Novotel Thakher Makkah Hotel — Hotel in Makkah Al Mukarramah

Our bad experience started from check-in. The receptionist lying to us continuously and giving us a fake timeline of when the room will be ready. Initially I had requested an early check in, which I understand is available if there are any rooms, but by the time we arrived at the hotel it was 3:30PM, and check-in is at 4PM. I had asked if the room was ready, she said housekeeping have said it will take 2 hours before we can get a room. When questioning her about the check in time according to the app and website, she goes there is nothing she can do about it. I was asking if there was a place we can pray as we were about to miss Dhuhr prayer and please keep in mind we were in Ihram during this time, she goes no. We later found out they have a prayer hall floor (an entire floor dedicated to pray). She apparently spoke to housekeeping who said the room will be ready in 10 minutes, so we waited for another 20minutes, came back to her desk only to find her clicking away at the computer for about 5 minutes, no acknowledgment that we were standing in front of her, for her to then say she decided to change the room as the room she had expected to be ready is “not a good room” when I asked what does that even mean “not a good room” she had no answer. At this point irritation levels were high, and I asked to speak to her manager, as her tone of voice and attitude would have sent me haywire if I had not been in ihram. To avoid bringing her manager out of the blue she got us a room, and chucked the room card to us. No explanation of anything like normal hotels do, nothing about WiFi, or facilities, or checkout time, I’m a gold member here not even where we can get our welcome drink from. I explained to her to not speak to me like this and asked for her name, she goes Buruj or whatever. I don’t think that was even her name. If any management see this review, we checked in on 27th March around 3-3:45PM, at the Accor dedicated table, and we were in room 1316 - Tower 2. Second, it’s impossible to sometimes get food. I am a diabetic, pregnant lady. On the first two days it was impossible for me to get breakfast, even though they advertise as their room service being open. One of the days I was calling from 12PM to 4PM. I couldn’t get through to anyone, I even went down to the restaurant to see if I can find someone. Nothing it was a desert. Eventually at 4PM we found someone who I assume is a manager of some sort, asked him if the room service is open, and he said yes. Enquired that I had been calling for 4 hours, he said he will take a look into it. He did, and apparently the man was busy with a family (for 4 hours, and didn’t take a single call!) Anyways eventually he took my order which was about 45 mins later, let’s just say I missed my morning dose of medication. Third - laundry service omg again impossible to get through to anyone, it’s like nobody wants to answer the phone. We even asked a bell guy upon returning from the haram one day, he thought we don’t understand Arabic and he was telling another man to tell us to get lost. Absolutely disgraceful. The list can go on, as it was a seven night stay. I’ve stayed in other Novotels around the world, and I have to say our 2 star hotel in Madinah had better service than this 4 star place. I would never book with this...

I hope your team is doing well.I am writing to express my extreme disappointment with my recent stay at your hotel, which was one of the worst experiences I have ever had.I initially booked my stay through the Trip.com app for March 6th to 8th. However, I later decided to add an extra night (March 5th), but the app wouldn’t allow me to modify my booking. Instead, it kept prompting me to cancel and rebook, despite my payment already being processed. I had no choice but to make a separate booking for March 5th.Booking numbers are * *When I arrived at the hotel around 3:00 PM to check in, there was a long, disorganized queue with no proper system in place. It was clear that priority was being given to Saudi nationals and native speakers, while others, including myself, had to wait much longer.After 45 minutes in line, I finally reached the reception, only to be told that my booking didn’t exist—despite showing them my Trip.com confirmation email. Instead of assisting me, the receptionist insisted there was no record of my reservation. After some back-and-forth, another staff member eventually intervened and stated that check-in was at 4:00 PM and that I had to come back later. At this point, it was almost 4:00 PM already, yet I was still expected to wait in line again.Once I finally checked in, the service was shockingly poor and unprofessional. The staff displayed clear favoritism and treated guests with discrimination, showing no regard for customer satisfaction.Other major issues I encountered during my stay:• Room Service: I called for assistance, but the staff did not understand English, making communication extremely difficult.• Housekeeping: I placed a “Clean My Room” tag before leaving, but when I returned 12 hours later, the room was untouched. When I called again, a staff member arrived but began cleaning while my wife and I were still in the room, showing a complete lack of respect for privacy.• Reception Absence: After 6:00 PM, the reception was completely unattended, leaving guests helpless when in need of assistance.• Bathroom Issues: The sink was clogged and water wouldn’t drain. When I reported this, I was told there was a button to press, but at no point had anyone informed me about this feature.• Repeated Check-out Confusion: The next morning, someone kept banging on my door, demanding I check out for my March 5th booking, despite me already informing the staff at check-in that I had booked for three nights. I had to go through the same frustrating process again.Crux of the matter: This was a highly disappointing and humiliating experience. The staff was unprofessional, unhelpful, and showed clear signs of discrimination.I expect a formal response regarding how this issue will be addressed and what steps will be taken to ensure that future guests do not go through a...

I stayed at Novotel Al Thakher Hotel from March 29 to 31, 2025, and unfortunately, my experience was extremely disappointing due to major issues with payment handling and poor service from the management team.

At check-in, I mistakenly entered the wrong PIN on my credit card, which led to a declined transaction. I then entered the correct PIN, but the card machine failed to give any confirmation. To avoid delays, I paid the full amount in cash to confirm my booking.

Later that evening, I received a message from my bank stating that the amount had been debited for a transaction at Novotel. I informed the duty manager, who confirmed the hotel had received the payment and assured me the extra amount would be refunded during checkout.

However, on March 31, during checkout, I was told there was no extra payment because a staff member had processed a reverse entry without proper verification. I had to speak with the Account Manager and Revenue Manager, who were completely unprepared and unable to resolve the issue. Instead of offering a solution, they told me to "come back after 3 days"—despite knowing I was checking out that day and didn’t live in the area.

The duty manager offered no help and coldly told me to either extend my stay at my own expense, find another hotel, or "stay on the road." The Account Manager even said, “Do whatever you want.”

Because of this unacceptable behavior and lack of accountability, I had to book another hotel, spending an additional 3,000 SAR. This caused unnecessary financial burden, emotional stress, and great inconvenience to my family and my friends’ family who were traveling with us.

As of now, the refund issue remains unresolved, and no one from the hotel has taken ownership of the situation. This experience was deeply frustrating and disappointing, especially from a well-known hotel chain. I expected better service, transparency, and professionalism

As promise by Account Manager of Novotel Thaker Makkah we visited to get back our refund but the Revenue Manager refuse to refund until Sunday. First they told bank will open 2 April and now they say come Sunday is this the way to deal with customer due to their operational inefficiency. beware people Novotel Thaker Makkah hotel is big Fraud hotel special if you visit them during holiday

Beware before booking — this hotel...