyone

nice all around

I booked for location and because rooms looked good on Agoda. I made the mistake of booking on Agoda too, because it wasn't available on booking.com... and somehow overlooked that it was prepayment. That was my bad... I never prepay a hotel room and almost never book without cancellation possibility because you just create problems for yourself. Like this time. Upon arrival, it almost felt like a building site outside reception. When entering, it was extremely hot, as bad as outside, even though the reception was in a closed off lobby (all doors etc were closed). The lift and halls in the upper floors also had no air-con. I checked in to my room which was a superior sea view room. It looked elegant but cheesy in the photos... I was happy to live with that for 3 nights. I had paid something in the order of 350 EUR for the 3 nights. The hotel sells itself on Agoda as 4.5 star. Well... the room. What can I say? The balcony was a tiny thing with a large split-system air-con unit sitting on it. Yes, the room had a split system air-con that was absolutely not capable of cooling it down. Furniture was all broken, cupboard doors couldn't close, sinks and baths had been replaced and had terrible grouting work. The toilet was a bit dirty but I just cleaned it then went... as you do. However, when I washed my hands, I noticed several hairs on the vanity... not mine. Looked in the bath, more hairs... made a closer inspection of the room... just dirty. Floors, vanity, walls all had water stains that could have easily been removed with a fairly generic cleaning. It was clear that these rooms were not properly cleaned in years. I went to reception and asked to check out. They made all the motions of surprise that the room was not up to standard yet you can see in other reviews that many guests have had these issues. That became even more apparent a short while later. First, they asked to show me another room. They did, it was also dirty. Then they showed me one in their other building, same result. On the way back to the reception I commented that I was surprised they had 4 stars based on what I had seen. The concierge revealed they do not have any official star-rating, just their own!! Finally, they suggested they would move me to one of the other LK hotels, the LK Emerald Beach - an even higher self-proclaimed star rating. But that hotel was 3km out of town. I booked here because I wanted to be in the centre of Pattaya. So I told them I have no faith that their company can offer a room that is satisfactory and that I would leave. Then the revelation moment - they handed me a pre-printed form that I had to fill out saying the dates and times of reservation and check-in and that I was checking out on my choice and would not get any refund! And I had to sign that, of course. I took my suitcase and pack and trotted off down the street to the Wave Hotel where a wonderful concierge showed me a room in that hotel and then in the Bayview Hotel behind it. I chose to stay at the Bayview in a seaview room and had a superb stay with great staff, good breakfasts and a much more attractive environment that LK The Empress. Oh, and it was clean. I have since lodged a complaint with Agoda and receive an e-mail every day saying they have heard nothing from LK. I also wrote to LK and they made it very clear they were never going to give a refund. Naturally, a charge-back claim has been made with MasterCard. The hotel and/or chain are advertising a service that is not fit for purpose and fraudulently claiming a 4-star rating that they do not have. They are only bookable with non-refundable prepayment. Call me a fool, because only a fool would book under these conditions. Most Thai would deal with this with humility, a lot of Wai (bowing) and aplogies. Not here. Perhaps they have become used to all of their sex-tourist guests being satisfied with the low standard. Do yourself a favour, go down the road a couple of hundred metres to the Bayview - it is far superior to what LK is offering.

Good

Didn't like how they closed of the restaurant and no lunch and dinner services and they were very rude

The rooms are mouldy and smell very musty. We were shown 5 rooms and all had same smell. Would be Unhealthy to stay there, therefore we asked for refund. They would only give refund less 10% and said it would take 45 days to get it. Very disappointed

Staff were very polielty and smile, open doors when leaving and entering front lobby

Property showing age

Food not the best but overall ok