And the first impression was good. The standard looked far better than most other places we had seen in the area.
We were also approached in a positive way. It made us decide to stay there, and we were told that we could move in two days later, on Sunday 16th December. We were told to come between 11am and noon.
At 11.45am, we were there. When we came, we were told to come back an hour later because they were still cleaning. When we came back later, they said that they had still not finished cleaning. While waiting for them to finish cleaning, we saw that several people came out of the cottage; people who definitely not were people cleaning. We counted 6 men and 3 women coming out little by little.
Over 2 hours later, we were allowed to move in. Then we were told that the reason for the delay was not cleaning, but that those people who had been renting the two days from Friday until Sunday did not move out by check out time! If only they could have told us at once.
Already then we probably should have understood that not everything was okay at Rosewood. But we understood it as part of how things are in Kenya - people are late and they do not give sufficient information.
The first morning in Rosewood, just after having prepared and eaten breakfast, the door bell rang. They came with breakfast for us! Breakfast was included, but no one had told us that! The following days, we ordered breakfast. But almost every day, we had to call them at least one time extra a day because they did not give us what we had ordered. There was always something missing.
Another thing that we had been told was that laundry was included. But when we handed over some clothes for laundry, the woman said that we had to pay extra for it. Sharon called the manager to clearify it and she got it confirmed: laundry was included. After using the laundry service knowing that it was included, on our last day the manager claimed that he had never said that it was included. Our laundry cost 3800 Kenyan shillings, which is about 280 Norwegian kroner. The amount is not bad, but the fact that they had told us and confirmed that it was included in the rent in the beginning, and then on our last day telling us that laundry was not included, is not a way to treat customers.
Cleaning is another issue that caused challenges. The picture below is an example of the cleaning level. It looked like this when we moved in 16th December, and it looked like that for the next 10 days. The only reason why 26th December meant a change is because we were then present in the cottage while cleaning was done. Usually, they only seemed to change towels and do our bed.
The woman who cleaned that day had a terrible attitude. She behaved as if she did not at all like to work. While cleaning, she was on her mobile phone three times for private talks.
Another example of things they did not do is checking and changing bulbs. The picture below shows that two out of four bulbs were working. The total amount of bulbs in the living room is eight - only four were working. Those four bulbs did not work when we moved in and they still had not been changed by the time we moved out about two weeks later...! They did not bother giving us toilet paper, either. Toward the end of our stay there, we spoke to the woman with some kind of administrative responsibility. At least when we asked her, she said that it was a routine to check and change/refill those things. But obviously, they did not care to follow those routines.
During the first couple of days when we came back in the late afternoon or evening, we noticed that they had been in our cottage because towels had been changed and our bed had been made, but no obvious cleaning had been done. We did not feel comfortable about them coming in to our cottage without us knowing as long as they hardly do anything. Therefore, we asked them that they only come and clean upon our request and while we are there. After some days, though, we found a way to keep our valuables safe, so we asked them to come and clean when we were not present - but only after getting a request from us.
The first day we requested them to come, we registered that nobody had come at all. When we called and asked why, they kept referring to our previous request that nobody should enter unless we were there. We talked to the owner and underlined that they may very well clean when we are not there, but that they should only clean upon our request.
The next time we requested for cleaning, again we found that nobody had been there! Again they referred to our previous request that nobody should enter unless we were there. They did not seem to register that we had told both the manager and the owner that they could come and clean when we were not there. Then they said that they could not do it because we had not left the key and that they did not have an extra key to the cottage. When we told them that they had been in our cottage some days earlier to change towels and do our bed while the key was in Rune's pocket and we were out, they still denied that they had another key...! They had to admit, though, that they had changed the towels....!
Before we decided to stay there, we asked if the place has good security and if it is noisy. They said that security is good and that it is not noisy. It would have been better if they had told us that it might be loud music and some noise during weekends. Because that was the fact. And what security concerns, the buildings are protected by walls, a gate and a watchman (like most places in Kenya). And our cottage had a proper lock. But the level of security is very low. The watchman does no check up on any person entering or any car wanting to drive in. The watchman's job seems to be to open the gate for anyone without doing any kind of security check.
How the watchman actually spends his time is to wash the cars being parked there.
On the picture above, you can see him going to get more water to wash the car in the background. On our first morning there, we saw that our car had been washed. Great service, we thought. And we gave him a tip on our way out the gate walking to the city centre. But he was not satisfied with that; before we were allowed to go, he demanded a higher amount of money for having washed our car! After that, we specifically told him that we did not want him to wash our car unless we requested for it. He kept asking to wash it almost every day.
Those of you who have read what happened to our gas cooker on Christmas Day and are curious about how the management reacted, here it comes: (in case you have not read what happened that day, please read it first)
The manager on duty Christmas Day had a look at it and admitted that the connection was not done properly. Later that day, the professional guy whom they "usually" use for this work, came and did it the way it was supposed to be done. He also said that it had not been done properly when we moved in and that he had not been there to connect it. In spite of this, the manager just said a simple "sorry" with a smile on his mouth...! We were told that the owner would come later in the evening, though.
But the owner did not come. She was on Christmas holiday. The following day, we contacted her. She had not even been told what had happened. She had only been told that they had had a problem with the gas. In the morning of 27th December, we had a meeting with her, explaining how serious this issue was. Saying sorry, she seemed sincere. We challenged her, though, and asked her what she would have felt it it was her renting the place and being close to a fatal accident because of negligence. And we asked her what kind of reaction she would have been satisfied with if she had been in our situation. We also told her about the other challenges we had had up until then.
All she gave us was one day's rent in refund. But she promised that she took our remarks seriously and that she understood that changes in routines and so on were necessary. We also told her that we would move out one day earlier than first planned for, which meant that they would refund us for two days.
In the morning the day before we checked out, we called the manager and asked when we would get the refund. He said that we would get it the same afternoon. We also confirmed the amount. When we came back in the afternoon to claim our refund, he did not have the money. He denied that he had promised us the refund that day and the amount he was talking about was only half of what we had been promised by the owner.
We made noise! He called the owner, see picture below.
The owner had not told him the correct amount! From the owner we were told that we would get the money at 8.30am the same morning we would check out. The manager would not say anything, except that he was offended that we were complaining...!
The next morning, we went to the office to get the money. If we had been frustrated and angry up until then, but what he managed to say that morning made us furious. He said that the problem with the gas had started on Christmas Day because we had children in the cottage that day and he said straight that the children had been playing with the gas tube and that it was their fault that the tube had fallen off....!!! And that it was their fault that the accident happened...!!!
On the first picture below, you can see how it was connected after the professional man had been there to fix it and do it properly. In the second picture below, you can see the thing that had connected the tube to the gas cooker until if fell off on Christmas Day. How could children's play cause this???
Do we recommend people to stay in Rosewood when visiting Eldoret? Definitely NOT! Stay away from there!
Not because it should not be allowed to do mistakes, but because of their attitude and lack of showing real will to change things to become better. We did not see improvements of any of our complaints during our two weeks there. Instead, we observed them changing their words from one day to the next. Saying one thing and doing the opposite. We observed that they did not communicate. The owner did not seem to communicate with her two managers nor the woman with some kind of administrative responsibility. And each of the managers did not seem to communicate with each other nor the owner and the other woman. On our last complete day there, the woman with administrative responsibility had not been told about our previous complaints.
Far the worst thing, though, is that they did not express anything that made us believe that they took it seriously that their own negligence almost caused a fatal accident that could have led to the death of 11 people.
On Rosewood Cottage's website, you are encouraged to read how previous guests have rated their stay there. The last time we checked their site, there was no previous rating of the place. When we asked the owner how we could register our rating, she did not know. She said she would find out and let us know. By the time we publish this, we still have not been told. Now, it is four days since we checked out and left the place.
If you find yourself in Eldoret in the western highlands of Kenya, do not consider to spend any days or nights at Rosewood Cottage. We have one very strong recommendation: STAY AWAY FROM THERE!!!!!!!
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