Sutori - Stories Tagged With 'hotel'

Don't trust the technology?

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 10:59:18 -0700

It had been a busy couple of weeks in preparation for a client presentation. I flew to San Francisco to complete the documentation / presentation with the technical lead on the project. Handlery Union Square hotel was within walking distance of where we were to meet so I stayed there. The hotel seemed nice enough, big room, good chair and desk to work at and very convenient location so I was quite happy with the choice.

I had arrived a little before 9:00 p.m. but proceeded to work until around 12:30. No problem I thought, as I only need to get up at 7:30. I discovered there was something wrong with the alarm clock (one of the buttons wasn't working) so I walked over to phone the front desk for a wake up call. I noticed a sign about their automated wake up call system where I was able to set the time through the phone. Very easy to use, I set the time for 7:30. Time for a good night's sleep before another busy day.

5:15 the phone rings. It was the automated wake up call !!!!!!

I phoned down to the front desk. "I just received a wake up call but it was supposed to be at 7:30". The immediate reply was "I didn't call you and I make all the wake up calls". I proceeded to explain that it was the automated system I set for 7:30, the computerized voice confirmed this but it called me at 5:15. There was no apology, no "I'll get someone to look at" just again "ya because I didn't call you". I was too tired to fight, "can I have a wake-up call for 7:30 please". Okay, I did receive the 7:30 call.

When I was checking out, I told the lady at the front desk what had happened. Her reply was a laughing "Oh, never trust the technology, you should just call down for a wake-up call next time". There was no, "sorry we'll take a look at it", "sorry, I haven't heard of any other problems, l have someone test the system" .... it probably was a simple matter of resetting the clock on the server. So much for good customer experience.

Royal treatment

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 15:25:35 -0700

When I was in Japan on vacation a couple of years ago, I was amazed at how much better the service was in Japan than in North America. One in particular stands out, the Royal Park Inn Nagoya. It wasn't that the rooms were any better than anywhere else, but what stood out was the check-in service. I arrived by train at the end of a long day of sight seeing. There were a few people checking in but when I walked up to the counter someone immediately came out of the office to help me. I had reserved online so no need to fill out any information. After asking my name, the clerk provided my key letting me know that it was away from the elevator and in a non-smoking room as I had requested (they actually paid attention to the request). He asked if I needed help with my bags but I said I was okay. He then asked whether I would like to have some complimentary cold beer or tea. I thought a cold beer would be nice. He saw my hands were full with my luggage and suggested they could bring them to my room if I wanted. I arrived at my room and had just put the luggage down when there was a knock at the door. The clerk who had checked me in, was there with a couple of large bottles of cold beer. Most hotels have cold drinks in the little mini bar but it was the personalized service by the person who checked me in that impressed me most. One of the few hotels I can remember from my travels. I'd definitely book that hotel again.

Great service, sort of

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 17:02:49 -0700

A couple of years ago, we were staying at Cara Suites in Pointe a Pierre, Trinidad. Average rooms but beautiful pool and ocean view. As we were walking out to go shopping I mentioned to my friend that the rooms were nice but my bed was a bit too soft for my liking. The reception overheard and right away said that they could put in a firmer bed. Excellent. We went out and left them to it.

We ended our shopping a little early and returned to the hotel. As we came to our room, we realized why they were so anxious to help. Inside watching T.V. was the person from reception, the cleaning lady, one of the security guards and 5 other workers. They were a bit embarrassed. At least they put in a very comfortable bed.

Best of a bad situation

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 00:05:12 -0800

Last minute travel arrangements, rushed to the airport, had a stop over ... finally arrived just before midnight at the Hilton Garden Inn situated in Carlsbad. I walked up to the counter for my room but was informed (with many apologies) that there had been a water leak and all available rooms were taken. Very sorry but they would have to relocate me to a nearby resort. They had someone there to shuttle me in their van to the resort but before I left they gave me some water and a treat of my choice.

I was surprised when I arrived at this beautiful resort and the rooms were excellent (even better than my room at the Hilton). It was a little inconvenient but I just had to call the next morning and they'd shuttle me back (they had a room for me the next 2 nights at the Hilton).

Well, I was okay with just the relocation but the Hilton didn't stop there. The next evening there was a knock on my hotel door from guest services. "We are really sorry for the inconvenience we caused you. Please accept this basket of fruit ...." It was an excellent basket of fresh strawberries, grapes, orange, apple and banana. To top it all off, they didn't charge me for the night.

1 inconvenience offset by:
         Free water
         Free treat
         Excellent replacement room
         Free basket of fresh fruit
         Free stay
= extremely delighted customer

Not Just Another Hotel Experience

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:00:53 -0800

The hotel experience always seem very generic to me until I stayed at Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa with my sister when I went to Phoenix.

My sister went to the same hotel two weeks ago with my brother-in-law and she had a good experience there so she decided to go there again.

Upon arriving at our hotel room, someone knocked at our door with a fruit platter, welcoming our stay. It was very strange because I never got treated like this before at a hotel. We've also got a card welcoming our stay and a $25 gift card to eat in the hotel's restaurant that was left on the table.

I don't feel just like one of the guest in the hotel. They actually value our stay here. The service was all in all very good. It might be because she came back again that we got the special treatment but it's nice to know that a company actually noticed a repeated customer and did something about it that made it special.

Intercontinental Hotels Group - (Holiday Inn): False advertising, Deceptive practices, Noise - Multiple Consumer Complaints

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:53:51 -0800

This is the worst hotel chain outfit we have experienced. Other consumers have also complained: As of this writing, according to the Better Business Bureaus* of Salt Lake City and Atlanta, the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) has failed in both their Guest Services division as well as Corporate Headquarters. Why? Consumer complaints have not been settled.

Here is our experience:

Have you ever needed a relaxing weekend vacation? Or wanted to spend a birthday enjoying another locale? We did, and thought Nashville, Tennessee would be a scenic and relaxing place to visit. The Holiday Inn of Nashville (Antioch) TN at The Crossings was booked during August 2007 for $108.49 per night. Upon arrival, the place seemed run down. The staff varied from jittery to frustrated. The hotel room had a faint hint of what smelled like animal urine - but it was not enough to deter weary travelers after a long drive. The air conditioner was turned on as the window did not open for fresh air.

About 10:30 PM, we heard a locomotive engine and boxcars. Looking out the window it could be discerned that the hotel was placed adjacent to a railway! The rails had been hidden by shrubbery, but the locomotives and boxcars were visibly and highly audibly apparent. And the trains kept coming all night... The room curtains were cheap looking and did not cover the window completely because they were too narrow. The room seemed poorly insulated against noise. Ear plugs rated at 33 decibels along with pillows were tried but did not block the noise enough. A hotel ad statement was on the bathroom counter promising: "Making your stay a complete success is our goal. Just let Manager on Duty or desk staff know if any part of your stay isn't satisfactory. We promise to make it right or you won't pay for that part of your stay." Unable to sleep, the front desk person (Art) was asked for help. Although the situation was explained and we were exhausted and needed sleep, he stated only two rooms were left, and in all probability would not be much better. There was no help from the hotel personnel. Only about two and a half hours of broken sleep was possible near morning. We were not able to continue with the Nashville plans due to exhaustion and feeling unwell after the Holiday Inn experience.

We talked to the morning front desk person Alex affirming that the stay had not been satisfactory. He was aware Art Milbert (General Manager) had been spoken with in early morning hours. Alex stated that the noise was a problem on one side of the hotel, guests had complained, that the hotel was going to be remodeled with added sound insulation on the side of the hotel adjacent to the tracks, but that the train tracks were placed after the hotel was built (seemingly in an effort to avoid responsibility and avoid keeping their refund promise.) Government and online maps proved Alex's statement false: They show the tracks present over 20 years before Alex stated the hotel was built.

We sent a letter to the Holiday Inn (Intercontinental Hotels Group) Guest Services division and relayed the situation. A Ms. Amanda Hopfensperger of Guest Services slowly responded via mail and did not supply a refund as advertised but instead sent $50 in proprietary Holiday Inn coupons good for partial payment on a future stay at a Holiday Inn. We returned the coupons to her and affirmed the need for a refund as advertised. We have been ignored, there have been no further replies from them. The Nashville BBB** was contacted to no avail: The BBB had a summary "Customer refused refund" etc, after Art Milbert contacted them. But it was not true because no refund had been offered. Since E-mails went unresponded to, the Nashville BBB was telephoned, the situation explained again, and it was pointed out that no refund had been offered. After a fellow there briefly reviewed the material, he said "They're not offering you a refund and we can't make them issue it. They're not a BBB member. What I can do is change the summary. I will call you back later today." Although they changed the wording of their summary, it was still not accurate and seemed biased. The fellow never did call back.

In comments forwarded by the BBB, Art Milbert admitted the hotel was built after the railroad when faced with the map data. But he then claimed their hotel policy is to inform guests about the trains beforehand: It was not true in our experience - No one forewarned us about any trains or ongoing noise problems at all. If they had, we would not have gone there. Mr. Milbert also stated "we had received" complaints and "addressed them" which was misleading: the implication was that he and Ms. Hopsfensperger directly followed up with us in an attempt to resolve matters. He did not follow up and contact us, only Amanda Hopfensperger from Guest Services in Salt Lake City sent the one initial letter but did not provide the refund as promised in their advertising. Art Milbert did however admit we had "a bad experience," which is an understatement. In our experience, we feel this Holiday Inn was of inferior quality and did not honor their advertised claims but rather used deceptive practices. The hotel room as we experienced it did not allow us proper sleep or rest. The vacation and what should have been an enjoyable birthday in Nashville was ruined.

There have been many other online complaints regarding Holiday Inn and IHG at multiple websites. Sometimes the person reporting the complaint asked the Internet community where to go for help. For informational purposes only***, resources to complain to include:

Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Response Center:

Federal Trade Commission

CRC-240

Washington, D.C. 20580

Tel: 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357)

web: http://www.ftc.gov/

The Attorney General in your state.

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*Article reference only:

Salt Lake City BBB (IHG Guest Services complaints):

BBB, 5673 South Redwood Road #22, Salt Lake City, UT 84123

web: http://www.saltlakecity.bbb.org/

Atlanta BBB (IHG Headquarters complaints):

BBB Headquarters, 503 Oak Place, Suite 590, College Park, GA 30349

web: http://www.atlanta.bbb.org

InterContinental Hotels Group, Guest Relations, P.O. Box 30321, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130-0321

InterContinental Hotels Group

Suite 100

3 Ravinia Drive

Atlanta, Georgia 30346

Nashville-The Crossings
Holiday Inn
201 Crossings Place
Antioch, Tennessee 37013
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**The Nashville BBB seemed to want to close the complaint prematurely. They stated via letter the case would be closed if a response was not made within 7 days. It was only by a margin of one day that the BBB online system was able to be used to respond as it did not function the first time. Multiple E-mails went unresponded to by the Nashville BBB. They also withheld information provided by the other party until after they had closed the case, thereby not allowing inaccurate information to be addressed by us. They stated the complaint was "outside the bounds of arbitration." A local BBB person stated that what they are doing "does not make sense" and had suggested we telephone the Nashville BBB and write an online report, amongst other helpful information.

BBB

Middle Tennessee Headquarters

201 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 100

P.O. Box 198436

Nashville, TN 37219

web: http://www.gobbb.org/

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***Disclaimer: Nothing herein should be considered as legal advice