Starwood Preferred Guest - Horrible stay at Element Arundel Mills Baltimore, MD

I was just seeing if anyone had any suggestions on what to do or if anything more can be done about complaining to someone higher up about my recent stay at the Element Arundel Mills outside of Baltimore, MD. I've never filed a complaint and I just want thoughts or opinions if I am not out of line with feeling that more needs to be done. Thanks for taking time to read this:

I stayed five nights recently at this hotel. It's about a year old and is attached to an Aloft hotel. During our first night the window shade fell to the ground around 4 AM, the hotel was very responsive and had it fixed early that morning.

Our first major problem was when we came back to the hotel after housekeeping had cleaned the room. On one of the two queen sized bed there was a grapefruit sized urine stain on the sheets. When we walked downstairs we waited a good amount of time as there is only one person on staff to complain about the stain. We asked if a member of management could actually look at it as it was completely unacceptable and gross. There was no management on duty but they were able to have the sheets changed within 4 hours.

After going to sleep that night we were awoken by knocking on the door between 6-7 AM. I figured it was housekeeping even though I had put out the do not disturb sign. After about two minutes of knocking the electronic door lock made a sound and a young black man in no uniform walked into our room, as soon as he saw us sleeping in our beds he shouted security in a panicked voice and bolted from our room. We contacted the front desk and talked to a man named "Amil" who claimed to be the general manager of the hotel. We told him how we felt our room had been broken into and that unless they could come up with some sort of explanation we were leaving the hotel feeling that we and our belongings were not secure. He told us that security had left at 5 AM that morning and that it couldn't have been security. He assured us that we and our belongings were safe and that he would immediately start an investigation by talking to security as well as checking the logs of what cards were used to enter the room. He promised us that he would get back to us before 9pm that night. We did not hear from him ever again.

We talked to 3 other people who claimed they were managers. It turns out that there is no general manager for this hotel. There is a manager for the connected Aloft hotel as well as a manager who has come over from the local Westin hotel. They told us that they were "inbetween" managers. It seems pretty unacceptable that during a 5 day stay the person who claims they are the general manager is there for only one morning and is not able to be contacted outside of the office. I was later contacted by the regional director of operations a day or two after our stay informing us that the person who entered our room without informing us who they were was a staff member. He did not give any reason to why this person entered our room, but told me that he panicked and lied about being security.

I also had a major issue with the hotel being pet friendly. I know that some hotels have rooms that allow pets to be brought into the hotel. This hotel actually has all their rooms on the first two floors as pet friendly rooms. I did not know this until checking out when I found out that the person staying in our room previous to us had dogs with them. It made for a very uncomfortable stay as I am allergic to cats and dogs and was never told that it was a pet friendly room or asked if I had any pet allergies.

I've contacted the starwood customer service and they have been a small mediator between myself and the regional manager. The manager told me the best he could do was to refund 10,000 of the 14,000 points and none of the $254 I paid for my cash and points stay. He only addressed the issue with the person entering our room and did he best to really downplay the situation and told me that he feels the poor service is an isolated incident.

I just want to know if asking to be fully refunded for my stay is going to far. I feel that the customer service was very bad and that there really is no person in charge at this hotel. If a guest does not feel safe in their hotel, you would expect they would do more to make you feel comfortable and look into the situation in a timely manner (while you are actually at the hotel). The hotel is amazing otherwise and I feel that since they are within their first year there are bound to be some problems (not asking for pet allergies or things breaking in the room). But I feel if at any hotel there was a urine stain on the sheets or someone enters your room without permission are major problems that should be quickly addressed by management.

I just want to know if asking to be fully refunded for my stay is going to far. I feel that the customer service was very bad and that there really is no person in charge at this hotel. t.

Wow, sorry to hear about your horrible experience.

I personally don't feel that you're asking for too much. Having someone walk into your room while you were sleeping is pretty serious. For the staff to have no resolution for that -- absolutely not acceptable.

Continue to escalate issues through SPG Corporate Customer Care. The initial offer of 10k points is an artificially low anchor for bargaining. A full refund of C/P is probably warranted in this case.

Did you take pictures of the stain?

Wow, sorry to hear about your horrible experience.

I personally don't feel that you're asking for too much. Having someone walk into your room while you were sleeping is pretty serious. For the staff to have no resolution for that -- absolutely not acceptable.

Continue to escalate issues through SPG Corporate Customer Care. The initial offer of 10k points is an artificially low anchor for bargaining. A full refund of C/P is probably warranted in this case.

Did you take pictures of the stain?

No, honestly the hotel could have cared less about it. The thought it was about as serious as having now towels. There was no reaction except an quick apology and taking of my phone number letting me know when they could have a change of sheets, when I asked for a manager to see it first-hand I pretty much got a clueless look.

The SPG corporate care told me they can not refund anything and it is up to the hotel, except there is no actual GM for this hotel, so I talk to someone who stops by occasionally to this hotel via email. No idea what to do from here.

After going to sleep that night we were awoken by knocking on the door between 6-7 AM.

On what night of your stay was this? 1st, 2nd, etc.

On what night of your stay was this? 1st, 2nd, etc.

The 2nd night

Sounds like it's time to hunt down the owner of the property and forget about finding a GM. If the staff is unwilling to give up the information you may be able to find out from SPG or county records by looking for DBA filings. Even though the BBB might be ineffectual in resolving problems, they may have valid contact info. Maybe someone local to the property would be willing to see what they have posted at the front desk.

Keep pushing for an acceptable resolution. The service you received is totally unacceptable even for a new property and they need to know it will not be tollerated! Good luck.

Since this was your second night of a five-night stay, then I believe it is unreasonable to ask for a complete comp for all five nights. Two nights maximum IMO is appropriate.

You should have left the hotel after the second night and sought accomodations elsewhere for the remainder of your stay.

To continue to stay and then ask for a comp for all five nights is like someone who receives a bad entree at a restaurant, complains but continues to eat the entree and then orders dessert and a round of after-dinner drinks for his table and expects everything to be comped.

Since this was your second night of a five-night stay, then I believe it is unreasonable to ask for a complete comp for all five nights. Two nights maximum IMO is appropriate.

You should have left the hotel after the second night and sought accomodations elsewhere for the remainder of your stay.

To continue to stay and then ask for a comp for all five nights is like someone who receives a bad entree at a restaurant, complains but continues to eat the entree and then orders dessert and a round of after-dinner drinks for his table and expects everything to be comped.

I personally wouldn't compare it to a bad meal at a restaurant, but I do appreciate your input.

It just seems surprising to me that it is so difficult to find who is in charge of the hotel to discuss the problems that I encountered. Even the SPG corporate office told me that they were "in between" managers and couldn't name specifically who to talk with. I don't know who else to contact.

you should of chased the young man down and got his ID. as i recall, there was another poster, who was shirtless, who chased down someone who entered his room. i believe he had his room comped and starpoints.

you should of chased the young man down and got his ID. as i recall, there was another poster, who was shirtless, who chased down someone who entered his room. i believe he had his room comped and starpoints.

We got up out of bed but the man had bolted as quick as possible, would have been interesting if I would have been able to chase him down!

Since this was your second night of a five-night stay, then I believe it is unreasonable to ask for a complete comp for all five nights. Two nights maximum IMO is appropriate.

You should have left the hotel after the second night and sought accomodations elsewhere for the remainder of your stay.

To continue to stay and then ask for a comp for all five nights is like someone who receives a bad entree at a restaurant, complains but continues to eat the entree and then orders dessert and a round of after-dinner drinks for his table and expects everything to be comped.

I respectfully disagree, I beleive it is harder and more troublesome to change hotel than restaurant especially since the OP used cash+point (he would have had to find a last minute cash rate)

I respectfully disagree, I beleive it is harder and more troublesome to change hotel than restaurant especially since the OP used cash+point (he would have had to find a last minute cash rate)

Agreed.

I am really shocked after reading your experience at this property. I had stayed there a few weeks ago, and thought it was awesome. Anyway, I also agree with other posters. Press the issue with SPG, and demand full comp for your stay. If you still do not receive satisfaction, then file a complaint with the BBB. Thanks for sharing.

We got up out of bed but the man had bolted as quick as possible, would have been interesting if I would have been able to chase him down!

Dont Wanna put yourself at potential risk. You never know what he got in his hand.
By the way, I would demand a full refund on both points and cash in this case, too.

Thanks for your replies!

I don't know how to escalate it. The SPG customer service told me that only the hotel can issue a refund for the cash and points.

Since there is no "general manager" for this hotel, a person who is the regional director of operations has sent me two emails. His card states that he works for LTD Management, which lists Westin, Aloft, Element, and Sheraton. He told me that he could not grant me a refund but could give me 10k points. He feels that the people working at the hotel acted in a timely manner to address my concerns.

I guess waiting till I left the hotel to actually check the logs to see who entered (or broke into) my room was to them in a timely manner. The people who work at the hotel did not check the logs, he did the day after I left the hotel, so I don't see how anyone at the hotel did anything to look into this situation.

The regional director did not address any of my other problems during my stay. When I called the corporate office the CSR was completely shocked when she heard about the urine stain on the sheets, all I heard was gasps and her going on about how that just wasn't right. I've stayed 14 nights in the past two months at SPG properties and don't plan to make another booking till this is resolved. I feel I should at least get a response to why I cannot have a full refund.

I guess if I have to file with the BBB I will. If anyone has any suggestions on who to talk to let me know. The consumerist website listed an old CEO's email, but from what I hear that person no longer works from the company.

It isn't clear from your description of the incident -- did the door have the little security bar on it that could have prevented entry by the intruder? Did you set it in place, but somehow it was forced open, or? :confused:

Agreed.

I am really shocked after reading your experience at this property. I had stayed there a few weeks ago, and thought it was awesome. Anyway, I also agree with other posters. Press the issue with SPG, and demand full comp for your stay. If you still do not receive satisfaction, then file a complaint with the BBB. Thanks for sharing.

I agree that there are many positive things about this hotel. The free light dinner during week days as well as free beer/wine during the meal is a great touch as well as the touch screen at the front desk that can print out boarding passes. This is also the first SPG property that I have been to that has a DIY laundry room.

There are a lot of things that still need to be fixed besides having a manager on hand during regular business hours and having two people at the front desk during peak times. They really should let you know that if your room is on the first two floors it is a "pet friendly" room and ask if you have any allergies.

It isn't clear from your description of the incident -- did the door have the little security bar on it that could have prevented entry by the intruder? Did you set it in place, but somehow it was forced open, or? :confused:

I did not set that in place, the person who entered the room had a key to the room. My friend forgot to put it back in place after he went to the lobby to buy a snack that night. It's a weird kind of security bar different from the other properties.

I did not set that in place, the person who entered the room had a key to the room. My friend forgot to put it back in place after he went to the lobby to buy a snack that night. It's a weird kind of security bar different from the other properties.

Yes, I understood that the intruder had a key. Had the security bar been in place, the incident would not have occurred -- except that you still would have been scared by someone partially opening the door (until it hit the bar).

Consider what your attitude would be if things had gone that way, instead of what actually happened. Would you still be demanding a FULL refund? :confused:

BOTH you (or your friend) and the hotel contributed to the problem. I feel that the partial refund offered is fair, while you seem to be trying to point the finger of blame ENTIRELY at the hotel. As poorly managed as the hotel may be, they are only partially to blame. And you continued to stay at the hotel and got five nights of lodging there. (I hope you remembered to both lock and bar the door every time you were in the room after that! ;))

JMHO, of course. ;)

We told him how we felt our room had been broken into and that unless they could come up with some sort of explanation we were leaving the hotel feeling that we and our belongings were not secure.
And yet, you didn't do so and now want a refund for all 5 nights?

We asked if a member of management could actually look at it as it was completely unacceptable and gross.

when I asked for a manager to see it first-hand I pretty much got a clueless look.

I think that you should forfeit a night's refund for so seriously wanting someone else to come look at a urine stain.

IMO, at most 3 nights refund would be fair. You should have checked out before the 4th night.

Was the urine stain dry or wet? Were the sheets just incorrectly cleaned somehow (dried but never washed?) or did someone (or some pet) actually urinate on your bed while you were out?

Was the urine stain dry or wet? Were the sheets just incorrectly cleaned somehow (dried but never washed?) or did someone (or some pet) actually urinate on your bed while you were out?

The stain was dry, yellow and slightly brownish tint, and was centrally located on the bed where your waist would be. For all I know it could have been from another sort of activity.

I appreciate the opinions and suggestions that have been left from people who have probably logged many more nights in hotels than I have. SC Flier, you are an SPG plat, how would you have reacted upon finding something like that in your bed during your stay? IMO, I don't think it is something that should ever have gotten passed housekeeping and I felt management should know about it.

In the future I will make sure the security bar is used. I've just started to travel a good amount in the last few months. In all my time traveling I've only come across small problems such as noise from outside of my room and wireless internet that did not work properly. I felt at the time when someone who represented themselves as the general manager told me that the issue would be taken care of that night... that I could take their word for it. I've learned a lot from the whole situation and I should have walked out, I will do so if I am faced with anything similar in the future.

I received a follow up call today from the corporate office and was able to talk to them at length about everything. They told me that the director of operations is the boss of the general manager of the aloft/element property. They told me that there is a general manager in place at the property and that the person who identified himself as the general manager did so falsely. The weirdest thing is that the director of operations, the "boss", told me personally that they were "in-between" general managers and that they had a manager from the local westin hotel dropping by to help out till they had a new person in place. A little confusing if you ask me, I just know I will not stay at this property again.

After about two minutes of knocking the electronic door lock made a sound and a young black man in no uniform walked into our room
I see it was not just a man, or a young man, but his race was somehow relevent. This seems to have been a trend tonight on the spg threads.

I see it was not just a man, or a young man, but his race was somehow relevent. This seems to have been a trend tonight on the spg threads.

Seems to have been a trend tonight? Over three days late on that one.
I'm offended that you are offended.....

I read this story with interest because we often travel and stay in Baltimore area. I remember some not so good reviews about Aloft at Arundel Mills. This hotel is not a very high category Starwood hotel, therefore it comes as no surprise that one has to wait to speak to a member of staff. To sum up the story, there was an issue of cleanliness of the sheets and a member of staff walking into the room with Do Not Disturb sign on it. Both issues are not that extraordinary. First, the sheets have undoubtedly been washed (?), even though staff lacked training in not using stained sheets. Second, the staff member who entered the room, knocked and only entered after hearing no response. Hotel checked the entry logs and confirmed the "intruder" was a staff member, therefore nor really an intruder. Only he knows what he wanted to do there, but it is good that no personal property went missing.

Hotel checked the entry logs and confirmed the "intruder" was a staff member, therefore nor really an intruder.

Or so they claim.

Having a 'wayward staff member' is a lot easier to admit than having to tell the guest that someone managed to break into their room and that the hotel may have a serious security issue.

Or so they claim.

Having a 'wayward staff member' is a lot easier to admit than having to tell the guest that someone managed to break into their room and that the hotel may have a serious security issue.

there was a shooting incident in a downtown Baltimore Sheraton last year, still that hotel must be charging a higher price that Element Arundel Mills. Maybe there must be a new thread about hotel employees entering room with Do Not Disturb Sign on the door. :D It is lucky that the intruder did not use the window to get in.:D Call me shortsighted, but I fail to see the basis for the emotional distress of the incidents during the described stay. I would be very happy for being awarded the 10K points as compensation.

The only response I received from the problems that I encountered was to the person coming into the room in which they stated:

The "housemen" did enter your room by mistake. When he realized his mistake he panicked and simply said “security”. When entering a guest room after knocking, we normally would indicate “housekeeping”, “hotel management” or “security”. Unfortunately he didn’t contact his supervisor alerting her to his mistake.

Is it just me or shouldn't they identify themselves before entering a room? I also do not see any reason a "houseman" would use any of those labels before or while entering a room that a person is staying in. I guess I can only take their word that it was a simple mistake and something more serious.

The only apology made was to the "confusion" of the follow up help and to the awkwardness of the situation. They basically told me that I misunderstood how quickly they would get back to me on the situation. I guess checking the logs to one room takes days....

I would just think that should have called me directly instead of trying to correspond over email with this information. I am happy that there was at least some compensation, even though I feel that it is not quite adequate.

The only response I received from the problems that I encountered was to the person coming into the room in which they stated:

The "housemen" did enter your room by mistake. When he realized his mistake he panicked and simply said “security”. When entering a guest room after knocking, we normally would indicate “housekeeping”, “hotel management” or “security”. Unfortunately he didn’t contact his supervisor alerting her to his mistake.


With the exception of room service, an emergency, or a request from the room's occupants, what reason would any hotel employee have for entering a guest room prior to 7:00 a.m.?

Currently at the Elements Arundel Mill and about the head downstairs for the happy hour. So far so good. No issues with room cleanliness, staff always available at front desk, internet works great. Asked for directions a couple of times, friendly shuttle driver. No complains. Maybe things are taking a turn for the better.

And done for the day here. Comp light dinner actually very good. Menu today had a salad, vegetables and a meat pasta dish. Free drinks include sodas, wine and beer. Darn, I'm going to switch some of my stays here at this rate.

My first time here and I was a little wary given the bad first review but so far so good.

Had a very nice stay over the weekend. Had an early exit and the full breakfast was out at 545am on Sunday morning- kind of nice when the scheduled time wasn't that early. The Executive Suite I had was great. Staff was responsive and helpful. Definitely switching from other properties in the area to here when needed.