Consultette

I have a hotel booked for the weekend and require a more accessible room for my guest with mobility considerations. The hotel knew I needed an accessible room, in fact it is it still present in the reservation.

I looked at the SPG app and noticed two things: I have a non-accessible room assigned to me now and my guest requiring the accessible room has been removed from the stay. I called the managers both last night and this morning and they state they are unable to change the room assigned to me as the property is "sold out".

While annoying, them removing the second person isn't the main issue since I have a confirmation showing it was originally for two people - the big problem is that SPG will be automatically checking me into this non-accessible room at 4pm while I am on a flight for 4 more hours. Calls to the property are yielding no results.

Do I report them now online and show up with a printout of the DOJ complaint about what has happened thus far or do I try to work directly with the property at check-in: showing up at 8:30pm and risking all accessible rooms might be taken already? I'm incredibly pissed off at the W South Beach right now and the handling of this issue by their managers has been totally unacceptable.

JDiver

Have you tried escalating to Starwood first? There is a Starwood lurker in the Starwood Preferred Guest Forum - try that initially. (PM is Starwood Lurker, email [email protected])

Consultette

I did, thank you. I had actually PMed William before asking here and posted when I did not hear back.

As an update, I showed up and tried to talk to the staff at the front desk. They refused to check us into another room at 8pm claiming nothing else was available. This is going to be reported and this property's handling of differently abled guests is completely unacceptable. All possible efforts were made on our part to make sure they knew our needs beforehand... This is something they could have planned for before our arrival when allocating rooms.

ysolde

Starwood --

Many of us are watching. This is unacceptable.

Consultette

I'm having difficulty blaming "Starwood" right now, I place all blame squarely on the property. I have traveled with this cousin many times and SPG hotels are typically very understanding - that is why I am so frustrated.

It appears there is an event going on at the property tonight (some release party with Paris and Nicky Hilton). I don't doubt the property is sold out now, but there is no reason they could not have pre-planned for our arrival - especially since an accessible room was requested when the reservation was made.

ysolde

Ah, thank you for clarifying. Really poorly handled, very frustrating, and speaks terribly about the property.

jabbered

The most important question is what type of room were you confirmed in to start with? Were you told and have proof that it was an accessible room that was then changed to a non-accessible room?


If you were never told/had proof that the room was confirmed or available, I don't know that you'll have much luck.

If I've got 5 rooms that are accessible and they've all been booked by someone else needing them before you, then there isn't anything that can be done.

Consultette

I would argue they could have notified us while we still had the opportunity to book a new room. I had notified the property, tried to use an award to make sure we had access to more rooms, and proactively followed up in advance. In the end we got a room he could "use" for sleep but I had to help him shower and use the restroom because there was no bench or grab bars.

I will say at least the standard room was large enough for him to maneuver in but that doesn't make his requiring help to shower an acceptable situation when they could have told us before the cancellation period and I could have booked elsewhere... Or they could have at least issued an apology instead of blatant indifference.

DeafFlyer

You mean the property doesn't tell you that the accessible rooms are already booked when you request them? Do they just assume that another room will be just fine?

JDiver

Absolutely unacceptable; if I knew which property it is, I'd purposely avoid it.

If this was within the City of Los Angeles see http://disability.lacity.org/dodtt1.htm. If not, see if there is a local entity responsible for enforcement.

jabbered

I interpreted your timeline differently, thinking this was all a very recent booking/change, not over days/weeks/months.




No, the hotel should have said they weren't available and worked to see if something was possible to accommodate. If a guest (not necessarily the OP) chooses to go ahead and book knowing this, there is no basis for a DOJ complaint.








To all: As a hotel employee, I want all my guests to get what they need. Please be as specific with what is needed. Each employee and each hotel is different. If you need a roll-in shower, or handrails, mention these things. If you need a TTY kit or other aids for hearing impairments, mention this.

HofstraJet

When you booked, did you select an accessible room or did you simply put that as a special request? Most major hotel brands list their accessible rooms separately and allow you to book an accessible room type (similar to the way you book an ocean view, balcony, one king, etc.). If you just put it as a request in the comments section, which some chains do, there is no guarantee. I try not to stay at hotels which don't allow me to book an accessible room directly from the website since there is no guarantee.

If you had reserved an accessible room and they moved you, that is unacceptable and needs to be taken up with both the property manager and Starwood corporate. I live in South Florida and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the hotel did just that - they are pretty ignorant down here about accessibility issues and think it is just a preference instead of a need and they moved some VIP into the larger room. Also, FWIW, I have never put in a traveling companion's name on a reservation as it is irrelevant, unless they are checking in without me.

DeafFlyer

Is that what happened? The hotel did not say they were unavailable until after they were already reserved. At least that's what it seems like from the OP.

ysolde

The thing that's odd about all this is that most VIPs kick up a huge fuss about being downgraded to an accessible room. While they have more space, they usually lack a view; the bathrooms lack all sorts of amenities, and, with few exceptions, they exist only in the lowest room category. Accessible rooms are a downgrade for most people, so why they would give one to a VIP instead of a guest who specifically requested it because they have special needs is beyond me.

HofstraJet

Agreed on all fronts, and a huge pet peeve of mine as I am in a wheelchair and suffer through all of those issues.