By Lakshmi:

Siddhi and I recently had to spend a night in Malmo, Sweden and the recommendation provided to us was the Ibis, Malmo.  Given our positive experiences with other Accor brands, we expected our first foray into the Ibis brand to be satisfactory.

However, the stay ended up being a disappointing experience, driven primarily by the service.

First, I want to clarify that this property located about 15 minutes away from Malmo Central is neat with breakfast served on premise, clean functional rooms with free wi-fi and a large grocery store across the street.

However, if you need any form of support, the staff simply did not care.  Given our extensive travels, we are fairly self-sufficient individuals requiring minimal support from our hotels. But in this case, even minimal support was non-existent.

– Given my platinum status with Accor, I asked if breakfast was included.  They said they were busy and would let me know.  The next morning, when I asked, I was told abruptly that I would have to pay for breakfast.  After saying yes to the receptionist, we went to the breakfast area to be told we can’t have breakfast without the right vouchers.  So, we returned back to be given vouchers hastily.

– Given it was our first night in Sweden, we had little cash and asked if they would exchange money.  They simply said no.

– We needed a taxi and asked them to request a taxi which would accept credit cards.  Turned out after using the taxi, the driver informs us that no credit cards would be accepted.  When I asked the receptionist for help, she simply stated that I could drive across the street to the grocery store and get cash…with no offer for any form of assistance.

– The next morning, I asked the attendant about train schedules for Gothenburg and she simply stated that she was very busy and I should call the number myself and get the information.

Granted, the Ibis is a limited service property and while they genuinely may not have been able to address some of our needs, surely they could have at least pretended to be somewhat helpful.

Needless to say, we will be thinking twice before staying at another Ibis property.

In case you want to look into this property, they are located on the web at:

http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/hotel-3332-ibis-malmo/index.shtml