OPEN LETTER - Ugly experience at Shangri la Hotel, Edsa July 1, 2013 OPEN LETTER RE – Ugly experience at Shangri la Hotel Edsa Mr. Patrick Schaub GENERAL MANAGER Shangri la Hotel Edsa Philippines Dear Mr. Schaub, I wrote you an email last night after an ugly experience I had at your hotel. I am revising my letter this morning. I am also sending your office the hard copy of this article along with copies for your resident manager Laurent Bourgeois, your head of security Edwin de los Santos, your duty manager Maria Angeli Luna and the manager of Summer Palace restaurant, Nancy Fam, My name is Marlene Aguilar. I became the general manager of The Bedford Suites when I was 27 years old. It was the first all suite hotel in the vicinity of New York City, which catered to the top executives of Fortune 500 companies. Therefore, I know how to run a hotel. In the last 16 years, I have published and written coffee table books promoting Philippine art and culture. I have garnered awards both here and abroad, including an endorsement from the United Nations. I have also written Warriors of Heaven, a non-fiction book, which I launched at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2009. This novel exposes the ugly relationship between the US and Philippine governments. While writing this book, I was heavily monitored and bullied by both RP and US governments due to its controversial contents. Warriors of Heaven has been required reading in local universities in 3 subjects, namely Political Science, Philosophy and Popular Literature. It has also gotten excellent reviews both here and abroad. Both Belgian Ambassador Greg Vardakis and Wes Penre of Illuminati News said, “The book is amazing.” The first lady of Micronesia told the president Manny Mori that “She loves the book and he should read it.” I have travelled to 5 continents and 37 countries. Because of this, I learned to dislike hotels, because the last thing I want is to be processed like sheep. In addition, I really do not appreciate false pleasantries, something that is difficult to avoid in hotels such as yours. My husband worked with international companies as an economist. He worked with institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank for over 30 years. Last year, he was commissioned to work for Queen Elizabeth’s Agency, which brought him to Turks and Caicos for six months. Through his contacts with his peers, we have had access to boutique accommodations, away from standard hotel chains like the Marriott and the Shangri la. In the Philippines, we come to your hotel only because of your restaurants, nothing more. We are members of your Gourmet Club. We are also members of the same in Makati and the Hyatt Hotel in Manila. We are not easy to feed and we do not find it pleasant to dine in restaurants inside malls or in crowded places like Greenbelt, Makati. We normally eat in your establishments at around 6:30pm. At this time of the evening, your restaurants are not busy offering peaceful atmosphere. On the 15th of June, my husband and my ten-year old daughter Maya had a very pleasant dinner at Senju. After that, we came down to your lobby. Suddenly, I noticed there was a grand piano there. I also noticed that a male child who was around 7 years old was fiddling with the musical instrument creating disturbing sound, making a menace of his presence in your lobby for your patrons and guests to endure. I grew up with great musicians and good food. So, if you want to bring out the worst in me, give me bad food or bad music. The horrible sound the boy mustered irritated me. Plus, I do not believe it is proper for your hotel to put a grand piano in the lobby for children to assault. That is wrong. So, I called your hotel. I spoke to the duty manager that evening. I explained to him what had occurred and told him, “If Shangri la Hotel Edsa couldn’t afford a decent musician to play the piano, then by all means remove the instrument from the lobby.” The man I spoke with apologized immediately after I told him about the incident. As soon as he apologized, I calmed down. Why? I realized I was talking to a competent person who was concerned. That male duty manager said, he would report my worry with the rest of the management. He took my number and told me that someone would call me the following day. The next morning at around 9am, a woman from your hotel did call me. She told me that a cordon had been placed by the piano to prevent guests from playing it. She also said the security had been notified that guests are not allowed to play It and that they should approach and reprimand those who do. I thanked this woman for calling me and advising me. I had dinner at Papparazi last Saturday with my husband and my sister who is visiting from Arkansas. She is a scientist who is here to give lectures on nanotechnology in UP Diliman, UST and Ateneo. As always, we enjoyed our meal. When we came down to the lobby after dinner, I was pleased to see the cordon by the piano. Last night, I had dinner at Summer Palace, with my sister and my husband. Once more, we enjoyed the food and the service as well. When I came down the lobby, I saw the barrier to the piano was gone. After being advised by your management they would barricade the musical instrument, I was annoyed that they did not keep their word. I also noticed the lobby was adorned with the same catatonic security men as always. So I approached the piano, and slammed my right hand against the keyboard. No one from your security came to me to speak to me regarding my improper behavior. Then, I walked out the door and stepped inside my vehicle with my sister and my husband. While in my car, I called your hotel to complain about my experience. I spoke to your duty manager Maria Angeli Luna. I was not sure last night if I spelled her name correctly since the head of your security Edwin de los Santos refused to spell her name for me. Anyway, I told your duty manager about the very unfortunate event concerning the grand piano. Unlike the male duty manager I spoke to before, she didn’t want to offer any words of comfort. I felt, she just wanted to get rid of me. Her behavior annoyed me further. I asked her, “Why did you put a grand piano in the lobby?” She said, “I will have a meeting with my superiors and find out.” I stated, “No. Answer my question now. Why did you put a grand piano in the lobby?” She hung up the phone on me. That was around 8pm. In the hotel business the ability to apologize to an unhappy client is very crucial. Any person that is incapable of such gracious behavior has no place in a hotel that offers public service. Instead of offering a solution to my concern, the duty manager hang up the phone. I called the hotel 12 times after that. Six of those times, I was disconnected. Did your operators hang up on me too? I spoke to one of your operators named Ann Cruz 3 times telling her to connect me to Maria Angeli Luna. Ann told me she was busy. I strongly believe your duty manager was not busy. She just refused to speak to me. I am not going to disappear Mr. Schaub. Believe me when I tell you it will not be easy to make me go away. Actually, I am including this entire narrative in the non-fiction book I’m writing now, which is the series to Warriors of Heaven. Anyway, after dropping my husband and sister off at home, I asked my driver to go back to Shangri la hotel Edsa. At 8:37pm, I was back in your lobby. I spoke to the bell service and asked to speak to the night manager. I did this hoping to find someone in your management who is not as incapable as Maria Angeli Luna. I was informed that your manager was unavailable. Next thing I know, the head of your security Edwin de los Santos approached me. He had 2 other male security guards with him, including a woman. All in all, there were four members of your security besieging me. Instead of seeing me, Maria Angeli Luna sent four of your security personnel including the head security to intimidate me. I told Edwin de los Santos I wanted to speak to the duty manager. He said, “She’s busy.” I told him I’ve tried to call her 12 times in the last 37 minutes, but she refused to take my call. I also told him. I didn’t believe she’s busy. And that I believed she refused to speak with me. I urged him to let me see Maria Angeli Luna. He went to her office two or three times. But he came out each time, saying she’s still busy. That was about half an hour of waiting to speak to your duty manager surrounded by four of your security guards whose only presence around me was to scare me. Feeling that my efforts to speak to Maria Angeli Luna was futile, I went upstairs to Summer Palace to speak to the manager there, Ms. Nancy Fam. I was followed by 3 of your male security including Edwin de los Santos. Ms. Nancy and I sat at a table by the door of Summer Palace restaurant. I told her my predicament. I asked her why your duty manager refused to talk to me. She said, “She’s young and she can’t handle the pressure.” I said, “If she can’t handle a complaining client, then she shouldn’t be working in a hotel.” She also said, “I am so sorry about this. You are actually doing the hotel a favor by addressing our flaws so we could improve our services. But some of the people in management are incompetent.” I spoke to Ms. Nancy for almost an hour. During this time, one of the male security guard continued to harass me and stood in close proximity to us. Is it really necessary for your security to harass your paying clients in this manner? Or is this really how you run a five star hotel in a 3rd world country? Ms. Nancy did for me what I would have done if I were in her stead. I couldn’t have asked more from her. She promised me that she would discuss my concern with the hotel management the following morning. I left your hotel at exactly 9:57pm. I was there for an hour and 20 minutes waiting to speak to Maria Angeli Luna. For almost 2 hours, I tried to talk to her, but to no avail. “I would like to ask security to speak to the duty manager before I go,” I told Ms. Nancy before I went back home. This was when we stood outside your hotel entrance. She was kind enough to walk me to my car. “She’s not going to speak to you,” she answered. “She’s afraid.” We come to your restaurants Paparazi, Summer Palace and Senju almost every weekend. I have never complained about anything. This is the first time. And I do not understand why your duty manager would refuse to speak with me. Why is this woman employed in your hotel as manager if she cannot address a grieving client? When I returned to the hotel, why did Maria Angeli Luna send your security force to intimidate me? Is this standard procedure in your hotel between the security staff and your Filipino management? Is there a special and secret arrangement between the Filipino management and Edwin de los Santos to get rid of disgruntled clients by frightening them with your security force in numbers? I also do not understand why your head of security Edwin de los Santos refused to spell the name of Maria Angeli Luna to me. I had to call your concierge this morning to get her full name spelled correctly. In addition I do not understand why your security personnel harassed me. Does Maria Angeli Luna think she could get rid of me by sending the Edwin de los Santos and his men to bully me? I believe most of your guests would have walked away from your bullying security force last night. However, it is not in my nature to run from terrorizing men. In the past, I have written 3 open letters such as this. One was against the British Ambassador and his embassy’s ill treatment of Filipino women. He was removed from his office when my article came out in Philippine Star and Manila Standard. The other one was an article attacking the Asian Development Bank for their bad treatment of the poor. At the time I wrote the editorial ADB headquarters had been in the Philippines for 35 years. The bank’s external affairs said my article was the worst criticism they have ever received in the press in all those years. The most recent one is an open letter addressed to Obama, the US Senate, the US Congress and Ban Ki Moon, the secretary general of the UN. That fight is still going on. I have never lost a battle in my life Mr. Schaub. And I don’t intend to lose that fight or this one for that matter. I am writing to you, hoping you would address this issue. Furthermore, I besiege you to address this issue. Mr, Schaub this god-forsaken country is diseased because the government is infested with vultures from the very top to the very bottom of its hierarchies. Is Shangri la hotel Edsa contaminated with the same sickness? Shangri-la is supposed to be a 5 star hotel. But you might as well be running a brothel with the likes of Maria Angeli Luna and Edwin de los Santos running your enterprise. I would like to ask to speak to you in person. If that is not possible or if you may find it necessary to find excuses not to see me in real time, then may I request a meeting with your resident manager Laurent Bourgeois? I would like to see him in the presence of your duty manager Maria Angeli Luna and your head of security, Edwin de los Santos. I have questions I want answered and recorded as soon as possible. Thank you so much for reading my letter. I would very much appreciate your prompt reply. Sincerely, Marlene Aguilar
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 04:48:06 +0000
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