My family of 4 stayed at the Royal Kempinski for 2 nights.
The TLDR version is that the place is run with good intentions and inadequate oversight.
We chose this hotel because the Kempinski brand is synonymous with luxurious quality and attention to detail. This specific location showcased a lovely outdoor pool, sunbathing spots and a kids club that promised to keep my 6-year-old entertained.
After checking in at 3:30 pm, we went straight to the pool. 5 minutes in, a lifeguard informed us the pool would close down earlier that day due to "Ramadan-related construction" and that we needed to leave by 5 pm.
He then went on to say that this would also extend to the remainder of our 2-night stay.
I spoke to the reception desk who said they would look into this. An hour later, I got a phone call confirming the above and offering me an exception for my daughter to use the indoor pool the next day, which is otherwise adults only.
Looking to save what's left of this stay, we went to explore the kids club. Despite the nice set up, the foosball table was missing a ball. We asked the clerk at the club about it. After calling someone else to confirm, she came back to inform us the ball had been missing for a while, and said the available alternative was a small dice. A dice cube to play foosball! We later bought our own balls from a play store nearby to be able to use the foosball table the next day.
The other feature was a PS5, which was a nice touch. As with everything else, it also did not work because it was not connected to the internet. Asking 2 different clerks over that evening and the following day about this was pointless, as they just kept reiterating that the machine "works". Explaining the internet issue fell on deaf ears, so I resorted to using my mobile phone as a hotspot for the PS5 to get my daughter, who was understandably upset at this point, to be able to play.
The next morning, we woke up to a puddle behind the toilet, who we thought may have been self-induced. We went down for breakfast, which was the only redeeming quality of our stay. The food was great, and Christine, our server over the 2 mornings we stayed there, was very caring and attentive.
The rest of the day unfortunately did not go as well as we'd hoped, but as bad as we've expected. I took my daughter to the indoor pool, which she could only muster all of 20 minutes in because of the extreme humidity. We then went to the outside pool to find the sunbathing chairs gone, and construction workers banging around the now inaccessible pool. The hamering and banging transpired for the whole day, and with it any chance of enjoying the day by the pool.
We woke up on the morning of check out to find a new puddle behind the toilet, confirming a more possible leak than a self-induced drizzle.
I've relayed most of my experience to one of the customer service representatives, who was nice and apologetic. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do to salvage this.
Should there have been prior notice of ongoing construction and lack of pool and sunbathing access, I would have cancelled my reservation and went elsewhere. Despite the kind, unapologetic words, the whole experience was shockingly subpar for a Kempinski hotel, and a clear example of how little thought goes to customer experience in this place.
