EquityMind
Sep 5, 05, 6:20 pm
I recently had the displeasure of staying at the Sheraton World Resort Orlando (http://www.sheratonworld.com/) . I booked a 5 night stay here using points and received three seperate confirmation numbers, two because there were two different Starpoint redemption levels, 4,000 for weekdays and 3,000 for weekend nights, a third when I added an additional night (decided to come out a day earlier) for another 4,000 Starpoints. Everything appeared fine and no communication other than my confirmations was received from the hotel or Starwood. It should be noted that I had stayed here previously about a year prior and was charged for 2 nights instead of 1 because they didn't note my elite status and charged me another night's stay on a late (3:50 p.m.) checkout. It took several days and several calls to get this reversed.
We arrived at approximately 7:00 p.m. and I was told that I did not have a reservation. Rather than fire up my laptop to lookup the reservation numbers, the front desk Guest Services Manager insisted on looking up the original confirmation numbers. She found one for the first night and said that she would rebook and tried taking the Starpoints out of my account! I indicated that the points had already been taken out of my account and pulled up my Starwood account on my mobile phone to show her the 18,000 point deduction. She then found that all three of my reservations had been cancelled! She insisted that Starwood had made the cancellations via fax over three seperate days.
All in all, it took over 45 minutes to receive my room keys, we were given a suite as an upgrade (Platinum upgrade - plus a slow week) along with an apology for the wait.
The suite was a regular room plus the addition of a corner parlor room with a pull out bed. It wasn't a bad configuration considering and had plenty of space. There was a bell attendant who was very 'on the ball' and later greeted me by name when we returned the following day and was very informative explaining the resort's ammenities.
Once we were settled in, we ate downstairs at The Blue Marlin Grill which I do not recommend at all. The entire restaurant was empty and I can see why, while the service was very good, the food was not.
When we arrived back in the room, my daughter mentioned that her bathroom wasn't clean and that the toilet seat was 'sticky', I went and inspected and sure enough, the toilet seat was dirty, the toilet rolls had not been replaced, there was hair at the bottom of the shower, a bar of used soap was in the shower stall and there was old coffee with mold spores clearly growing in the coffee pot. There were also two used apple cores in each of the trash cans in the room. I called downstairs and was told that for the inconvenience I would receive 500 points for the service promise guarantee.
Another thing to note was that the entry lobby for the tower rooms (not the main lobby) smelled strongly of mildew, I'm not sure if this is normal for Florida hotels or not considering the weather and the close proximity to the pool. Also, this bed was NOT a Sheraton Sweet Sleeper (even though the SPG website claims it is) and checking the mattress, there was no pillow top edge and this was a very hard bed and didn't have the standard duvet comforter of a Sweet Sleeper bed.
The next day, we were going to go to Disney World and check out the Magic Kingdom, when I inquired about buying tickets for Disney World at the hotel concierge desk, I was given a sales pitch for Fairfield resorts to buy a timeshare. I told the concierge that I wasn't interested especially as a Starwood Platinum, I received my fair share of free nights and upgrades based on my extensive travelling. He continued on telling me I could save around $100 or so if I sat through a presentation. Now I'm not against Starwood resorts selling timeshares, but I dont think they should be combined with the concierge desk.
Once tickets were finally purchased, we went outside to catch the shuttle to Disney World, unfortunately we had missed the last shuttle so I asked for a cab. The attendant waived over a towncar and having had bad experiences with non-metered Orlando transportation in the past, I asked for a metered cab, the attendant insisted that this was the only available option and that a cab would take 20 minutes - so before I got in, I asked the towncar driver if a child seat was required in Florida and through broken English he stated no (found out later that they are required). I asked how much the ride would be to the Magic Kingdom and he stated $45. When I balked at what I knew was around a 5 or 6 mile commute, he suddenly produced a document that indicated $35, the attendant, hearing our discussion was calling the limo service - Town and Country Transportation (http://www.townandcountrytransportation.com/) and walked over and stated, "the actual charge is $30 flat rate sir". I figured this sounded reasonable and we climbed in. After travelling some time, it was apparent that this driver had no clue on how to get to the Magic Kingdom and even after we entered into Epcot area, he was finding it extremely difficult getting around and made several calls, we had to stop 6 times for directions and on occasion he was even going the wrong way down a one way street! At one point he was pulled over by Disney World security and told to leave the area he was in and was given specific directions on how to get to the taxi drop off zone. Well he completely didnt understand because as we were yelling at him to turn (WE understood the directions) he overshot a turn and took us out of the way ending up back at the entrance. We finally made it to the drop off point, over ONE HOUR after we left the Sheraton World Resort Hotel.
When we arrived back to the hotel that evening, we came back to a room that was only marginally cleaned, it appeared that all they had done was change the sheets and charge me $5.06 for a bottle of water that was supposed to be complimentary as a plat (and also had no price indication on the bottle). Once again the same used bar of soap was in the shower stall, hair was at the bottom of the stall and trash remained in the cans. Once again a call was made downstairs (phone rang forever) and a service promise guartee was made with a promise of 500 points.
Later on, we decided that we needed more pillows and blankets so we called down to request them. After 40 minutes went by we called down again only to be told that they had been delivered, when I asked where, the attendant rattled off the room number of the room across the hall (not mine). Another 20 minutes brought up the desired blankets.
Our third day brought yet another day of lacksidaisical housekeeping effort, trash from a meal the night before that was left on the dining room table had not been removed even though it was obviously finished and housekeeping had left a large trashbag full of cream, sugar and sweet n low on top of my daughter's clothes. Avoiding the Blue Marlin Grill, we opted for some pizza at the deli to encounter the laziest employee yet, and obviously entirely unthrilled to be working there, no smile whatsoever, basically a "what do YOU want?" attitude and as she was attempting to close up, my daughter noticed her drag a broom through the lobby of the deli ONCE - muttering to herself 'ok, floors clean'...
I wasn't about to spend our fourth and fifth nights here so I called up the Platinum desk and explained what was going on, the Platinum Concierge was appalled at what I told her and immediately called the hotel to arrange getting a credit back of my Starpoints so that I could transfer to a different Starwood property. She was able to immediately obtain credit for me and I transfered the remainder of our stay to the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel using 10,000 points for a free night's stay and I opted to pay for a night as well, rather than continue to get two free nights at the Sheraton World Resort Hotel for 6,000 Starpoints.
When checking out of the Sheraton World to make sure I received my service promise guarantee and to get credit for the water that they had erroneously charged me, a guest services manager came over and said that I would receive 2,500 Starpoints plus a credit for the water and for a movie we had ordered for the housekeeping issues we encountered, she had obviously been the one that answered the phone when the Platinum Concierge had called requesting that my stay be cancelled.
As we were leaving, the valet called over another Town and Country Transportation Town Car and they began loading bags without asking approval. I immediately stopped them and asked for a metered cab, when they asked why, I recounted my story of the last trip I had with Town and Country Transportation. A driver came up and asked who the driver was, I described him and the driver told me he was new, regardless, I told them I didn't want to give them the business on principle. One of the valets pulled me aside and gave me the number of a competent cab company which I immediately called, (he whispered that Town and Country Transportation was contracted and that cabs didnt pull up unless they were dropping off). The Transportation attendant was rolling her eyes and was yelling from behind the desk and that it would take longer than 20 minutes to get a cab and be more expensive. I stated that I had already called for a cab and no sooner had I said that when our cab rolled up less than 2 minutes after my call. The originally quoted $35 to the Dolphin was made for $23 in our cab by a very nice driver.
The next day while basking in the glow of the Walt Disney Resort Dolphin Hotel...(much, much nicer property!), I checked my credit card statement online and noticed a charge from the Sheraton World for $117 (??!!). I called the manager on duty and he said he would get right back to me, he did and stated that it had been a clerical error and apologized and noted that he had physically seen them credit the amount back to my card.
So we're back home now from our 6 day vacation in Orlando, and I'm checking my statements, on SPG I see full credit from the Walt Disney Dolphin Hotel including the Platinum ammenity points already posted, but for the Sheraton World, I noticed an incorrect amount credited for our meal at the Blue Marlin Grill, NO Platinum ammenity points and 1,000 courtesy Starpoints, not the 500 + 500 + 2,500 that had been promised. My credit card statement shows a full credit for the incorrect 'clerical error' of $117 along with a duplicate charge (!!) for the meal at The Blue Marlin Grill and another charge of $5.06.......for the water.
We arrived at approximately 7:00 p.m. and I was told that I did not have a reservation. Rather than fire up my laptop to lookup the reservation numbers, the front desk Guest Services Manager insisted on looking up the original confirmation numbers. She found one for the first night and said that she would rebook and tried taking the Starpoints out of my account! I indicated that the points had already been taken out of my account and pulled up my Starwood account on my mobile phone to show her the 18,000 point deduction. She then found that all three of my reservations had been cancelled! She insisted that Starwood had made the cancellations via fax over three seperate days.
All in all, it took over 45 minutes to receive my room keys, we were given a suite as an upgrade (Platinum upgrade - plus a slow week) along with an apology for the wait.
The suite was a regular room plus the addition of a corner parlor room with a pull out bed. It wasn't a bad configuration considering and had plenty of space. There was a bell attendant who was very 'on the ball' and later greeted me by name when we returned the following day and was very informative explaining the resort's ammenities.
Once we were settled in, we ate downstairs at The Blue Marlin Grill which I do not recommend at all. The entire restaurant was empty and I can see why, while the service was very good, the food was not.
When we arrived back in the room, my daughter mentioned that her bathroom wasn't clean and that the toilet seat was 'sticky', I went and inspected and sure enough, the toilet seat was dirty, the toilet rolls had not been replaced, there was hair at the bottom of the shower, a bar of used soap was in the shower stall and there was old coffee with mold spores clearly growing in the coffee pot. There were also two used apple cores in each of the trash cans in the room. I called downstairs and was told that for the inconvenience I would receive 500 points for the service promise guarantee.
Another thing to note was that the entry lobby for the tower rooms (not the main lobby) smelled strongly of mildew, I'm not sure if this is normal for Florida hotels or not considering the weather and the close proximity to the pool. Also, this bed was NOT a Sheraton Sweet Sleeper (even though the SPG website claims it is) and checking the mattress, there was no pillow top edge and this was a very hard bed and didn't have the standard duvet comforter of a Sweet Sleeper bed.
The next day, we were going to go to Disney World and check out the Magic Kingdom, when I inquired about buying tickets for Disney World at the hotel concierge desk, I was given a sales pitch for Fairfield resorts to buy a timeshare. I told the concierge that I wasn't interested especially as a Starwood Platinum, I received my fair share of free nights and upgrades based on my extensive travelling. He continued on telling me I could save around $100 or so if I sat through a presentation. Now I'm not against Starwood resorts selling timeshares, but I dont think they should be combined with the concierge desk.
Once tickets were finally purchased, we went outside to catch the shuttle to Disney World, unfortunately we had missed the last shuttle so I asked for a cab. The attendant waived over a towncar and having had bad experiences with non-metered Orlando transportation in the past, I asked for a metered cab, the attendant insisted that this was the only available option and that a cab would take 20 minutes - so before I got in, I asked the towncar driver if a child seat was required in Florida and through broken English he stated no (found out later that they are required). I asked how much the ride would be to the Magic Kingdom and he stated $45. When I balked at what I knew was around a 5 or 6 mile commute, he suddenly produced a document that indicated $35, the attendant, hearing our discussion was calling the limo service - Town and Country Transportation (http://www.townandcountrytransportation.com/) and walked over and stated, "the actual charge is $30 flat rate sir". I figured this sounded reasonable and we climbed in. After travelling some time, it was apparent that this driver had no clue on how to get to the Magic Kingdom and even after we entered into Epcot area, he was finding it extremely difficult getting around and made several calls, we had to stop 6 times for directions and on occasion he was even going the wrong way down a one way street! At one point he was pulled over by Disney World security and told to leave the area he was in and was given specific directions on how to get to the taxi drop off zone. Well he completely didnt understand because as we were yelling at him to turn (WE understood the directions) he overshot a turn and took us out of the way ending up back at the entrance. We finally made it to the drop off point, over ONE HOUR after we left the Sheraton World Resort Hotel.
When we arrived back to the hotel that evening, we came back to a room that was only marginally cleaned, it appeared that all they had done was change the sheets and charge me $5.06 for a bottle of water that was supposed to be complimentary as a plat (and also had no price indication on the bottle). Once again the same used bar of soap was in the shower stall, hair was at the bottom of the stall and trash remained in the cans. Once again a call was made downstairs (phone rang forever) and a service promise guartee was made with a promise of 500 points.
Later on, we decided that we needed more pillows and blankets so we called down to request them. After 40 minutes went by we called down again only to be told that they had been delivered, when I asked where, the attendant rattled off the room number of the room across the hall (not mine). Another 20 minutes brought up the desired blankets.
Our third day brought yet another day of lacksidaisical housekeeping effort, trash from a meal the night before that was left on the dining room table had not been removed even though it was obviously finished and housekeeping had left a large trashbag full of cream, sugar and sweet n low on top of my daughter's clothes. Avoiding the Blue Marlin Grill, we opted for some pizza at the deli to encounter the laziest employee yet, and obviously entirely unthrilled to be working there, no smile whatsoever, basically a "what do YOU want?" attitude and as she was attempting to close up, my daughter noticed her drag a broom through the lobby of the deli ONCE - muttering to herself 'ok, floors clean'...
I wasn't about to spend our fourth and fifth nights here so I called up the Platinum desk and explained what was going on, the Platinum Concierge was appalled at what I told her and immediately called the hotel to arrange getting a credit back of my Starpoints so that I could transfer to a different Starwood property. She was able to immediately obtain credit for me and I transfered the remainder of our stay to the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel using 10,000 points for a free night's stay and I opted to pay for a night as well, rather than continue to get two free nights at the Sheraton World Resort Hotel for 6,000 Starpoints.
When checking out of the Sheraton World to make sure I received my service promise guarantee and to get credit for the water that they had erroneously charged me, a guest services manager came over and said that I would receive 2,500 Starpoints plus a credit for the water and for a movie we had ordered for the housekeeping issues we encountered, she had obviously been the one that answered the phone when the Platinum Concierge had called requesting that my stay be cancelled.
As we were leaving, the valet called over another Town and Country Transportation Town Car and they began loading bags without asking approval. I immediately stopped them and asked for a metered cab, when they asked why, I recounted my story of the last trip I had with Town and Country Transportation. A driver came up and asked who the driver was, I described him and the driver told me he was new, regardless, I told them I didn't want to give them the business on principle. One of the valets pulled me aside and gave me the number of a competent cab company which I immediately called, (he whispered that Town and Country Transportation was contracted and that cabs didnt pull up unless they were dropping off). The Transportation attendant was rolling her eyes and was yelling from behind the desk and that it would take longer than 20 minutes to get a cab and be more expensive. I stated that I had already called for a cab and no sooner had I said that when our cab rolled up less than 2 minutes after my call. The originally quoted $35 to the Dolphin was made for $23 in our cab by a very nice driver.
The next day while basking in the glow of the Walt Disney Resort Dolphin Hotel...(much, much nicer property!), I checked my credit card statement online and noticed a charge from the Sheraton World for $117 (??!!). I called the manager on duty and he said he would get right back to me, he did and stated that it had been a clerical error and apologized and noted that he had physically seen them credit the amount back to my card.
So we're back home now from our 6 day vacation in Orlando, and I'm checking my statements, on SPG I see full credit from the Walt Disney Dolphin Hotel including the Platinum ammenity points already posted, but for the Sheraton World, I noticed an incorrect amount credited for our meal at the Blue Marlin Grill, NO Platinum ammenity points and 1,000 courtesy Starpoints, not the 500 + 500 + 2,500 that had been promised. My credit card statement shows a full credit for the incorrect 'clerical error' of $117 along with a duplicate charge (!!) for the meal at The Blue Marlin Grill and another charge of $5.06.......for the water.