superangrypenguin

How anyone would troll the op is beyond me. My condolences for the issue.

taipeiflyer

who trolled the OP?????

emrdoc

I am not sure this would have helped the OP in this situation. He already had a prepaid stay. That should count for more than a phone call saying "I am still coming but will be late".

I would bet that the OP would have been walked regardless. Bottomline, the hotel messed up big time. Walking six Platinums? That's ridiculous especially with a prepaid reservation.

taipeiflyer

agree. which is why calling is really not gonna move the needle either way. i have not been walked in over 500 nights at SPG and i have never called once... this "seasoned traveler" has managed just fine without calling, but even if i did call in OP's position, it would have been a futile effort. i have been walked one time at a Hyatt as a diamond.

ZenWorld

I thought perhaps the walk procedure was not followed completely.

Let OP report back the recovery offered by the GM. It is a chance for the GM to set things right.

Hope the rest goes well in the end!

Football Fan

I have been contacted by a director of the Ambassador operations team (I guess based on them monitoring Flyertalk), who wants to discuss this with me over the phone today or tomorrow. That's nice, but the very reason I am here is because of business meetings, and while I like to vent here when I find the time in between, this issue is not my primary concern over the next few days, so I will contact them when I have time.

Valmiki

Well I learned my lesson the hard way when The Westin NY Times Square walked us after arriving around 1AM. It gets better, they gave us $15 for taxi fare to Aloft Harlem, when it came up closer to $30.

Since then I always specify my time of arrival, I also make sure and email the hotel directly to make sure my room is kept for me.

kevino

This might be good advice, but for me, it's more trouble than it's worth and would actually increase my stress. I have enough things to worry about to even think about the slim possibility of getting walked. Calling ahead increases the worry and may not help anyway. It would be like worrying about a plane being late; nothing can be done about it and it's something we usually find out about too late anyway.

Also, it's not possible to call if arriving in Asia after an overseas flight.

If I get walked, I will try to enjoy the experience........ and related
compensation.

remymartin

+1

sbrower

You are mistaken. I almost never check into hotels before 10pm and I have only once (when my check-in was going to be after 2am) called the hotel, and I have NEVER been walked by a Starwood property. (Once by a Marriott property, odd situation where the main computer didn't sync to the hotel property - and I was really happy to get that walk because it gave me that night free, 2 more nights free, and $200 cash).

superangrypenguin

I didn't say so. The fact that the OP mentioned he was prepared for negative comments were what sparked my comment. And then I mentioned if anyone would troll the OP = unbelievable. At the time of my posting (haven't finished reading but got to your post), I had witnessed none - just this behavior on FT to not have sympathy when someone deserves so (as noted by the OP with his remark) is a culture that I hope will change.

PS Saying that people should call/email the hotel ahead of the stay is ridiculous. A customer paid for his room, he deserves his room. "Rest Easy"? Yeah like that's rest easy...

KosherKimchee

I thought "standard" walk comp is one night points at current category level. OP, given absurdly high rate which was pre-paid, should be compensated at least two nights worth of points.

miloworld

OP: "DYKWIA??!!!!"

That being said, I'm sure the hotel (or at least the GM) hates walking guests, let alone plats, knowing they would loose loyalty to the property and more likely to complain, due to travel experience. The FDC however has shown much less empathy than expected, he/she might thought he was doing you a favor (upgrading you to a LC, his opinion), and perhaps they walk people fairly often.

Compare the empathy between a genius at a small town apple store and the ones at 5th Av.

Thunderroad

My sympathies to the OP. This sounds like lousy treatment by the hotel in a number of respects. Hope you get adequate compensation for this mess. You're very entitled to vent!

As for the notion that the OP should have emailed ahead to let the hotel know of late arrival...yeah, a good idea in theory. But as someone who takes many overseas trips for work and play I have to admit that I rarely if ever do this. (And as noted, it's unlikely that this would have done the OP any good in this situation anyway.) For one thing, I'm usually too busy attending to many personal and business matters before getting on the plane. And like the OP I tend to rely on the Starwood (and other hotels') assurances that I should "rest easy" about my reservation - to me that conveys an assurance that I don not have to sweat the possibility that anything is not in order.

Adding a bit of insult to injury, the very high room rate and Plat 100 status of OP makes this an extra service failure by the hotel, though it's not a good way to treat any customer.

Sam P. Goodman

I have a late arrival planned for the Sheraton Seattle coming up. As I was reading this, I thought, "maybe I should update my arrival time." Just then I got an e-mail from their VIP and Club Manager asking about my arrival time and any requests for my stay. Fancy that...and at a US Sheraton, no less!