Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai

Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai is a Halal hotel located in Hat Yai, Thailand. I made my Hat Yai hotel booking very late for the super peak Malaysia Day long weekend due to the short ticket sales period of the KTM MySawadee 1004up from KL Sentral to Hat Yai by charter train. Almost all hotels within Hat Yai city were already booked out by the time I had purchased my return MySawadee train tickets.

Nevertheless, I managed to book a last-minute hotel stay at Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai through Raja Ila Tours, one of the travel agents working with KTM Berhad on the MySawadee. The rate was a bit higher than normal, but breakfast was included, so I guess that was fine on a super peak long weekend.

But nope, the stay at Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai was not fine.

After arriving from the MySawadee 1004up from KL Sentral at Hat Yai Junction Railway Station, I walked to Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai which was a few blocks away. The walk from Hat Yai Junction Railway Station to Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai took 9 minutes with a distance of 700 meters.

Heading in to Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai.

The first impression of Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai was that it was a bit dated, but dated hotels also mean big rooms, so I was looking forward to that positive side.

As it was still morning, my room was not ready for check-in yet.

Despite being a Halal hotel, Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai strangely has a Lobby “Bar”. Perhaps a name change would be more appropriate, perhaps Café.

There is also a Halal restaurant at the lobby named Firdous Restaurant. Halal certificates are displayed in front of Firdous Restaurant.

As the rooms were not ready, a group of us railway fans embarked on our day trip around Hat Yai, Songkhla, and Khlong Ngae with a rented car first.

We got back to Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai at 9.30pm after a full day of transport experiences and a visit to Khlong Hae Floating Market to a rude shock.

Superior Twin Room Uncleaned 6.5 Hours After Check-In Time

2 out of 3 rooms for our group were found to be uncleaned since the previous guests checked out.

Bath towels were hung on seats with a stray prayer mat.

A crumpled bath towel was by the toilet.

Rubbish in the toilet bin also had not been cleared of the previous McDonald’s meal.

Thankfully, the previous guests did not leave a dirty toilet behind, or else the smell would have probably been unbearable.

We headed back down after taking pictures to sound out the issue to the front desk.

The front desk staff weren’t very apologetic, just claiming that they thought the room had been cleaned already. This was a bit strange as our keys were ready and labelled on a side table behind the front desk for us to pick it up, which means that someone must have readied the room for check-in despite no housekeeping being done.

For the 2 affected rooms, we were then given new rooms on a separate floor, with a staff accompanying us to check the room before we entered.

Superior Twin Room

Thankfully, the new rooms given were clean, but not before we walked through the rooms to make sure it well and truly is.

The Superior Twin Room is spacious especially by today’s standards. There is even a seating area with coffee table by the window.

A telephone and TV remote control are placed on the bedside desk. There is no power socket by the bedside desk.

A television, desk, electric kettle, and luggage storage rack are provided in front of the beds. A standard Thailand mixed type A and C 2-pin power socket is available by the table. 2 more Thailand power sockets are available if you do not need the standing lamp and television.

While there is an electric kettle, coffee and tea are not provided.

There is also a room service menu on the table.

A full-fledged fridge is provided in the room.

There is a menu of what minibar items cost.

Perhaps Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai has learnt that no one touches the minibar items.

The fridge was presented empty, save for 2 bottles of drinking water. This was great as I can put my own drinks inside without worrying of existing minibar items.

A safe is also provided in the wardrobe.

The sink area was thankfully clean with toiletries provided on a small plate behind.

Toilet paper and a bidet spray are provided by the toilet bowl.

The shower and bathtub is integrated. I don’t mean to be a Sheldon, but there is no non-slip bathtub mat provided, so watch out when standing in the bath tub.

Towels are placed on the towel rack above the bath tub.

The view of Hat Yai out of my room during the day.

Zooming in on Hat Yai Railway Station.

I think this sign says that breakfast would be served at Level 4 which looks like a temporary arrangement.

For breakfast, breakfast coupons are issued and must be presented on entry to the breakfast room.

During the super peak Malaysia Day long weekend, breakfast was served at the Zaitoon Ballroom at Level 4. Hand over the breakfast coupon to the staff before heading for breakfast.

Zaitoon Ballroom was laid out in tables of 10 for breakfast. As I was alone during off-peak, I had a whole table of 10 to myself, but I think it would be awkward if it was crowded and I would have to share with a group of 8.

Seasoning is placed in the middle of each table.

Water and orange syrup juice are provided on one end.

A simple breakfast spread is provided with breakfast carbs, small sausages, and sunny side up eggs.

Sliced white bread is provided with toasters. A selection of spreads are also available. Coffee and tea are by the side of this table.

Fruits are also available, but they don’t look very appetising.

My simple selection from the buffet for breakfast, since what was provided is simple too. The plate still bears the logo of the hotel’s former name, Sakura Grand View Hotel.

The food from the breakfast buffet were all cold. The food was extremely disappointing. The coffee was most likely overboiled (burnt) and lukewarm, and the syrup orange was reaching room temperature too.

The decorations in Zaitoon Ballroom made the buffet breakfast even more sad as I felt I was eating cold bee hoon at someone’s empty wedding ceremony.

Amazing Thailand Safety & Health Administration (SHA)

With dirty rooms and cold food (ie. unsafe temperatures), what makes the stay at Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai frustrating is their proud display of their Amazing Thailand Safety & Health Administration (SHA) certification at their main entrance. From SHA’s website, “The Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA) project is a result of cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Ministry of Public Health, the Department of Disease Control, the Department of Health and the Department of Health Service Support, as well as government and private sector organizations involved in the tourism industry. Together they aim to make tourism a part of Thailand’s disease prevention measures and ensure that both Thai and foreign tourists have a positive experience, that they are happy and confident in the sanitation and safety standards of Thailand’s tourism products and services. This can be achieved by combining public health safety measures and establishments’ high-quality service standards to reduce the risk and prevent the spread of COVID-19, as well as improving Thailand’s tourism products and service standards.”.

Point 1 of the SHA infographic here on Business owner (room) says that the business owner should clean the room regularly, but no housekeeping had even been done before my check-in, and my arrival at 9.30pm was already 6.5 hours past check-in time at 3pm. What has been done for the whole day?

If Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai had already failed the very first point of the SHA conditions for rooms, is Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai making a mockery out of the Amazing Thailand Safety & Health Administration (SHA) certification?

Conclusion

I was provided with a dirty room and cold food at Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai. It’s safe to say that Yannaty Hotel Halal Hat Yai is now my last choice to stay in Hat Yai.