Starwood Preferred Guest - Luxury Collection Service

I am just curious if anyone else out there has had service/contact issues with some of the Luxury Collection hotels located in remote places. Often times the starwood web site lacks a lot of information like spa services and directions in foreign countries. Obtaining this information from customer service is impossible since they don't have it, and exchanging emails with the hotels is painful and often the emails go unanswered. I just feel that when paying as much as one does for a room in these hotels, luxury collection should be able to provide all this information and facilitate exchanges between guests and hotels prior to their visit. A good deal of the room cost associated with hotels goes towards paying luxury collection to manage the hotel and reservation process, so why are we as customers not seeing a high level of service on the front end, prior to the trip?

For example, here are some problems I have had:
-Last year I stayed at 2 of the Hacienda properties in Mexico. I sent several emails leading up to the trip asking for information like directions, all of which went unanswered. The luxury collection web site provides absolutely no directions to these properties and Starwood customer service has no more information to offer. I finally found directions on another web site (www.differentworld.com, great site with lots of pictures!).

-I received an email from the Mexico luxury collection property manager informing me that a Hacienda I had a reservation at would be closed for repairs due to the Hurricane, and they offered to accomodate me at another property. I sent several emails back to this individual with my preferences and waited and waited for a some sort of confirmation but never got one. Finally I got customer service to call mexico for me and speak with this manager and provide me with some confirmation information.

-Now I am trying to arrange for a spa gift for my friends staying on their honeymoon at Rayavadee next week. Getting the spa menu to begin with took some time since again, there is no info on the starwood web site. I have since exchanged a single round of emails to make my purchase and I have been waiting 4 days for a response.

I have to admit that the Haciendas were AMAZING, especially Uayamon. I loved Uayamon and would not hesitate to go back in a second as the grounds, rooms, amenities, and service at the hotel were all spectacular. But why do I have to waste such time in waiting for responses and digging up directions?? It sort of cheapens the experience and I think Starwood/Luxury Collection needs to work on ensuring customers have all the inforamtion they need to have an enjoyable and stress-free stay. Anyone else have these issues??

My experience is that there is no such information available, and sometimes the LC hotels answer your email and sometimes they don't. I've found the Austrian LC hotels to be extremely helpful, for example, while the Bali LC is hopeless. There doesn't seem to be any centralized LC process to provide systematic assistance.

There is a server dedicated to the LC rather than individual hotels -- I just emailed someone at Person'sName@theluxurycollection.com and got a prompt response. Might it be that the LC server-routed email is more corporate/professional/attention-getting? You might call the Plat Concierge to ask if the hotel you want has a LC address.

I agree - Luxury Collection branding is a little inconsistent. In some cases, the hotels maintain their own site apart from the Starwood site that is more informative (do a google search on Rayavadee for the hotel's own site - it actually breaks down the three different areas the villas are located, which is important to know). I always end up contacting the hotel directly.

This is not just a LC problem - I've had the same issue with Mandarin Oriental hotels, where the hotel itself has deals otherwise undisclosed on the main website.

I am having a similar problem in getting in touch with someone at Kapalua Bay.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rhetor:
There is a server dedicated to the LC rather than individual hotels -- I just emailed someone at Person'sName@theluxurycollection.com and got a prompt response. Might it be that the LC server-routed email is more corporate/professional/attention-getting? You might call the Plat Concierge to ask if the hotel you want has a LC address.</font>

Simply having theluxurycollection domain does not mean it is on a seperate server as to the rest of starwood. Most likely they are on the same server/cluster and simply different domains. Of course I have no way to confirm this, but if Starwood wanted to be smart on resources (which I'm sure they are), thats what they would do. So the routing of emails would be the same as any other Starwood address.

Anyone in the U.S. and Canada who may be seeking information for any of The Luxury Collection hotels can call The Luxury Collection toll-free at 1-800-325-3589.

Those outside this service area can simply call the number on the reverse of their Starwood Preferred Guest membership card and asked to be transferred to a Luxury Collection specialist.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

as has been discussed on flyertalk before, some properties are great about returning emails (i.e., W New Orleans, thanks to its great GM). but, some completely drop the ball. i have no problem with a property not posting an email address if they don't have the resources to staff it. but, the email address should be removed from spg.com, accordingly.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fly co to see the yanks:
i have no problem with a property not posting an email address if they don't have the resources to staff it. but, the email address should be removed from spg.com, accordingly.</font>

I couldn't agree more. I've gotten to the point where I assume that "customer service" email with just about any organization will either be totally ignored or will be responded to with a prefab response that doesn't directly address my issue. I tend to make maximum use of all available online resources, so if I have to ask a specific question, it's not one that's in the FAQ. As such, I find that the old-fashioned approach of "getting on the horn" is the most effective one.

In a travel situation, even if I have to call internationally, I find that I get the best answers when speaking with the source directly, and these days, it doesn't cost all that much to call half way around the world.