Luxury Hotels - Seasttle 4 seasons does not respect the do not disturb sign

Stayed again this weekend. Great staff, nice looking rooms, noisy doors. This time we had house keeping clean our room with the do not disturb sign on the door. We came back from lunch with the do not disturb sign still in the lock however the room had been cleaned. They did call the room first and leave a VM, that would also be disturbing the room, then they completely ignored the sign and entered. That to me is a complete violation or our privacy. When I asked the assistant manager about this, she stated it was hotel policy. Really? It was stated by the asst. that many times guests forget to remove the do not disturb sign then they return to their unclean room and are upset. To me the do not disturb sign means just that. Unless its an emergency you do not bother the room. No calls, no knocking, do not disturb. We left the room for less than a hour to go accross the street for lunch. With that in mind my partners purse was left in the room and so was a very expensive watch. Of course all of these items we still there when we returned however I would have put them both in the safe had I know they were going to be entering the room. I will never return to this hotel.

Is this normal? Anyone else deal with this type of issue.

Stayed again this weekend. Great staff, nice looking rooms, noisy doors. This time we had house keeping clean our room with the do not disturb sign on the door. We came back from lunch with the do not disturb sign still in the lock however the room had been cleaned. They did call the room first and leave a VM, that would also be disturbing the room, then they completely ignored the sign and entered. That to me is a complete violation or our privacy. When I asked the assistant manager about this, she stated it was hotel policy. Really? It was stated by the asst. that many times guests forget to remove the do not disturb sign then they return to their unclean room and are upset. To me the do not disturb sign means just that. Unless its an emergency you do not bother the room. No calls, no knocking, do not disturb. We left the room for less than a hour to go accross the street for lunch. With that in mind my partners purse was left in the room and so was a very expensive watch. Of course all of these items we still there when we returned however I would have put them both in the safe had I know they were going to be entering the room. I will never return to this hotel.

Is this normal? Anyone else deal with this type of issue.


I'd have a real problem with this if it was me. What if you were in the middle of an important conference call or the like? Having housekeeping call or barge is more than annoying, it defeats the purpose of paying for a hotel room in the first place. I've had this issue when I'm in Europe. I work on New York time while I"m there, meaning I sleep from around 5am until 2pm. If housekeeping knocks or calls my room during this time period and I have the DND out, I speak to a manager and point blank tell him or her I will not be paying the night's rate. Paying for a hotel room is paying for an undisturbed place to sleep or work. If the hotel staff can't understand this, then they shouldn't get your money.

Call the GM of the hotel, see what he has to say. If the response is that it's his policy, then I'd shoot an email to FS corporate, because it's unacceptable from a five-star hotel.

Unfortunately, this is the protocol for many luxury hotels. And, guests in the US don't have a right to exclude hotel staff and managment from coming into the room to clean, perform maintenance, etc.

Here is the real kicker, a bit more info. We stayed there earlier this month for three nights. We were in the middle of selling our home in Hawaii and buying a home in the Puget sound area. On the way to the hotel the buyer back out in Hawaii a huge surprise, in other words we really just need to get away and relax. During that time we had the hotel doors for the stairwell and neighbors keep us up all weekend and make the days impossible to relax. Everytime the doors next to us slammed, which was everytime they closed, it actually shook the wall a bit as well as made the loud metal sound of the locks. We had a family next to us with thee kids that were in and out of the room, seemed to be one at a time, all day long starting a 6:00am. We also had house keeping call the room after the second day while the do not disturb sign was out.
I sent a email to the four seasons Seattle about these issues and they offered to host a weekend for us. Free parking and a nice relaxing room. Upon check in we were immediately greeted by the wonderful Assistant manager Dora Joyner. She took us to our room that was prepared and ready just for us with some fruit and a nice stack of home magazines with a welcome card from the Manager. The stay was setting up to be absolutely perfect. However our room was right next to the stair well, that door was not as noisy as it was during our first stay, the doors down the hall were still incredibly loud during the day. I could not even dream of attempting to take a relax in the room or take a nap during the day, the doors would have made it impossible. The real completely destructive event was the room cleaning while the do not disturb sign was out. I was beyond upset and felt a violated. I actually wanted to check out a leave a day early, my partner talked me out of it.

If housekeeping knocks or calls my room during this time period and I have the DND out, I speak to a manager and point blank tell him or her I will not be paying the night's rate.

where have you had least / most problems with this dispute?

where have you had least / most problems with this dispute?

It never seems to be an issue at independent European properties. The one time it was, I mentioned it to an assistant manager, who ran, literally, to his office to bring out the general manager who could not have been more apologetic.

The luxury chain hotels, I don't want to name any hotels in particular, seem to give me a problem with this. Perhaps they have stricter sets of regulations for their housekeepers, or are just more concerned with maintaining a certain level of service, but they just don't get that my preferences, as a guest, are more important than when they want my room to be cleaned.

Granted, it's not something that happens often, but this is the trend I've noticed when it does.

It never seems to be an issue at independent European properties.

The luxury chain hotels, I don't want to name any hotels in particular, seem to give me a problem with this.when you say luxury chains are you including hyatt, starwood, marriott (RC) ?

i definitely dont need and wouldnt ask for specific properties, but just curious which companies. even though it might make me worry more, its much better to be prepared.

During the process of buying a home we have stayed in MANY nice hotels since last may.

Westin Suites, Vancouver BC
Brentwood Bay Lodge, Victoria BC
W, Seattle
Willows Lodge, Woodinville
Cedar Brooke Lodge, Seatac
Hotel 1000, Seattle
The Nines, Portland
Hotel 50, Portland

A few others that im forgeting the name of. Due to electronics, valuables and disire to not be bothered the Do Not Disturb sign is pretty much out for our entire stay. None of the above hotels ever contacted us for service. In fact at Brentwood Bay there would be a beautiful basket outside our room each day with fresh towls, coffee, tea, cups, TP etc. No one ever took their procedure over our request except the four seasons seattle

During the process of buying a home we have stayed in MANY nice hotels since last may.

Westin Suites, Vancouver BC
Brentwood Bay Lodge, Victoria BC
W, Seattle
Willows Lodge, Woodinville
Cedar Brooke Lodge, Seatac
Hotel 1000, Seattle
The Nines, Portland
Hotel 50, Portland

A few others that im forgeting the name of. Due to electronics, valuables and disire to not be bothered the Do Not Disturb sign is pretty much out for our entire stay. None of the above hotels ever contacted us for service. In fact at Brentwood Bay there would be a beautiful basket outside our room each day with fresh towls, coffee, tea, cups, TP etc. No one ever took their procedure over our request except the four seasons seattle

Dirk, one of the nice things about Four Seasons is that, despite their overzealousness, they will probably be a little bit easier to work with in resolving this issue to your satisfaction. Based on what you've told us, I'd recommend you contact their corporate office, explain why you feel your privacy wasn't respected and your stay less than perfect, and ask for what you think would be a fair way of rectifying the situation. I would think that a certificate for a complimentary night at any FS hotel, a refund of one night's rate, or the like would be appropriate.

Its almost getting embarrassing asking for anything. After two major issues at this hotel im beginning to feel as if im the problem. This last stay was a hosted stay in an attempt to fix the first stay. I would never want to return to this hotel and four seasons are rather rare in the area. I will contact corporate and see what they would recommend.

With that in mind my partners purse was left in the room and so was a very expensive watch. Of course all of these items we still there when we returned however I would have put them both in the safe had I know they were going to be entering the room. I will never return to this hotel.


You use the DND over the safe? Sound reckless to me.

I would be very upset if this happened to us. We live in hotels 200+ nights a year and have never had this happen. I rarely have the room serviced as I don't want to feel like I have to "pick up" before we leave in the morning and I hate when they spray the room with stuff. If the room had been entered while the DND sign was out I would be livid (short of some kind of major maintenance issue).

You use the DND over the safe? Sound reckless to me.

Not really, just made a quick judgement error in regards to the quick trip accross the street for lunch and the fact that we were staying at the 4 Seasons. Wont happen again.

On a side not how do I edit the subject for speedy spelling?

now a new issue.
$78.00 on our credit card for some unknown reason. Something else to deal with.

At this point four seasons seattle has been a total nightmare

now a new issue.
$78.00 on our credit card for some unknown reason. Something else to deal with.

At this point four seasons seattle has been a total nightmare

Oh the horror! :rolleyes:

Oh the horror! :rolleyes:

I take its that a big batch of unnecessary sarcasm?

Spend a fortune to stay in a very nice hotel for three days
woke up early every morning by loud slamming doors from the stairwell and guests next to us.
house keeping disturbs our day with a phone call about cleaning our room while to do not disturb sign is out

I send an email pointing out the noise and the phone call
Hotel makes us a offer to come back for two days
still have slamming doors and our room is right next to the stair well
House keeping call our room while we are not there and the do not disturb sign is out then they enter the room to clean it with the do not disturb sign out.
Now I get to dispute a charge on my card.

I would not expect this from a OK hotel better yet the Four Seasons. A very unenjoyable weekend followed by a hassle.

sarcasm not enjoyed

You stayed 3 nights..... complained about the doors.... got 2 free nights..... stayed again.... did you expect them to change the doors prior to your arrival?.....since they did not do that you've now got a new issue to complain about......the dreaded DND situation which you will now complain to corporate about to see what else you can get not to mention the $78.00 which could very well have been a legit charge.... .but instead of calling them..... you'll take the time to post about it in a public forum?

To me this whole thread is full of sound and fury signifying nothing. This easily could have been titled "FS Seattle never cleaned my room..... their lame excuse was I had the DND on, but seriously, come on, why would I leave it on all day especially while I was out at lunch! Obviously I left it on by mistake and they didn't care!"

At this point four seasons seattle has been a total nightmare

Oh the horror! :rolleyes:

sarcasm not enjoyed

Grab some perspective. Right now I expect most residents of Christchurch, Sendai, Fukushima, Tripoli, Benghazi, etc. would trade their total nightmare for yours. Oh, my, God, slamming doors and relentless maid service. Help me.

Why you are seething over trivia like this on Flyertalk instead of picking up the phone and talking to the general manager (as someone upthread said, at Four Seasons they are very accessible to guests) is beyond me.

As for your complaints about your free stay, I think the same response is in order as the baseball fan got when he complained he couldn't see the right field corner from his comped seat. OK, but how'd you like the price?

the bottom line is FS is well regarded here in terms of service recovery.

perhaps the stairway doors are louder than room doors. and/or some rooms have less soundproofing. and/or just a difference in soundproofing standards. there has been discussion on that more recently.

if hotel knew guest was out of DND room, it might be somewhat different, but voicemail suggests otherwise. and the first time it seems they were in the room >
house keeping called our room during the day when the do not disturb sign was out to see if we needed anything
OTOH, perhaps it can be good to discuss DND with hotel before using it. especially in situations like >
I sleep from around 5am until 2pm

the bottom line is FS is well regarded here in terms of service recovery.

perhaps the stairway doors are louder than room doors, and/or some rooms have less soundproofing.

if hotel knew guest was out of DND room, it might be somewhat different, but voicemail suggests otherwise. and the first time it seems they were in the room >

OTOH, perhaps it can be good to discuss DND with hotel before using it. especially in situations like >

I think the DND is a valid service issue, and the OP is right to be annoyed by it, regardless of the rate paid. I'm at a mid-level Ritz right now on a free night, but that would have no bearing on my complaints if the service suffered. However, the baseball analogy is correct. The first room I was shown was next to the elevator. Not the best thing in the world, but, you get what you pay for. (For the record, I paid $100 and got an upgrade to a club suite, not a bad deal...).

The structural concern over the doors is something he experienced the first time, and isn't something that's going to change overnight. If you don't like it, then don't stay there again.

Additionally, the $78 charge, while a bit annoying, could be a legitimate charge, and isn't really that big of a deal.


Finally, of all the hotel chains in the world, Four Seasons has always been, in my experience, wonderful at resolving this sort of situation for guests who take the time to call or write a letter with their concerns. You won't rectify the situation by discussing it on here.

Who said anything about seething?
For the record there were NO charges made and that would be why I am frustrated by it. Im not a child, i know what happens at the hotel when im there. We charged NOTHING, no bill at check out at all.
These analogies are way out there. With given examples we all have no right what so ever wasting a single moment on these boards with all of the terrible events happening right now. Put down that keyboard and quit your job so you can dig wells where people don't have water. The analogies about Japan are ridiculous. I guess all high priced hotels have a great excuse for lowering there service standards during this terrible event. Odd since I don't recall getting the Japan tragedy discount. I guess I will wait until all of these issues are taken care of before I spend my hard earned cash on another hotel say.
Weird folks on here. I guess Ill end this here.
The two or three of you that posted negative comments on here should do a flyer talk search and find everyone that is unhappy with something that they paid good money for right now, then berate them. Do your best to make them feel guilty because there luxury stays fly in the face of all those suffering in Japan right now.

First, that bill. Contact your credit card issuer and ask for the detailed billing. If that doesn't give you an idea what the bill was for (valet parking comes to mind as a possible additional fee), contact the Four Seasons directly and ask for a copy of your updated folio. If a bill was added after checkout they should be able to scare that up for you.

I'm really surprised you've had two problems with the Four Seasons Seattle. When friends come to visit that's their preferred hotel since it opened, and I've never heard negatives.

Second, the best way I've ever found to stop DND problems is to call the desk and request housekeeping while I'm in the room. I usually travel with a pet domestically, and the last thing I want is my cat (or dog) getting out in a high-rise hotel in the midst of a city. ANY animal can get out of a crate or an ex-pen. Most cats won't come to a stranger. Loose kitty=poof!

If you know you're on a different city's schedule, making the same desk call can get you some more sleep when you want it. Ask what time housekeeping starts daily WHEN YOU CHECK IN. If they start at 6AM and your internal alarm says 'sleep now,' ask if you can be first on the list. You're done working and are ready for bed. Usually, all I want are extra linens (especially washcloths and hand towels), and creamer/tea for the in-room bev maker. I don't need vacuuming. I don't want the air freshener. And I'm not a pig to totally destroy the bathroom and tub if it isn't cleaned every morning. What I want usually takes less than three minutes for a housekeeper to hand over, he/she keys the door to 'done' and we're all happy. Sleeping through the other rooms being cleaned and various people checking in and out all day (and the attendant noise) will still be a problem, but at least your door shouldn't be opened.

Hotels do have electronic means to tell if your room has been cleaned (it's part of the electronic lock system); if it shows not done after a certain time, the management often takes it to be the housekeeper's fault. To avoid this, many maids do ignore the DNDs. They don't want to have too many warnings, or they're afraid they'll lose their jobs!

I played do-si-do with an overzealous housekeeper at an Embassy Suites 18 years ago, and she finally told me about the door lock thing. Now that I call the desk and politely request my room be done only when I'm present and-could-you-please-get-to-me-soon-or early-or... now?, I no longer have to go about calling 'kitty,kitty' in the stairwells.

Something good has come of this

From Ben Trodd, Seattle four Seasons manager

"The request to not have your room disturbed when you had indicated this preference was indeed noted on your original email to me however in following our policy (as Dora communicated to you), we clearly went against your wishes as spelt out. With immediate effect we have now changed this policy and guest requests to not be disturbed will be observed. "

Thats a positive move for a near perfect hotel

From Ben Trodd, Seattle four Seasons manager

"The request to not have your room disturbed when you had indicated this preference was indeed noted on your original email to me however in following our policy (as Dora communicated to you), we clearly went against your wishes as spelt out. With immediate effect we have now changed this policy and guest requests to not be disturbed will be observed. "


"The charge to your room for parking was indeed an error caused by a lack of attention to detail upon your check-out. I believe you were correctly informed that you had no charges to settle at the front desk as you left us, and this was how your billing was set up. However a subsequent step was not followed and the charge was levied - this has been removed from your credit card immediately, and some remedial training conducted. "


^

Something good has come of this

From Ben Trodd, Seattle four Seasons manager

"The request to not have your room disturbed when you had indicated this preference was indeed noted on your original email to me however in following our policy (as Dora communicated to you), we clearly went against your wishes as spelt out. With immediate effect we have now changed this policy and guest requests to not be disturbed will be observed. "

Thats a positive move for a near perfect hotel

So what about your $78 charge? Since you've communicated with the hotel as per your message above, I assume you included the charge issue? Since you neglected to address the outcome of that issue, should we assume it was legitimate?

As I stated before, I knew the charge was not correct so I didnt bother to update. Just for the unbeleivers

"The charge to your room for parking was indeed an error caused by a lack of attention to detail upon your check-out. I believe you were correctly informed that you had no charges to settle at the front desk as you left us, and this was how your billing was set up. However a subsequent step was not followed and the charge was levied - this has been removed from your credit card immediately, and some remedial training conducted. "

Just for the unbeleivers
"

No one ever said they did not believe you about the mistake charge. .. I just found you wanted to attack this hotel in a public way. It wasn't a balanced review since you already knew about the dreaded doors but took the hotel for their freebie no problem. Its all about balance to me.

No one ever said they did not believe you about the mistake charge.
>
So what about your $78 charge? Since you've communicated with the hotel as per your message above, I assume you included the charge issue? Since you neglected to address the outcome of that issue, should we assume it was legitimate?
How is that statement from Dillman an accusation of non-belief? He asked a question, which was a very fair one

How is that statement from Dillman an accusation of non-belief? He asked a question, which was a very fair one

Were did I state that I was accusing anyone of anything? Mellow out folks. A great deal of conslusions get jumped to VERY quickly on flyertalk.