Bruce W.
Yelp
We booked the Regal room that was over $400 per night. After we checked in, rather than have someone show us the room, explain how to control the lights, the shower, tub or AC we were just told it's up the stairs. This is certainly not reflective of a high end place.
We walked into the room & we were completely underwhelmed. The room was large, it wasn't special (which we expected). It seemed more like a large Marriott room, but nothing special. The 42" TV is out of scale.
We shared our feelings at the front desk. They said the best he could do would give a slight discount but to get any larger consideration we would need to speak to his supervisor in the morning. He did offer to change our room to another which was more of the same but would be more expensive. We declined.
When we awoke in the morning, we found that while the room had a Keurig coffee maker, there were not enough coffee pods & creamers & requested more. A short while later the manager another woman knocked at our door, each with a handful of coffee pods & creamers. I jokingly commented that they should have brought the pods & creamers up using a tray & I think the manager was insulted by my suggestion & she said they didn't have trays. Really... no trays?
Later in the morning I went downstairs to the front desk & shared my feelings about the room with the manager who, I felt was insulted by my suggestion with the tray & barely seemed interested in listening to me. She gave me the feeling that she was completely viewing my thoughts as rubbish & stated that she had never had any guest who shared my thoughts about the Emerson. She left me with the feeling that she thought I must be completely crazy. She also left me with the distinct feeling that she was not interested in listening to me.
Later I looked up Emerson on Yelp and discovered that of 48 ratings, greater than half, 25 to be exact were 3 stars or less. In fact about 1/3 of the reviews were 2 stars or less. Very unfavorable. The yelp comments certainly contradicted the manager's position that nobody had complained before. Some of the worst reviews were as recent as May, Jun & Aug of this year.
We have stayed at a fair number of upper end rooms in the past and not only was the layout disappointing, so was the room care. When we awoke the next morning, we discovered that housekeeping had failed to replenish the coffee, the creamers & the bath vanity kit. The marvelous soaking tub didn't have any bath oils. Other places that we stayed at made sure that bath soaps, oils, shampoo and conditioner were replenished, & they provided us a newspaper, toothpaste and a toothbrush, shoe cloth, and other items. They also made sure that all the lamps & lights in the room had working light bulbs (which our room did not have).
I would have been comfortable if the manager had said that she was sorry that we were disappointed & given us a chit for dinner, or drinks or something rather than ignoring the complaint & erroneously claim that nobody has complained.
I sent an email to the CEO of Emerson & in her reply she erroneously stated they offered us complimentary upgrade to our top of the line suite & they claimed that the porter was helping another guest & stated that 77% of the Trip Advisor reviews were very good or excellent. She offered a 40% discount on a future visit.
I replied that she failed to address my complaint about housekeeping's lack of maintaining the room with coffee, creamers and bath supplies as well I was also especially disappointed that she failed to address my concern of my treatment by the supervisor in charge at the time. Had she been more gracious rather than totally dismissive, had she feigned some concern, had she pretended to listen to me, had she shown me some respect, had she offered me some consideration I could have been mollified. She didn't even try to do anything to appease my concerns other than erroneously state that no other guests had ever complained about the issues that I brought up which I found online.
I said to her. "I ask you. Would you consider returning to a place where housekeeping doesn't maintain the room to the highest standards? Where the manager doesn't extend the courtesy of listening to a guest? Where an upper end bathroom doesn't even have both oils? Where the large room doesn't have an appropriated sized TV? Where the venue has a library of DVD's but doesn't share information that with guests?"
They are correct that Trip Advisor's population rates the Emerson 77% as Excellent or Very good but that means that 23% rate it at Average & below. Having close to 25% of your guests rating the facility as Average, Poor or Terrible doesn't fare well for an upper end resort facility. Nor does the 1/3 negative ratings on Yelp speak well for them.
I said I might be tempted to take advantage of their offer, I am still unhappy about the results of my last stay. I would expect some rebate to allow me to give them another chance.
I got no reply.