The pungent smell of a durian can be torturous for those not a fan of the fruit, which is why most hotels do not allow durians in the building.
An unaware Chinese tourist, however, brought the fruit into her hotel room, which led to her having to pay an additional fee.
She had to pay SGD200 (approximately RM657) as a cleaning fee imposed by the hotel.
In her Xiao Hong Shu (RedNote) post, the tourist said she spent only SGD13 for one durian and did not expect she had to pay an additional SGD200 (RM657) for one fruit. She also explained that she decided to bring the durian back to her hotel room because the stall did not provide seats for customers.
“My friends and I asked to pack the durian and in the taxi, I kept quiet about the pungent smell when my friends were talking about it because I was afraid that the driver might not like it.”
“The driver heard our conversation but he did not say anything about it.”
The next day, after returning to her room, she received an official notice from the hotel management regarding the pungent smell, in which she was notified about the additional cleaning fee.
After researching the matter, she admitted that she had no idea about the “No durian” rule, and said that many tourists were unaware of it in the first place. The tourist tried to negotiate with the hotel staff to skip the fee or at least give a discount on the basis that she “truly had no idea,” but to no avail.
“I wouldn’t be so silly as to come to a foreign land and cross their limits.”
For illustration purposes only
The hotel staff politely rejected and said to clean the room and eliminate the smell; they needed to hire professionals, and the room would be uninhabitable for days.
“The staff were polite, and they told me that other hotels might have charged up to SGD500 for the cleaning fee alone.”
The tourist also explained that the durian was plastic-wrapped and placed in a bag, and the hotel staff were not aware of the fruit when she brought it back.
Do you think the imposed fee is reasonable?
Also read: “This is bullying!” – Chinese Tourists Finish Whole Durian But Want Refund Because ‘It Tastes Bad’
