gofly

A friend of mine stayed in Hilton during this weekend for 2 nights. He and his wife and other hotel customers (total 11 peoples) were stucked in the elevator for almost 2 and half hours because of elevator problem. Although this happended on Saturday, I was surprised it would take 2 and half hours to fix this problem and open elevator door. Some guests apparently were very anxious and nervous during that period. One guest even urinated because of long lockup time. The manager offered one night free of charge as compensation. Do you think it's appropriate for my friend to ask for both nights free? Thanks for your opinions/suggestions.

SFOFlyer1

which hilton?

pdhenry

Before finishing the entire post I was thinking "one free night." Maybe a nice dinner if the hotel had a decent restaurant.

Notyou2

Very simple, depends on the value of the two hours. If they missed a meeting, worth more than say, missing an episode of American Idol. If they were inconvienced for a specific reason ask for both nights and a free future stay. If it was not a critical time, forget about it and be glad the other pax didn't have to defecate.

Oh yeah, the one that urinated should get a free case of Depends.

kawoh

Hi - A few years ago, I was stuck in a lift for about 2 hours at the Hilton San Francisco, Downtown. We went up the tower 3 (infamous!, at the time the older part, unrenovated rooms) elevators, and I kind of felt uncomfortable getting in as I remember I saw another lift earlier in the week saying closed for servicing. Anyway - one night we decided to go up to the gym. Quite far up, the lift stops.... We were locked in there for about 2 hours or just over that. Initially the hotel tried to resolve it internally, after about 1 hr or even just over, they decided to call the lift management. In all this process I was very amenible and thought it was kind of fun and would be a memorable addition to a fun trip! The funniest thing (but loud!) was the alarm in the lift as soon as it stopped just kept on ringing, and ringing and ringing, for the WHOLE time!. We brought our cameras and snapped and even recorded some video of the whole experience!

Anyhow, they eventually got us out - constantly called us on the elevator phone to see if we were OK. As we got out the lift literally SNAPPED SHUT behind us, just as well we got out! Phew!. The hotel security was there checking if we were OK... and then took us to the gym which we wanted to check out and then walked us back to the hotel room (via the walkway which is on the same level through tower 2 back to our tower the taller tower 1 instead of taking lifts again!).

He promised us a meal - unlimited, for both of us at cityscapes - which is at the top of tower 1. In a private corner booth (and boy - the views were spectacular). We ended up spending about $300 on the meal. We still generously tipped the waitress who was at our call with $70 even though we had the meal for free. During the day before the dinner, we were contacted by the Hotel GM, sincerely apologising and they offered us a free night (which was about US$200). And a bowl of fruits and wine in the room.

Completely unexpected, but amazing. I think they were worried we would sue them for false imprisonment! But we were completely gracious and kind of liked the whole experience, the gifts were just a bonus and were not asked for!

365RoadWarrior

Unless someone was negligent, I don't see why compensation would be appropriate. If negligence can be assigned, perhaps that party should make good to his/her/its capacity.

uastarflyer

If it was a Hampton he'd have cause to get the stay free via the "100% Guarantee" - so why doesn't their higher-end brand extend at least the same privilege?

Radiocycle

All elevators are supposed to be mantained in good working order and are inspected annually. You were stuck for 2 1/2 hours in the hotel's elevator, that is completely unacceptable, they should comp your hotel stay and give you free nights (in the future) to come back and have a "better experience".

Did you contact Hilton Honors and explain what happened?

RC

bigjim

Getting out of the elevator?

Mikey likes it

^ ^

wth

I agree, this sounds fair to me. I would expect/seek greater compensation only if the delay caused me to miss important meeting or a show or was otherwise out-of-pocket because of delay.

xFlagger

So you actually enjoyed being trapped in an elevator for over two hours with a horn ringing the whole time and you thought it was fun?

What am I missing here? Are you into bondage?

CF

djk7

Is there an elevator equivalent to the Mile High Club?

clarkef

I think a free night and a meal sounds reasonable. I understand why some would want the compensation to depend on what was missed, but I don't think that is fair. All 11 people in the elevator were similarly inconvenienced, and should be compensated equally. I think the stress of being in an elevator, standing, with the smell of urine, for 2 1/2 hours is a definite detriment, particularly if you have some nervous types which cause the anxiety level to increase.

JDiver

I'll toss my vote in with the "one night, one meal" crowd. And add a free prescription for Ditropan for one month to the urinator (probably not a half-bad suggestion, actually.)

Sometimes hotels have problems - nothing is foolproof or incapable of breaking down. When hotels acknowledge an incident like this, I think they are being responsible and responsive. Good on 'em.

I'd probably not have requested compo, but what I do next (stays or avoidance) definitely would hinge on what the hotel did. One reason I stay at the Doubletree SFO (Burlingame) often is they are responsive: when I wrote an evaluational note about the total lack of service in the restaurant during breakfast (the only way I was able to get coffee, a missing utensil, etc. was to serve myself, etc.) the food services manager responded with a letter thanking me, telling me that the situation had been looked into and fixed, and offering me a dinner for two "on the house" (for which I left a tip commensurate with the meal's price if I'd paid for it - only fair, IMO, to the waitstaff.) And the service DID change for the better.

In one property in, let's just say, Western Canada, I observed a very cowed waitstaff and a restaarant manager who was behaving in abusive and inappropriate ways toward the employees (from my professional perspective as a management and training consultant, including to a major hotel chain that shall remain nameless.) I wrote a letter to the GM - which was reciprocated with a letter informing the the situation had been remedied (the resto manager had in fact been terminated,) and offering me a suite stay for three nights.

In the Dallas metroplex, an upgraded suite stay where they gave me a key to a previously assigned suite - it seems the couple I walked in on was, well, maybe practicing some of their marital skills on their honeymoon , shall we say.) Profuse apologies, upgrade to an even finer suite, and a letter inviting me to another, courtesy, suite stay in the future. (No, I have no idea how they compensated the couple I caught in flagrante delicious.)

I never asked for anything, but I definitely still think of these places when it's time to stay in the vicinity; the hotel management proved itself to be customer centered and responsive.