I first stayed in the Gateway in the early 2000’s. The mage ent, then was pretty dreadful with some bizarre rules and practices. I have returned here after many years, and I find that little has changed in the past near quarter century. The staff are a delight. The business processes are such that it is abundantly clear that the word “hospitality” does not figure in the Steamships (the owners) vocabulary. On check in, they would not accept a debit card as prepayment/security. The extras such as laundry and meals had to be secured by a deposit, paid by my client, who resented it because any surplus remaining would not be reimbursed, but a credit note would be issued. As they would not permit a global deposit to be paid, there were two deposits, one for laundry, one for meals, and what is a local businessman going to do with a credit note for laundry services? I called for room service: curry and a beer. The menu stated that there was a “tray charge” of PGK15, fair enough. The curry arrived in a biodegrable bag containing two plastic containers similar to Tupperware containers, and a bottle of beer, with no means of opening it. The poppadums were on top of the curry, so that by the time they reached my room, they were soft and chewy. When I placed my order, the question was how I intended to pay for the food. Ten minutes later, I was advised that the front desk had graciously sanctioned the draw down on my credit. I put my laundry in, and each evening, I arrived in the room to find no laundry. I called to ask where it was, and was asked how I intended to pay for it. After phoning, the laundry arrived. However, the last time, my shirt arrived but no socks or underwear. Lost in the system despite numerous requests to look for them. Perhaps the strangest was when I ordered pizza. I ordered it at shortly after 7pm. There was a brief power outage and at 9pm, I called to ask where my pizza had gone. The room service staff had no knowledge of my order, but graciously apologised and re ordered the pizza. At 1030, I gave up and put out my light only to be awakened at 11pm by room service bearing my pizza. The whole place is being held together by long suffering staff. The structure is in dire need of investment, as my door keycard works for 48 hours before needing to be re-issued. Apparently the door card reader needs a new battery, so why on earth do they not change the damned battery instead of having me exercise my arthritic hip climbing stairs in the ultimate door challenge. On the first day, finding my way to the foyer involved following the signs to the walkway through the restaurant, which, because it is closed in the morning, is locked, and I had to unlock a door into the swimming pool area, in the rain, to get to the other side of the restaurant. - no biggy, but a sign or two would have helped. Oh! The rain. It appears that the roof is a tad porous, so the floors around the dining room were covered in sheets to soak
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