Intercontinental Singapore

[jbride]

hi all,

I'm a HI-bride-to-be too

I was thinking maybe we can ask everyone
who has attended a wedding dinner at HI to
help to list the best dish...

then I can compile the list & pick from there since i'm not going to have the food tasting

Hi Blossom,
pls share with us your incident or any advice if possible so that we can take note of it

Thanks!

 

[jazz]

Blossom, yes, could you let us know what we have to take note of? Thanks!

 

[blossom]

hi jerlyn,
i really din thought it to be a serious thing but i was chit-chatting with friend (who was my coordinator that nite) yesterday and it appeared that the hotel did more horrible things that i know!

how come no one encountered this??? am i the unfortunate one? or other ppl are too kind to bad-mouth them??? i am really very upset and disappointed with them!

hellen has yet to reply to us. i really hope she will give us a reasonable answer.

 

[jerlyn]

Blossom,

Indeed distressing to know abt that. Though I'm not sure what matters r u referring to, but I'm sure you feel bad abt the whole issues esp after ur friend's feedback.

Do u think, u can share the issues offline ?

 

[blossom]

hi jerlyn,
i had a sleepless nite yesterday as i really wonder how much more bad things happened without our knowledge???

my fren was unwilling to mention anything becos he thought it will ruin our sweet memories. i was the one who started complaining and he then accidentally disclosed more things as he thought i already knew abt it.

i will expect my other helpers to keep quiet abt it too... so there might be more horrifying and disgusting incidents that nite.

i do not want to start questioning all my helpers. i hope hotel intercontinental will come clean and confess what exactly they did that nite.

 

[blossom]

jerlyn,
i am willing to share this issue right here.

initially, i was worried that the complaints i received from relatives may be only one-sided, thus i want to give the hotel a chance to explain. but i trust my coordinator a lot and i am very sure the hotel really did those things now.

there is nothing for me to hide. what i said are going to be hard facts. i also want to warn other brides who like me, trusted the hotel (being reputable) to handle the most impt day of my life. but as i am currently busy at work, i will post the issue tonight instead.

 

[twiiti]

hi everyone,

im tinking of holding mine at HI as well..

can you tell mi wat happened? sounds terrible

 

[blossom]

hi jerlyn,
hellen has written an apology email to me. after her investigation, she found out that all those incidents did took place and she agreed that they should not have done it.

well, what's done cannot be undone.... the hurt and disgrace they inflict on us is not a word of apology can heal.

 

[twiiti]

hi,

wat happened? shld i still sign up with HI?

 

[spud]

Hi Blossom,

Now I am really worried. Will be having my wedding at HI in about 1 month's time. Would really appreciate if you could share what happened so that I can take note of it as well.

 

[lome]

Hi Blossom,

Stop playing around your stories over here, why not tell us straight away what had happen....to me, you sound like more trying to let us guessing around what had happen.

 

[jbride]

hi blossom,

if you dun mind, please share with us the incident so that we can take note of it since we've booked already..

& to advice other brides out there who are considering whether to sign up with them...

i'm really getting very worried after looking at your postings

 

[blossom]

hi lome,
i come to this forum very often. i am aware that what i say will affect ur feelings. but i wanted to get the facts right as i dun want to be accused of fabricating stories.

my hubby and i were busy drafting our reply to hellen last nite, thus i am not able to post any messages. i just came out from a meeting, thus i only see your posting now.

if i have irritated you, i am really sorry. i will try to post my story in portions while im doing my work.

 

[blossom]

my wedding nite was wonderful despite some minor incidents which i think was not worth mentioning. we were overall very happy. the march in was really dreamy..... all that we were worried of... service, food, deco were all well-done. the shophse suite was very nice and comfortable....

the incident that really upset us was regarding beer. as our wedding was on a weekday, our contract only stated a barrel of 20-litres. we tried negotiating to 30-litres but our co-ordinator, pauline assured us that 20-litres was more than enough. we believed her as our guests are not heavy drinkers and trusted that she is experienced enough to make that judgement.

 

[blossom]

however, being kiasu.... we still check up on our guests and even brought in additional alcohol for our guests just in case the beer was not enough.

on that nite, we were informed that the barrel was running out by the 2nd dish. we were shocked but as we have a budget to keep to, we decided not to open another barrel.

 

[blossom]

however, the hotel coordinator continued to pester my coordinator friend to open another barrel by saying that a lot of guests were requesting for beer. our coordinator didn't want to disturb us and he believed that our guests would be understanding and not kick up a fuss. thus, he refused to open the barrel.

the hotel coordinator was rather irritated and actually pressurised and hinted to my friend that the guests would not be happy and my friend would be the one who ruined the banquet. my friend refused to succumb to the pressure.

 

[blossom]

at the end of the dinner, we were shocked to see a second barrel was charged to our bill! we asked our friend and he said he did not give any approval. we questioned the hotel coordinator. he was very nervous and said that my hubby's cousin gave the consent.

firstly, my hubby is the eldest in the whole family. his cousins are all teenagers!!! will they give instructions to release beer???

secondly, the hotel is only allowed to take instructions from our coordinator and ourselves.

we scolded the hotel coordinator and told him to checked how much was consumed from the second barrel. he told us about 1/4 barrel left. he also admitted on the spot that he had not followed instructions properly.

we decided to acknowledge the bill as we felt that our guests probably wanted to drink and what the hotel did might actually made our guests happy. but we told the hotel coordinator that we will inform hellen about this issue.

 

[blossom]

we went back to our room and my jiemei were still there (to continue sabo-ing my hubby). we told them abt the second barrel and they told us that the waiters were going table by table asking people to drink beer.

this proved 2 things:
1) the barrel would have been less empty thus it would be cheaper to buy the additional beer in glasses than barrel.

2) the hotel was aware that they have done something wrong and were attempting to cover up the mistake and justify the opening of the beer by finishing it.

imagine our disgust....

the hotel was obviously trying so hard to earn money from us.

 

[blossom]

the next morning, we met hellen by chance in the lobby and told her briefly. as we were rushing to fly off that evening for our honeymoon, we told her we will write to her when we get back.

after i came back to singapore, i visited my mom and she told me that the waiters were very rude to our guests when they request for beer. the conversation was something like this...

guest: can i have more beer?
waiter: don't have already.
guest: huh? why don't have?
waiter: our hotel has beer but the hosts dun want to buy so dun have loh. you want to drink you can buy yourself.

then the waiter started quoting the beer prices to the guest. i was shocked, really really shocked. but i dunno whether my mom heard wrongly. to tell you the truth, i really hope she heard wrongly. hotel intercontinental leh, cannot be!!!

so i wrote an email to hellen on 25 Sept. i really hope this is a misunderstanding.

 

[jbride]

Hi blossom,

Thanks for taking your time to share your experience with us...

I'm glad to hear that the rest of your wedding went smoothly...

My sis had the same problem with the beer at Grand Plaza Parkroyal during her wedding last year..she was told that the 30-litres was running out by the 2nd/3rd dish & they've asked her to open another barrel. She just agreed althou she didn't expect the guest to consume so much...

So my sis had warned me in advance to assign someone to keep an eye on the actual consumption...i'm given a barrel of 30-litres & additional 20-litres if i have 42 tables...
so hopefully such thing won't happen to me...

another thing HIC brides might wanna take note is the liqor..u might not wanna leave it to the waiters to serve them coz it's hard to control

 

[blossom]

subsequently, we heard more stories here and there. things were getting complicated as it involved relatives who dun like each other blah blah.... very touchy and political.... you know lah.

both my hubby and me are actually very chin chai. we waited patiently for the hotel's reply. i wanted to share with you people here but im worried that it may really be an misunderstanding, then very pai seh...

but the ultimate came from my coordinator friend. i mentioned in my previous postings that i talked to him last weekend. he told us that the hotel coordinator did made sales that nite. he even showed the receipt to my friend and told him that he had no choice lah.... people want beer but you dun want to buy mah.

 

[blossom]

my dear frens...

can you imagine that? here im holding a wedding and i actually felt very very happy, behind my back the hotel started selling beer to my guests like a public restaurant when we refuse to buy the 2nd barrel.

i know there are a lot of unethical hotels that cheat ppl on beer, do all sort of tricks lah. but hotel intercontinental is a reputable hotel leh.....

 

[blossom]

i felt like a fool. my relatives and frens might be gossipping abt this issue but i dunno abt it at all. hmmm... maybe also good to find out now, or else my honeymoon would be ruined.

so i immediately emailed hellen again to chase for a reply. she replied last evening with thousand apologies. but how am i going to face my relatives and frens??? the damage is done. my mom has arranged a separate treat to her frens as compensation. my in-laws might be doing it too. no doubt they din blame us, it was such a shame.

hotel intercontinental has totally betrayed our trust in them. they do not live up to their name at all. i am very disappointed and disgusted by their behaviour.

 

[blossom]

gals,
dun be affected by what happened to me. im just very very suay.

now that i highlighted this issue to hellen, im sure she will do her best to rectify the problem. hellen appeared to be a very competent and nice person as compared to all the others who handled my case.

 

[blossom]

hi twiiti,
like what i said, dun be affected by what happened to me. hellen will probably be extra careful now. besides, if hotel intercontinental can be like that, how are you sure that other hotels would be better?

but do spend some time researching before you make a decision okie.

 

[blossom]

hi spud,
dun worry okie. im sure everything will be fine. like what jbride said, just make sure you can someone to watch the beer. i din do it becos i a bit paiseh to ask a fren to watch the beer.... he will be so stress man... but maybe it's worth doing it lah.

most imptly, discuss your concerns with hellen. tell her that they cannot conduct private transactions with your guests. everything must be approved by you.

 

[blossom]

hi lome,
i hope that you will not view me as a trouble maker. i am once like you all, eager and glad to learn from other ppl. i definitely understand how you feel. but nowadays the forum has been abused by ppl to make accusations so i of cos must be sure things really happened before i say anything.

i hope you understand.

 

[blossom]

hi jbride,
i can choose to be very unhappy but i chose to remember the good parts of my wedding only. everything is over, even if i cry, nothing can be changed.

one word of advice.... if anything goes wrong during ur wedding (choi! choi! touch wood!), dun frown or let it affect your mood. take it easy, things will turn out just right for you.

 

[jbride]

Thanks so much Blossom

i'll take things easy...probably leave it to my sis to co-ordinate things so that i dun have to worry...will take note of the private transaction thing...

i'm definitely looking forward to the dreamy march-in

 

[spud]

Hi Blossom,

Thanks so much for sharing, will definitely take note of the beer issue. Dun be so upset by what happened, I'm sure your friends and relatives know that it is not your fault. They may be gossiping about it now, but they will forget about it soon enough.

BTW, who was the hotel coordinator who did all these? Is he/she still with the hotel? I think that the hotel should take some disciplinary action against him/her. And did Hellen compensate you? I sure hope she did, you definately deserve some compensation.

 

[jerlyn]

Hi Blossom,

Yes...thks for sharing the info so that the rest of the HI bride wld take note.

Dun b updet abt the incidents anymore. Afterall, there r ptv aspect of the day that r worth remembering. Like what Spud mentioned..I'm sure ur relative n friends wun blame u ! So stay cheerful okie ?

So for w weekday dinner, how much beer do u think willl be consumed ? Any advise ? thks

 

[blossom]

hi spud,
thks! sigh! things always get political and complicated when relatives get involved. time will heal all wounds, i will slowly forget.

i tell u ahh.... im a rather unlucky bride...

i chose a notorious bridal boutique without much research (the one with the molest case).... imagine how scared and i was but everything turn out well eventually. they probably learnt from their mistake.

then i chose a notorious contractor to reno my kitchen and ganna cheated abt $500+. luckily the person got sacked and someone took over and refunded the money.

and now the hotel.... so u can imagine how upset i was. but hor, i think i am a much stronger person already. after all, we learnt through mistakes and the most impt thing is marriage rather than the wedding.

oh, the hotel coordinator is sharif. if u get him, must be careful ya. hey, why dun u ask hellen in advance who is ur coordinator first? i dun know if he will be punished. he may be just doing his job.

hellen is going to bring up the matter to management and discuss the compensation. but like what i said, what's done cannot be undone. im happy enough if they learn from their mistake. i hope future HI brides will not encounter this.

 

[blossom]

hi jerlyn,
thks for consoling me. dun worry lah, i can take it wan. my memory is not that good, i will forget about it very fast.

i promised myself i will not be sad anymore. life still goes on....

hellen's reply mentioned that the no. of barrels of beer varies from one to three. you may want to check with your parents, friends and relatives whether they want beer.... just in case lah.

 

[tbag]

Dear All,

Sorry to be a wet blanket if you do find me but I just think I should voice out my opinion. But for the bride, since its over just forget about it. I agree that after awhile no one will remember about it.

I feel that we can't blame the hotel for selling the beer to the guest directly as the staff may be pressurised by the guest too. Imagine if you were to attend a wedding dinner and had really wanted a glass of orange juice or any other beverage that is not included. And when you approach the staff and they told you that they can't sell it just because its a private function. I think as a guest I will be very upset as I am being restricted just because I am attending a wedding dinner doesn't mean that I should be deprive of having a drink which I crave for and am willing to pay for.

If its really such that you feel embaress that your guest are paying for their own drink then your co-ordinator should have given the go ahead to serve the additional barrel of beer. Sometimes, we just can't calculate to the very cent, you just have to weigh which is more important and from there make a decision.

As I am also from the industry, my little opinion for the brides-to-be. You might just want to be prepared that normally beer will run out around the 2nd or 3rd course as every drinker will have a round of it for a start. Imagine 60 or 90 glasses to your 250-300 guests, that's only about a quarter people drinking. Thereafter, it will move slower as some people will just have a glass throughout the dinner while some might just be a chain drinker.

Nonetheless, its really difficult for a hotel to estimate on your behalf as they will not be sure to what extend will your guest drink. To some, not many drinker may be about a quater of the attendance, but to another it might be half the attendance. So its quite tough to estimate accurately.

I hope you don't find me defensive just because I am also from the industry but I just feel that I should pass on the knowledge so that others can better manage their budgets and plan for their wedding.

Anyway, fyi I am also looking at holding my wedding at HIC in Nov next year. So your feedback also comes useful to me.

Take care...

 

[twiiti]

hi blossom,

dun worry, everything tat happens in life will be a chapter for you to remember and recall and to learn

thanks for sharing ur experience wif HI.

btw, which package did u take?

 

[jazz]

Hi Blossom,

Hope that you're feeling better.

Thanks very much for the info! Do really appreciate you to share with us this experience! At least, I know that I'll need to watch out for the beer n liqour serving regardless who my hotel coordinator is.

 

[blossom]

hi tbag,
no prob! it's all history now. no point looking back into it.

i understand that things do happen and can be uncontrollable. that is why i am willing to pay for the 2nd barrel of beer. but i really appreciate if the hotel could inform me that they are selling beer to my guests, at least we could pick up the tab too. rather embarrassing.....

how i wish i got ur advice before my wedding?

anyway, best wishes to your wedding!

 

[blossom]

hi twiiti,
my package is passion, the weekday package.

 

[blossom]

hi jazz,
thanks. dun worry, i can see that hellen is very sincere in her reply. im sure she will do her best to handle subsequent cases.

 

[coolcitrusbasil]

Hi blossom,

thank u for sharing ur experiences. really appreciated. im a HI bride-to-be as well. hopefully everything goes well for me. ya helen is a nice person, i spoke to her before. just to check, did u pay for the audio visual equipments like mic, projector for ur wedding? hows the overall experience with HI?

coolcitrusbasil

 

[blossom]

hi coolcitrusbasil,
wow, what a special nick....

i din use the audio visual eqt. din have time to prepare any presentation.

i was very satisfied that nite. i felt like a queen.

everything is nice. really sweet memories.

dun worry abt it. hellen is a very capable person.

 

[coolcitrusbasil]

heee.... thanks Blossom!

me and hubby are quite firm on HI...Still, need to talk to Helen in further details. Thanks to all who contributed in the HI threads.

I do have confident in HI. Maybe due to my encounter with Hellen so far. Quite assured. keekee.
You have any pictures to share with me during the dinner? Thanks!

 

[blossom]

hi coolcitrusbasil,
yup. i think hellen can handle it well. she is very professional in her reply to me. it's a pity that she din handle my case.

i din scan a lot of dinner pics but i can share with u. can u give me ur email address?

 

[coolcitrusbasil]

sure! please email me at [email protected]
really happy to share your joy.

 

[blossom]

hi coolcitrusbasil,
you've got mail....

 

[coolcitrusbasil]

HAHAHA, blossom, got it!

you are real creative har. hehee

 

[jazz]

Hi Blossom,

Do you mind sharing your picts with me too? THANKS very much!!!

[email protected].

 

[jbride]

hi blossom,

i've luv to look at your pics too

is it ok to email me [email protected]!

 

[jerlyn]

ladies...

I have some probs contacting Hellen these few days...like "playing hide n seek" !

Thus, checking if anyone can provide her email address ? When we met up with her the first time, she ran out of name cards n thus we didnt have her email address.

I have left voicemails in her box & left msg with Anja too. So juz thot of sending her an email as well for her to revert 2 me.

thks in advcne for the info. Wld appreciate it.

 

[blossom]

hi jerlyn,
i understand it can be rather hard to get them at times. btw, hellen's email address is [email protected]