Starwood Preferred Guest - Am I overreacting?

So I'm staying at the Westin Casaurina in Las Vegas. First, when I was checking in, they had my SPG number but somehow didn't know that I was gold, so I was in a "preferred" room. When I asked, I was put in a "preferred" room, which I guess means top floor. Well, my own fault for asking. :(

The room they put me in had AC that wasn't quite working right. When I got there, it wasn't hot, per se, but it wasn't cold, either. I turned the thermostat down and went to bed, but by morning the temperature hadn't dropped a single degree. So on my way out I stopped by the front desk and asked them to have someone check it out.

When I got back to my room it was 80 degrees in it and the AC was going full blast.... but somehow not cooling the room at all. So, I called Service Express and they said they would send an engineer. 30 minutes later, nothing. I called again, and the girl said she'd check it out and call me back. After a few minutes I get a call. Apparently engineering ordered some part to fix the AC in my room, but they didn't get it, and they didn't know when they'd get it. So, she offered to move me to another room on the 11th floor. I took it.

So my comlaint isn't that the AC is broken -- it happens. My complalint is: since they obviously knew it was broken because they ordered some part for it, and they obvoiusly knew it didn't come in, why didn't they tell me about it earlier, so I wouldn't have to move rooms at midnight? And why did I have to call twice to find that out? :(

Am I overreacting or should I go talk to the front desk manager about it?

I guess you get what you asked for (or rather did not get what you did not ask for). I usually hate these situations.

I now ask, please fix the AC in my room. If you can not fix it please move me to a different room. You asked them to look into the AC which they did. A good thing, but a great hotel would have offered to move you right away. You had to ask.

They were simply doing the least amount of work possible, but probably would have done more if asked.

I feel your frustration.

Am I overreacting?
No, I don't think so.
It looks to me, that this hotel is not well well managed... to talk to the manager wouldn't do you any good.
I would change the hotel, or at least go in another hotel next time you are in Las Vegas.

BTW, I think there are some Westins around, they should not have the Westin brand, like the Westin in Stamford, CT. I always had nice Westins in Europe ...

Anyone else try to call them last night (Friday the 30th)? I left a couple of things in my room and wanted to make sure to call right away. I tried calling off and on for 5 hours and they wouldn't answer the phone. The Platinum Conceirge and Hotel Customer Service couldn't get a hold of them either.

They were very helpful this morning and found my stuff. I've stayed there some portion of 4 weeks in a row now and have mixed feelings about the property.

No, I don't think so.
It looks to me, that this hotel is not well well managed... to talk to the manager wouldn't do you any good.
I would change the hotel, or at least go in another hotel next time you are in Las Vegas.

BTW, I think there are some Westins around, they should not have the Westin brand, like the Westin in Stamford, CT. I always had nice Westins in Europe ...

Well, talking to the manager obviously won't get me my hour sleep back, but I might get some points out of it or something. And then it might (I said MIGHT) make them think about the situation and maybe train their people better.

And I don't think there's any other SPG property in Vegas. I'm still not sure of the participation/partnership level with Ceasar's, if any. The ONLY reason I'm staying here is for SPG. Until this place opened (Nov '03 I think) I've stayed at the Embassy Suites. Of course the Embassy can't touch the Heavenly Bed.

I think you may be overreacting a little bit. The person checking you in probably wasn't aware of maintenance issues. Also, the first time you called Service Express, the person may have forgotten. It happens to everybody. At least they offered to do something about it on the second call. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I'd just try to enjoy the rest of my stay if I were you.

I don't think you're overreacting at all.

I think you may be overreacting a little bit. The person checking you in probably wasn't aware of maintenance issues. Also, the first time you called Service Express, the person may have forgotten. It happens to everybody. At least they offered to do something about it on the second call. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it. I'd just try to enjoy the rest of my stay if I were you.

Unbelievable! They "...may have forgotten"? That is unacceptable and unfortunately it happens all too often at hotels (not only Starwood; I've had hotel personnel "forget" at Hiltons, Marriotts and other chains). It is almost an epidemic that maintenance calls illicit no response the first time around. Seems like they just don't want to be bothered.

If anything, your response was an underreaction. The only way hotels will start delivering real customer service is when people become more demanding on things that are supposed to be there to begin with. Because of occurences like these, I have started asking "how long?" if they need to send someone to fix something. For serious issues (broken A/C certainly qualifies), anything over 1/2 hour is unacceptable and I'll escalate if I have to.

I don't think you're overreacting at all. The Westin brand is supposed to mean something extra, I believe, even beyond what one would expect from a standard Sheraton? Certainly you should have expected more, and they didn't deliver. At the very least they should offer something to make up for your inconvenience/discomfort, etc.
Mistakes do happen. But it's what they do to recover from the mistakes that separate good customer service from bad. Some *wood properties do a very good job at it, though. Just off the top of my head, I think the Sheraton at Cleveland Airport does a wonderful job at this.
Hope you at least get some courtesy points out of this...

Mistakes do happen. But it's what they do to recover from the mistakes that separate good customer service from bad.

You hit the nail right on the head.

Ok, so tomorrow I'm going to talk to the manager and see what his take on it is. I'll give everyone an update.

Thank you everyone.

You're not overreacting at all. Vegas in July without working AC is absolutely unbearable. Just for fun, read some of the threads on this property--they are pretty miserable. Also, make sure that corporate knows about the problems here. This property does not represent the brand well.

Mike

I don't think you're overreacting at all. The Westin brand is supposed to mean something extra, I believe, even beyond what one would expect from a standard Sheraton? Certainly you should have expected more, and they didn't deliver. At the very least they should offer something to make up for your inconvenience/discomfort, etc.
Mistakes do happen. But it's what they do to recover from the mistakes that separate good customer service from bad. Some *wood properties do a very good job at it, though. Just off the top of my head, I think the Sheraton at Cleveland Airport does a wonderful job at this.
Hope you at least get some courtesy points out of this...


I'm in agreement here. The best stays I have had are when there has been a courtesy follow-up call to resolve issues logged at Service Express - Westin Bayshore in Vancouver, BC and the Sheraton Laguna Nusa Dua in Bali are great examples of properties that make sure their staff deliver. Hotel rooms are pretty much commodity items - it's the service and thoughtful extras that make or break a stay and ultimately a hotel brand.

You must have had the same room that I did. My last stay there was the same way. I couldn't get the temp below 76 deg. Way too hot to sleep. I mentioned it at check out the next day - not even a sorry about that.

I had the same thing happen to me at the beginning of July. It was 78 degrees in the room and wasn't going down. As I was at the tail end of a longer-than-usual business trip, I was tired and frustrated. My muscles got the better of me - and I accidently ripped the thermostat off the wall! That got some attention and maintenance was up within 15 minutes.

It was a very disappointing stay for me - and came on the heels of an excellent stay in PHX at the Wigwam...so it was hard not to compare. Even so - I will not be staying there again.

This is slightly OT, but Radisson SAS hotels in Europe (not to be confused with Radisson properties in North America) have a "we fix it in 40 minutes or less or your room is free that night" policy. Now that's a good incentive for hotels not to overlook maintenance requests :)

I appreciate everyone's reaction to my post. It's good to know I'm not totally crazy.

So at checkout I spoke with the "supervisor." The manager wasn't in that day. She was polite, listened to my concerns and then offered to take the room service off the bill. That's because I also complained about lukewarm food. I asked about starpoints instead and she offered me 5000 points. So, that's the resolution to the problem.

Now if only the Embassy Suites was an SPG hotel with decent beds.... ;)

and I accidently ripped the thermostat off the wall! That got some attention and maintenance was up within 15 minutes.

.


:D