Last night, I went to Tang Chao restaurant in the Holiday Inn in Salmiya. I haven't been to the hotel in a while - mainly because our usual haunt is the Crowne Plaza. I used to go to Tang Chao a lot when they first opened. The food and service were both fantastic, but the menu was limited. Fortunately now, they have added to the menu.
Unfortunately, the hotel was like a playground: children running through the lobby AND the restaurant screaming and disturbing guests. No one seemed to even bat an eye. When I'm going out and paying for an elegant meal in an elegant surrounding, I want an elegant atmosphere. If I wanted to be surrounded by screaming brats, I would have gone to Burger King on Blaajat with the big playroom. It was ridiculous! The only thing missing from the pre-school atmosphere was the dancing chicken.
The manager finally came over and told us that he couldn't do anything about it. Ummmm... yes you can; you're the manager. Close the main door, ask the parents to keep an eye on their kids - something. It was so loud that we couldn't even talk. "Management" means managing. Manage the situation. Do SOMETHING. And if a guest complains, make SOME kind of ammends.
Low class people should stay on the jakhoor. Why do they have to punish decent people with their poor manners? Sorry, I don't buy into the "Let them be children..." philosophy of child rearing. Obnoxious, bad mannered, poorly disciplined children turn into arrogant, obnoxious, bad mannered adults. If you want evidence of this, there is plenty of it around.
So, from now on, if I want an elegant Chinese meal; it is the Peacock in the Radisson - all the way. Tang Chao a la Romper Room doesn't get my vote.
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I know how bad it can get here with kids. When our kids were little they would even try to seat us right next to other little kids, Maybe to keep all the mess in one place? Anyway the first and only time we let it happen, the kids next us were awful and picking on our kids, the parents were so uninvolved one of their kids fell over high chair and all and the parents were completely oblivious to this. (The mother was way too busy staring at ME and daddy was on the phone.) WE picked him up and comforted him, snapped out some adequate remarks and left. The main sport for mothers here is to fight that Maternal Instinct urge and they do it with gusto. Gail
Holiday Inn Salmiya has turned into a low-class hotel.. even the gym is pathetic..
The DGM of the hotel called me and apologized. Granted, he went out of his way to be kind and offered another dinner for free, but the damage was done (I pay money NOT to be stressed, so why should I go back for more stress?). He also said something to the effect of, "This is Kuwait - what can you do? We are trying to market more to families." Oooootay.
My reply was that a good portion of their profit is derived from business travel and/or business meetings and I would NEVER recommend the hotel for either. The one time I stayed there overnight, it was also extremely noisy and I woke up several times during the night.
So, if you are going to do it, Holiday Inn Salmiya, do it right: Make it a 100% family/children friendly hotel and get rid of the fine dining. At 7kd for some of the entrees, people like me just aren't going to pay the price for the amount of stress. I made a conscious decision to order something for 3KD instead.
I am a mother, and I never understand when people say "let them be children". What does being a child mean? I travelled to another middle eastern country with my daughter (not Kuwait)and a little boy broke her nose in a Burger King; however, the oddest part of the whole situation was when the boy's mom stated " they are just children, let them be." Obviously, she did not apologize and didn't seem at all bothered that her 10 year old son injured my 3 year old. I responded to her in a way I had never responded to anyone in the past. I merely suggested she stick an elephant's d--- in her a--. Until now I don't know why I chose those two phrases, but I'm sure she at least learned something that day.
Did u really enjoy the holiday ?
I was wondering why "Holiday Inn, Salmiya" in the first place? food is bad, playing kids is the theme!!! I don't step in this hotel anymore, sometimes I go to Pepis Pizza though, they have a big front play yard, so you can take a good corner away from noise and kids.
and when it comes to chinease food, There's only one good place in Kuwait "Radisson SAS hotel chinease resturant.
DG, don't you think it's time to make a "data base" about resturants and places of leisure in Kuwait for your readers? I'm sure many of us would contribute
Holiday Inn Salmiya is one of the most low class hotels in town. Their GYM has some of the best equipments in town, but they offer it so cheap to the extent that every third person happens to be a member in Holiday Inn GYM. The GYM is too full during the evenings and they are running short of money. They are also greedy to the extent that they want more members, in spite of the GYM overflowing. As of now, they are begging people to renew their membership by offering heavy discounts on their restaurants etc.. So, please recommend people not to waste their valuable money by becoming a member in holiday inn. I have had similar experiences with many other restaurants/hotels in Kuwait and I don't think Radisson SAS is any exception. May be, till such time you come across the odd family, you will choose to visit Raidsson SAS. AS you have rightly said, there are a lot of arrogant people around and you being an expat, are soft targets for letting out their arrogance.
To conclude, Holiday INN - KUWAIT -SUCKS BEYOND IMAGINATION AND Please do not visit. Never.
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