Hotel Pearl Continental a Rawalpindi

Having read that the Pearl Continental was a 5 Star hotel, made me look forward to staying there. Upon arrival, the staff at the reception desk were very courteous and professional. Check-in was slow due to some alleged computer issue. The rooms were nothing special and looked very tired and in need of renovation. Especially the bathroom, which was on par with a 1 Star establishment. Breakfast was acceptable and service reasonable. Definitely not to 5 Star standards. Again the reception desk staff professional and courteous upon checking out. The icing on the cake for me was when we checked out, I asked where would be the best place to get a taxi. They said they have a desk near the entrance and the staff there can arrange transport for us. So we approached the desk and told them where we wished to go. After tapping on a calculator for 5 minutes the chap told us the fare would be 10,000 Rupees. 10,000 I exclaimed! This was more than double for what the journey should be. I was expecting it to be slightly more as it was being arranged by the staff of a so called “5 Star” hotel. I shared my thoughts on the fare but the chap was not interested. I reluctantly accepted the fare, paid the 10,000 rupees in cash, whilst trying to convince myself that it’ll save me walking a few hundred meters down the road and haggling with the taxi walas in the midday heat. So we were escorted to the vehicle by the chap from the desk. The vehicle wasn’t anything special, just a standard saloon, which had seen better days. The chap from the desk, gesture for me to follow him back to the desk, whilst he asked my wife to make herself comfortable in the car, and the driver began putting our cases in the boot. I followed him back towards the hotel entrance and asked what was going on? He casually replied that he had miscalculated the mileage and would require more money. To which I laughed and replied that the cost was already more than double. How could he be asking for more! I shouted to the driver to take the cases out of the vehicle and asked my wife to not get too comfortable. I then told the chap at the desk that I have never been dealt with in such an unprofessional insulting manner. I voiced that these type of extortion tactics are very unbecoming of a so called “5 Star” hotel. I demanded my 10,000 Rupees, which he grudgingly gave to me. Suffice to stay, I will never be staying at the Pearl Continental in Rawalpindi ever again. It’s most definitely NOT a 5 Star hotel in any shape, way or form. With staff like the guy who tried to rip me off, not once but twice, in broad daylight, just highlights the festering desperation, greed and total disregard of any form of respect or decency that exists here. Absolutely no shame. Anyway we walked 6 feet outside the hotel and got a taxi for 4,000 Rupees for the same journey. Be careful, everything isn’t what it seems. Watch out for these smiling passions and daylight highwaymen.