Tory N.
Yelp
I was really sorry to see the general manager's response to my friends harsh but pretty accurate review of our experience at the Graham and Co. I have a short memory when it comes to things like this normally, and even on the drive home was thinking I'd like to come back when it's warm with my boyfriend for a nice weekend trip. But after being called "spoiled" and "entitled" and that I would be unwelcome and don't belong there, yeah, I don't think I'll be making the trek.
So, Yes, let's be honest.
Here are the facts: The Graham & Co late-arrivals policy is to just leave the doors open and tell you what room you're in. Fine. We arrive just before midnight and our second room is locked. Fine. Except that earlier in the day, the manager had accidentally given the key to our room to someone else and now those people were asleep in it, there's no one at the reception desk and we cannot reach any of the employees through their suggested methods. Let's forget the details for a minute: that the stolen room had a much-needed fridge, that it was freezing and raining, that we were surprising a girlfriend with this trip and she arrived to confusion and frustration instead of a nice surprise. Eventually we woke someone up, got a second room, and they put our perishables is mini fridges and hour and a half after arrival. Inconvenient, but fine.
The problem is not human error, that he had made a mistake, it happens, whatever. The problem is that despite what the GM wrote, there were no apologies from him. There was one guy who was actually very nice and apologetic, but the GM kept just saying "it's so weird" over and over and blaming the guests who took our room for not coming back to get the key to the room he'd told them to go to. And yes, when we checked out he offered us a discount. But the one he offered us was not 10%, is was to charge us for doubles for both nights instead of one double and one deluxe double (with the much-needed fridge). That's a difference of $25. After we explained that we were more that $25 inconvenienced, that's when the 10% was added. An additional $80.
I get the whole fuss-free attitude, and despite what labels the GM wants to put on me and my friends, we did not expect anything except what we paid for, which is the two rooms we ordered and a good attitude as you would from any hotel. We arrived at midnight, not 3 am: have someone on duty. If you must go to bed before midnight: leave a personalized note for us explaining the room situations with keys. And at the very least if you cannot do that: check to make sure it's all in order before you go to sleep. Hotels that feel "fuss-free" actually have a lot of fuss going on behind the scenes to make the guests feel that way, not so that when something goes wrong the guests feel like they've done something to inconvenience the staff. Aesthetically it's a great philosophy, but not when dealing with customer service.
It's a 13 room motel, and there were 3 people on staff, not including cleaning people that came in the morning and the owners who were around. It's a small staff, but not so small ONE person could not have stayed up. It was an extremely frustrating experience, feeling like we'd been locked out and forgotten at a hotel that's $200+ per night. They acted as if it was so annoying that we had to wake the up at 1 am. Don't work at a hotel if you don't expect your guests to ever need anything, like getting into their room. I have asked plenty of people I know in the hospitality and service industry what they would have done, and the very least would have been to comp the deluxe room the first night, and would have stated that the morning after, with profuse apologies. If that had been done, I would be writing a 5-star review right now.
We learned while we were there that the hotel is booked solid through September so I doubt they care much what us girls have to say. I hope they fix their attitude and policies for their summer guests, but I'm sad to say I won't be back.
