jbh11
Jul 4, 02, 6:44 am
Two weeks ago, I decided to chip away at completing my CNTU bonus and picked up a cheap CO fare to Richmond. After a quick trip out to Williamsburg for the day, I came back to settle in at the Hilton RIC Airport.
Upon arrival (5 pm), the front desk was still trying to figure out which rooms had been cleaned and were available. After about 10 minutes of intermittant calls over walkie talkies set to screech volume, the woman at the desk gave up and walked down to the room herself to see if it was ready.
I collected my key and a little blue bag with 2 bottles of water, a breakfast certificate and a Nature Valley fruit & nut bar and headed out to my suite.
It was a ground floor suite, with a minibar sink & coffee area to the right, a living room area with reasonably comfortable couch and end chair on the left and a desk alcove straight ahead. Beyond the desk alcove, a sliding door opened into a patio area (no patio furniture though). A gateway room led to a sink & vanity area, with small bathroom to the right and bedroom to the left. In all, fairly pleasant accomodations.
As for the drawbacks -- thinking that perhaps I wanted to make my own fruity drinks, several pineapple chucks had been helpfully provided in the drain of the mini-bar sink. The air conditioning unit was loud beyond belief. I had been concerned about potential noise at an airport hotel. While there was no airplane noise, the hotel had thoughtfully provided it's own jet engine roar with the AC. I fiddled with temps and the like, but couldn't get any peaceful sounds. However, I soon realized that the AC roar was actually a value added feature that provide helpful in drowning out the continuous hall noise of people heading out to the swimming pool.
The next morning, with my CO jungle jet heading out at 9 am, I grabbed my breakfast voucher and went out to the restaurant. Breakfast service had just begun, so I poured myself a glass of juice and patiently waited for things to ramp up. Seeing nothing happening, I inquired first with the hostess about the availability of coffee. She directed me to the urn that I had already seen. I said that I preferred to drink my coffee from a mug rather than out of my hands and if she could provide a drinking vessel, it would greatly facilitate my coffee consumption. She scared up a cup from the mug and I settled in with a steaming cup of joe, still awaiting the steam table areas to be filled with more than water. I went back again to survey the "cold" scene which had been set up and consisted of some fruit, yogurt and little cereal bowls. Noting the absence of anything hot and the alarming lack of breakfast pastries, I inquired as to when the rest of breakfast would arrive. "Oh, we're having some problems in the kitchen, it should be ready about 8:30." Not wanting to sit around for an hour and a half and to miss my flight, I headed back to check out and to find a Waffle House I had spied the day before.
Earlier that morning, I noticed on my invoice that a $1.00 safe warranty charge had been added to my bill. Interesting, to charge for an amenity I didn't request. I amused myself for several minutes by imagining other new fees -- "Pillow Usage Service Charge", "In-Room Coffee Amenity Fee," "Neutrogena Toiletry Upgrade", etc. This wave of jolly thoughts, however, did not stave off my general irritation.
At check out, I played dumb and said I was confused about the charge and that I hadn't even used the safe. The charge was removed quickly. I was asked about my stay. I reported that I was less than pleased with the breakfast service and the jet engine AC unit. I was encouraged to fill out a comment card. I commented. I left.
I haven't had any communication in the past two week regarding my comments. I'm sure the card has found a delightful new home in the local dump.
Final observation -- when the stay (and another from the weekend) posted to my HH account, the CNTU bonuses did not appear. HH assures me they're researching this. First agent told me it would take up to 3 days. At the end of three days, the next agent told me 3 to 4 weeks. We'll see.
Upon arrival (5 pm), the front desk was still trying to figure out which rooms had been cleaned and were available. After about 10 minutes of intermittant calls over walkie talkies set to screech volume, the woman at the desk gave up and walked down to the room herself to see if it was ready.
I collected my key and a little blue bag with 2 bottles of water, a breakfast certificate and a Nature Valley fruit & nut bar and headed out to my suite.
It was a ground floor suite, with a minibar sink & coffee area to the right, a living room area with reasonably comfortable couch and end chair on the left and a desk alcove straight ahead. Beyond the desk alcove, a sliding door opened into a patio area (no patio furniture though). A gateway room led to a sink & vanity area, with small bathroom to the right and bedroom to the left. In all, fairly pleasant accomodations.
As for the drawbacks -- thinking that perhaps I wanted to make my own fruity drinks, several pineapple chucks had been helpfully provided in the drain of the mini-bar sink. The air conditioning unit was loud beyond belief. I had been concerned about potential noise at an airport hotel. While there was no airplane noise, the hotel had thoughtfully provided it's own jet engine roar with the AC. I fiddled with temps and the like, but couldn't get any peaceful sounds. However, I soon realized that the AC roar was actually a value added feature that provide helpful in drowning out the continuous hall noise of people heading out to the swimming pool.
The next morning, with my CO jungle jet heading out at 9 am, I grabbed my breakfast voucher and went out to the restaurant. Breakfast service had just begun, so I poured myself a glass of juice and patiently waited for things to ramp up. Seeing nothing happening, I inquired first with the hostess about the availability of coffee. She directed me to the urn that I had already seen. I said that I preferred to drink my coffee from a mug rather than out of my hands and if she could provide a drinking vessel, it would greatly facilitate my coffee consumption. She scared up a cup from the mug and I settled in with a steaming cup of joe, still awaiting the steam table areas to be filled with more than water. I went back again to survey the "cold" scene which had been set up and consisted of some fruit, yogurt and little cereal bowls. Noting the absence of anything hot and the alarming lack of breakfast pastries, I inquired as to when the rest of breakfast would arrive. "Oh, we're having some problems in the kitchen, it should be ready about 8:30." Not wanting to sit around for an hour and a half and to miss my flight, I headed back to check out and to find a Waffle House I had spied the day before.
Earlier that morning, I noticed on my invoice that a $1.00 safe warranty charge had been added to my bill. Interesting, to charge for an amenity I didn't request. I amused myself for several minutes by imagining other new fees -- "Pillow Usage Service Charge", "In-Room Coffee Amenity Fee," "Neutrogena Toiletry Upgrade", etc. This wave of jolly thoughts, however, did not stave off my general irritation.
At check out, I played dumb and said I was confused about the charge and that I hadn't even used the safe. The charge was removed quickly. I was asked about my stay. I reported that I was less than pleased with the breakfast service and the jet engine AC unit. I was encouraged to fill out a comment card. I commented. I left.
I haven't had any communication in the past two week regarding my comments. I'm sure the card has found a delightful new home in the local dump.
Final observation -- when the stay (and another from the weekend) posted to my HH account, the CNTU bonuses did not appear. HH assures me they're researching this. First agent told me it would take up to 3 days. At the end of three days, the next agent told me 3 to 4 weeks. We'll see.