Astrophsx

After the increased traffic and compensation from corporate I can only assume that writing about the theft will provide for a larger return than the value of the items stolen. That being said, even with the gaps in the story, I'm sure no compensation will take away the feeling of being robbed. Though, you'd think that writing about the experience would be enough punishment for the hotel. Now he will get compensated by the corporate office which will then pass down the cost of compensation to the W Barcelona. On top of that the hotel is given a fine for each time someone contacts the corporate office about a negative experience. I believe the fine starts at ~$75. The hotel can appeal this fine. I'm not sure if larger problems equal a larger fine. I just know that when the corporate office is contacted about a problem they stick it to the hotel.

pricesquire

As I like to say: Ben isn't a travel blogger, he's a transportation blogger. I don't think he knows the first thing about what it means to actually see a place..

pillow25

And that is what saddens me the most about people like OMAAT. They have all the opportunity in the world to travel the world, and they do stuff like this.

lwildernorva

Agreed. He's defensively claimed otherwise, but this episode shows such a lack of any common sense that I tend to believe he rarely ventures beyond premium cabins, airport lounges, and American chain hotels and their restaurants. His frankly bizarre post about his fears a day or so ago only confirmed this for me.

I'm sure there's an audience for this, as demonstrated by the many supportive comments to his posts. Nevertheless, his (and their) travel goals are not mine. There are many small towns in Ireland, Scotland, and Italy without premium cabin service and American chain hotels that I would never have discovered with a tether to those kinds of programs. May he continue to do well, but I don't think it's a promising, long-term business model.

stackm

What I haven’t heard him talk about are the mental and physical effects of hopping from bed to bed and city to city every night. These will still hit you even if you never leave a 5 star bed or cabin.

While he is an experienced traveler, if he’s only running at 50% capacity due to travel fatigue he’s putting himself at risk for all sorts of problems: illnesses, botched bookings, scams, and/or mistakes with his business.

Why not just slow down? There are no awards given for most airports seen in a year. A longer time horizon and a more leisurely pace will ensure he can keep doing this and not completely burn out.

FTR 787

THiS .... cant believe the guy who was abusing e-certs would talk about not taking advantage of a mistake fare... very contradictory to what he has been doing all along, ever since his days on FT.

I used to be a fan of his blog, I still read it from time to time. but like someone mentioned upthread, Ben actively deletes user comments relating to or talking about him and UA, and who knows what else. happened to me, deleted or moderated my comments relating to UA. so much for "I never censor anything" ... the hypocrisy is the only thing that kills here.

but oh well, it is his blog, he's gonna do what he wants to do.

that's how he rolls... jumping from city to city. doesnt make much sense. but I guess thats the life of a new-age, travel blogger nomad.

eponymous_coward

I'm surprised it took a day before it became discussion about the blogger rather than the blog content. You people are slacking. I figured the instant those blog posts showed up it was a countdown to "Lucky's so lame" time. I'm tempted to do a BINGO card with things like "entitled", "post on pajamas" and "doesn't actually do anything except eat in the hotel lounge" squares when it comes to a few of the folks who are the favorite piñatas here.

Thanks for not proving me wrong about the Gossip About Gary and Lucky Forum, even if it took a bit.

lwildernorva

I don't disagree with the tack you've taken, but in the end, a blog is all about the person writing it. It's difficult to separate the person from the content. Look at the quick blow Gary took today about the promotional video Marriott's doing. Was this a particularly important item? No. Did Gary, personally, make a decision to take a shot at Marriott (rather than wasting your creative talents on a film, why don't you improve your elite program?)? Yes.

Because of the particularly personal nature of a blog's content, bloggers, of any sort, can open themselves up to these kinds of comments. And frankly, I think it's better for the blogs themselves to segregate some of the personal comments here rather than clogging up their comment feeds with more "hey, surprised you didn't plug a credit card" comments--several of which were in Lucky's latest post today.

RTW1

It's difficult not to since it's a personal blog, so the content is the blogger.... or at least the part of him he is sharing publicly. I can only hope that he does see something at some of his destinations but doesn't share it.

84fiero

I thought the same about the e-certs deal. Quite hypocritical.

Agreed - these recent OMAAT blog posts are what Lucky himself is sharing and discussing about his personal experiences, thoughts, etc. It seems fair game to discuss those blog posts and the issues they raise - after all, the blogger is the one sharing the information publicly. You want to see overly personal comments and attacks - then just check out the comments on Ben's blog!

pricesquire

- Re: attacking the blogger, not the blog. Ben has made it VERY clear that the blog and himself are one and the same. OMAAT has turned into a sound-board for the self (self being Ben), nothing more. "I think this" or "I think that" or "My mom this" or "My dad that"...sorry, but the "don't attack the blogger" thing doesn't hold water for OMAAT. Other non-BA blogs, maybe...

- Re: the hypocrisy behind the United mistake ticketing ("cant believe the guy who was abusing e-certs would talk about not taking advantage of a mistake fare... very contradictory to what he has been doing all along") -- isn't it obvious he wasn't PRO-United mistake fare because he was literally the last blogger in the universe to bring it up? OR, because he was so ego-centric in thinking all about the W and his mom and the purse fiasco, he didn't want to take the limelight away from himself?

- Agree with most all of the above comments about Ben's lack of travel prowess

farwest101

Disagree entirely! That the hotel wasn't proactive and failed to do basic investigation on a theft indicates guest safety was being willfully ignored. Everything in a hotel relies on the safety of the guest and that is priority #1. No point in having clean rooms/nice views/lounges if you can't guarantee guest safety. If you don't have that (or don't care), you don't deserve to be in business (or be allowed to operate).

That the hotel didn't immediately contact the police (or offer to arrange for Lucky and his Mom to talk to them) is a red flag. The hotel is trying to cover their azz, and not the guest's. If I had to guess, it's an ongoing problem at that property and it happens regularly - so regularly they just shrug it off as "just another scam".

The problem I have is the story. Looks like Mom was looking for a bit of nooky and the first random Spaniard that comes along got her to let him in her room. What the H?? That she is so rattled that she then refuses to open the door/answer the phone when Lucky comes back indicates to me that there was a wee bit more to the story than just a lost purse...

RTW1

Yeah, that starts with not letting a stranger in your room.... after that it's he said / she said.... and there's not even any hard evidence that something was actually taken from the room.

We also have only one side of the story. The hotel might direct you to the police, they are not going to bring you to their doorstep. And they aren't going to roll out with sirens either. You simply go there to make a statement, no investigation is going to start for a missing purse that could have been taken from anywhere. They file a report, and when they have a lot at the same property they might do something... or not. Petty theft is a major problem in BCN, and I would bet events where people get permission to enter a room and something is reported missing hours later are not high on the list of things to investigate. That's saved for people robbed at gun or knife-point and people with bodily harm.

So the best the hotel could probably do is fake some sincere attention. It's not CSI Barcelona we are talking about here. It's a few drinks charged to the room and a missing purse. All in the middle of a very strange pickup story....

farwest101

The guest should be believed unless and until such time the guest's story can be disproved. And IF it can't be disproved, then the hotel should assume it's correct and act accordingly. To just shrug it off is totally unacceptable.

If I was the manager and any of my staff had such a cavalier attitude towards guest safety, they would be looking for other employment forthwith.

RTW1

It's not for a hotel to decide who you let into your room, they rent you the space. Guarding your property from your "friends" is your own responsability... What guest safety? It's not like the room was broken into or force was used to gain access.

I agree that the hotel might have been a bit more sympathetic, but it will never amount to much. No harm but a missing purse stolen by a "friend".