The inconsistency at Oxford Inn hotel, right in the heart of Mbarara city, can leave you torn, wondering whether to give the place a second chance or write it off completely.
It is like that maddening girlfriend who annoys you endlessly but still has something irresistibly charming that keeps your heart arguing with your head. The hotel gets a lot right at first glance.
With its 21st-century décor, modern furniture, chandeliered ceilings, and impressively clean, spacious rooms, one is convinced this three-star spot is worth the Shs 100,000 per night. Well, almost.
But then the cracks begin to show. Recurring issues like low water pressure, inconsistent hot water and poor drainage in the bathrooms start to chip away at the illusion. Quite sad, because this used to be one of Mbarara’s hospitality benchmarks.
Then comes the food. One day, you are treated to a near-religious experience of perfectly brewed African tea, or a hearty chicken stew with kalo (millet bread). The next day?
You are poking at a dry, uninspired omelette or sipping on the blandest coffee with breakfast. How a kitchen can go from five stars at lunch to complete confusion by dinner is anyone’s guess.
Maybe it is a different chef each mealtime. The customer service plays a similar pattern. In the morning, you might be greeted by warm, attentive staff with a genuine smile.
But come shift change, you could be met with cold stares, clueless expressions, or staff who struggle with English and basic hospitality etiquette. Real mood swings served aplenty. Oxford Inn can charm, but it also can disappoint; all within the same 24 hours.
Hello Frank Kisakye you have a point indeed. Since this Uganda Western Province city is so much in the news about how many citizens of this Ankole province straddle the whole of the Uganda civil service, one would expect the best {VIP} service in a three star hotel in their home county.
Actually, in this modern age there is a lot of digital improvisation going on for companies to request feedback from their customers about the services received in many well developed countries all over the world. Companies continuously train their staff to high standards of hotel services.
Some international hotels go on to the extent of inviting guests to observe and test the hotel services throughout their time of stay. It is somehow done on TV broadcast programmes to shame hotels that over charge customers without giving them the advertised services.
Such business acumen for the Ankole tribes people should be the modern benchmark to use even in their politics when dealing with this proud and long serving government of NRM!
This funny business of taking certain things for granted year in year out have no place in this wide world.
That timeline of the Bachwezi/Kitara Empire up to the vaquished Ankore Kingdom are presently by gone years. The Ganda have a saying.
Atanayita yita yatenda nyina okufumba! It is not good enough for the tribes people of Ankole to overload themselves with developing to perfection the country of Uganda when they cannot mantain their home counties to the best international standards of politics, trade and civil services.