I have a 5 star review of this Hotel establishment already, and in 'my opinion,' for good reason, but I was recently messaged - at Yelp - from a fellow reviewer, who happens to be, again, in 'my opinion', a serial cynic by reading some of their reviews. But, with no photo and limited profile, and not taking too kindly to people playing either political games or bully tactics in order to either get things put up or taken down because something offends their sensitivities or semblance of order in this world, I have decided to bring it to your attention.
The message I received - in a nutshell - remarked that the Hotel was owned by the Sultan of Brunei and therefore I would be 'strongly advised' to remove my review. Frankly, when I do a review - on any establishment whatsoever, I don't care if the decedents of Rasputin the Mad Monk own the roots to said establishment or not, it's none of my business to delve into the nooks and crannies of ownership. A review is about service and experience received. I am now posting my response to said fellow reviewer, which you can see is an addendum to my original post.
"Sir, you are politicizing a hotel, therefore you are politicizing my review. You are a faceless person, and yet you 'cowardly' choose to contact me in this fashion. I live in a 'still' free and democratic society where the freedom to speak one's mind and express oneself 'still' exists. I do not take down reviews just because someone simply requests I do because it offends one's sensitivities. If I deem something worthy of my attention, enough to remark upon it in the first place - for good or bad reasons, then I am justified in doing so. Perhaps if I had bad things to say about the Hotel you would not have contacted me with this request. Just a stab in the dark?
I do not politicize my reviews, nor should you politicize your remarks. If we all knew who owned every single Hotel and square mile we stayed at or loitered around we would probably be quite ill and live a hermit existence. There are a number of Hotels in Italy that are 'supposedly' linked to the Mafia, which we all know to be a criminal organisation, but when you stay at a Hotel - and I have reviewed dozens all over the world, if I dug into the background of what consortium, Cabal or organisation, conglomerate etc etc of 'who' actually owned that Hotel or had shares in the foundations, god knows what I'd come up with.
The point of it is, it doesn't matter who owns any Hotel, if you have good service there, and you are an unbiased reviewer as I am, you don't go to the manager of said Hotel and say; "could you tell me who owns this place, who has shares in the brickwork/framework, and who really is behind this building?", otherwise I'd be shown the front door, probably with a boot in the tail, and a "no room at the Inn", routine, and then I would be forced to stay at some local doss house - probably full of fleas and bed bugs. Or, a cheap, nasty, bed and breakfast that could even be owned by a local grocer who happens to beat his wife, and tortures his children, and have no clue to these going's on, therefore rendering myself a complete hypocrite. Heaven only knows what I would come up with if I truly dug around these establishments I have laid my head down at of a night. I am an investigative journalist after all.
For example, I once stayed at a hotel, a very good, 5 star hotel in Tel Aviv which someone recently told me (not a Mossad Agent), a place that has since been closed down - over night - because the money trail went back to Hamas. A rather evil bunch of terrorists as we are all aware. I am sure a lot of Jewish people stayed there without even knowing it. Had I been an 'inmate' of one of the Sultan's Harems, and written this review, I would probably be a female version of a eunuch right now. Just saying. Maybe the best alternative for me at this point is to send your posting to me and my reply to Yelp themselves and they can make the decision of whether my review of Hotel Eden should be removed. This is the fairest approach methinks? Or maybe I should just put it to the people themselves...what do you say? read more