“It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life”— Bride laments her ‘traumatizing’ reception at 5-star hotel

UPDATE: TISG has heard from One Farrer Hotel, expressing regret that Ms Lau’s experience fell short of expectations and that the management “deeply” regrets the inconvenience caused.

“We acknowledge that even small details can impact an overall impression. Whether it was a miscommunication, an oversight, or something we could have handled better, please rest assured that feedback has been taken seriously,” a spokesperson for One Farrer Hotel told TISG via email.

The spokesperson also said that service recovery efforts had been made and that they reached out to Ms Lau. However, “an amicable agreement and conclusion was not possible despite our repeated efforts.”

SINGAPORE: A woman took to social media to pour out her grievances about the hotel where she held her wedding reception. She said they had chosen the venue as that’s where her groom had proposed to her.

In a post on the COMPLAINT SINGAPORE Facebook page on Monday (Dec 16), Janelle Lau wrote at length how they had been let down by the hotel, which she did not identify but indicated that it is located near the Farrer Park MRT station.

However, the photos she added make the hotel identifiable.

While she wrote that she had told the hotel manager that she did not wish for monetary compensation, she characterized her experience as traumatizing and tiring.

“It was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, but instead, I was greeted with so much grief. Now I will forever be reminded of this experience whenever I look at my wedding ring,” she wrote.

Among her chief complaints are the following:

1. There was no proper parking place for the bridal car. They were told by the hotel that its driveway was full because of renovations.
2. The bathroom ceiling in the bridal suite was leaking, which the hotel addressed by sending maintenance to fix the issue.
3. The ballroom was not ready on time, despite the hotel agreeing to an early set-up. When the wedding guests and solemnizer had arrived, the venue was still being prepared.
4. The man with whom the couple had been liaising did not arrive at 4:30 pm to help the couple with the dry run and did not come until 9 pm.
5. The bride said she had to run around looking for the hotel staff for assistance.

The couple’s other complaints had to do with wait staff and housekeeping.

Nevertheless, the bride thanked the hotel’s ground floor manager, whom she referred to as A, “for trying his best to resolve the above issues.” She also acknowledged that the actual wedding dinner went smoothly.

“But I am very disappointed and more than upset with the service recovery,” Ms Lau added, saying that the manager had told them they waived some charges for the halal meals and gave the couple and their guests a 30-minute extension for the ballroom after dinner, but hoped the bride would let “bygones be bygones”.

She added that the hotel also offered to give the couple an “anniversary stay” or send free food items for Christmas to their home, which they did not accept.

The Independent Singapore has reached out to Ms Lau and the hotel for further comments and updates. /TISG

Read also: “So unprofessional!” — S’poreans call out wedding photographers who ruined a couple’s proposal moment by shouting instructions at them