Tom E.
Yelp
When we arrived at about 5:00 PM, the valet line stretched all the way to the corner, so we circled the block, hoping we could simply park in their garage ourselves, rather than waiting in line. We found the garage unavailable for self-parking, so returned to the valet line, where we were informed that the only self-parking option would be at a different garage a block away, not associated with the hotel. So we agreed to valet parking. We were at the end of a ten-day trip, and had several bags, but were also informed that the hotel does not have enough luggage carts to allow guests to use them. The valet did offer to have hotel staff collect our bags and bring them to our room, but we didn't want to wait. Imagine our surprise lugging our bags into the lobby to see a luggage cart sitting unused just inside the doors.
When we tried to check in at about 5:10 PM, we were told that our room was not ready. The woman at the desk told us it would be ready "in a step," an unfamiliar phrase to us, but one that seemed to imply a short wait. We were told we could wait in the lobby. At 5:30, I approached the desk and asked the woman about our room. She didn't even know who I was, so she was obviously not tracking whether our room was ready, but she did check again. It was still not ready. This would have been an opportunity to make a good impression on a guest. Even if the front desk staff don't have the power to offer guests some compensation or comfort, this would be a good time to move up the chain to find someone who does. Find an available room. Upgrade the room. Offer us dinner if you don't have a room available. At the very least, offer a drink. A bottle of water. How about some idea of how long we'd have to wait, at least? But no, we were simply told to wait more in the lobby. The pattern of poor customer service at this hotel had become fairly disturbing, as we were now stuck waiting even longer in their lobby without even an estimate of when our room would be available.
So, not surprisingly at this point, my wife told the front desk rep to cancel the reservation and started walking out. Hoping to work out some solution, I told the front desk not to cancel the reservation. Her response was that I had no authority to countermand my wife's request because the reservation was in my wife's name. Never mind that she had already accepted MY credit card and MY signature in payment at the front desk, she continued to process the cancellation. Yes, I got angry at this point. I said, "f*** you, we're married," which may have upset her, but should hardly have surprised her. So I told her I wanted her to make sure there were no charges, no late cancellation fee, and she responded simply that hotel security was on the way. So I walked out of the hotel with my wife.
Security came out of the hotel and asked us what happened. Really? They actually sent security out of the hotel to track us down on the street because I'd said "f*** you" to their rude front desk rep after the treatment we'd received? When I explained what happened and that we were leaving, they simply said, "no problem" and walked away. Apparently, they accurately ascertained that my wife and I presented no danger to property or staff.
Still waiting for our car, the Director of Operations then approached us, and I had to explain what happened again. Shockingly to me, he said he could get us in a room if we still wanted. How is that possible? Why wasn't that the very first option 45 minutes earlier when we tried to check in, an hour after their official check-in time? I understand that he was trying to help, but it kind of makes it worse that they actually had rooms available the whole time. The situation might have been slightly more understandable if they were completely booked.
Marriott bills this hotel as a premium property. Any of the above events in isolation should be disturbing to their entire management team. But the chain of events together belies a complete lack of concern for guest comfort by this property that I would find upsetting at a mid-range hotel. Frankly, I'd find it upsetting at a bottom tier motel, but those properties don't have as many opportunities to screw up. We ended up driving another hour and staying at a Hilton Tru property, where we parked near the front door, had multiple luggage carts available, were treated with respect by the front desk staff, and our room was ready before we arrived.
We will NEVER book this hotel again, and recommend you don't either.
