karenkay

Thanks for the update; look forward to hearing what they come up with. Good luck!

Doc Savage

Now, OP, when do we get OUR invitations?

donotblink

It should be a fun party, once I get all the venue stuff sorted out!

I had my birthday party in the Extreme Wow Suite of the original W on Lexington Avenue and had a great time last year!!! My friends are still talking about it!

That W has an insane terrace that wraps around the entire suite, but sadly only has one bathroom.

As for your invite, one of the hotel's points of contention was that the suite was designed to fit a limited number of people, so I don't know that it's a good idea to start inviting random people on FlyerTalk ;-)

That being said, I'm going to have an after party of sorts in the hotel's bar (whatever hotel that ends of being)--it's the only good way to get everyone out of the suite at 11pm. It's always fun to meet other miles and points enthusiasts!

mikeef

If you're paying for the alcohol, it definitely isn't.

Mike

donotblink

Hi Guys,

So I just had my call with Starwood corporate--they're apologetic, but want to look at things holistically, from the hotel's perspective and my perspective.

They take noise issues very seriously, and noted that typically when people have events like this they'll rent out entire floors (and in some cases, entire hotels).

They think I would be better accommodated at another hotel, and agreed to talk to some other hotels on my behalf to try to work something out.

I'm meeting with other Starwood properties tomorrow to see what the all in costs would be at similar properties.

I set up a follow up to talk to corporate again on Thursday.

One other really interesting thing happened this morning: I reached out on Friday to a number of competing hotels, and someone reached out the Andaz this morning, they're sorry to hear about the experience I had with Starwood and wanted to offer me Hyatt Diamond status and see if I'd like to take a tour of their penthouse suite.

CodeAdam10

So, basically, corporate can't / won't help you.

donotblink

I wouldn't say that--or at least not just yet. I'm really hoping that they're under-promising so that they can over-deliver.

CodeAdam10

Doubt it.

donotblink

Well, they're well aware of this thread, and actively following it. So I think that they're not just concerned with my personal satisfaction but also with how the 1,500 people following this thread feel about the outcome.

Personally, I really want this to end well, I hope Starwood finds a good way to make me happy without the need to go over budget and that I can report back to all of you with a success story (and photos)!

remymartin

^

HHonors OUTSIDER

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.4.2; en-us; LGL31L/V100 Build/KOT49I.L31L10d) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Chrome/30.0.1599.103 Mobile Safari/537.36)

I agree. Corporate is basically useless. Sounds like they just explained to you why the property will not accommodate you and that you need to find a new plan. Probably best that you give your business to Hyatt.

donotblink

I guess hedging my bets couldn't hurt, I responded to the Andaz and asked what days this week they can accommodate a viewing.

zerolife

Very interesting that they are willing to throw in their top Diamond status into this (assuming you are no where close to completing the requirement)

I can completely understand the noise issue. If I were a guest at the hotel, I'm definitive going to complain if I hear your party next door. On the other hand, they promised you that they would accommodate you. I think it would be fair to allow you to use one of the hotel's conference room for the party free of charge. However the fact that they would allow you to throw the party in the room if you did F&B through them seems to indicate that the noise issue is only an excuse.

donotblink

I had already agreed (before anything was an issue) to buy the two surrounding rooms to the suite, and to end the party at 11pm, so I think the hotel manager was completely unreasonable, not very good a conflict resolution or customer service.

One thing that corporate did point out is that there are fire code limits...but the hotel was completely out of line when they advertised that the suite could host sizable gathering.

I guess the fire code limits aren't an issue if I buy expensive catering from them?

platbrownguy

Sounds like a winner ^

Go somewhere that wants you to have the party. I spent 5 nights at the Westin Times Square last month -- deluxe 1B suite with adjoining rooms, not the presidential or anything -- and they wanted our business. We had 8 to 12 people over every evening (reasonable hours, 8-11 p.m. or so). The first night, there was a noise complaint from a nearby room, security called. I had a manager come up, I showed him that the soundproofing was so bad that you could hear the elevator dinging down the hall from inside our living room. He said he'd see what he could do. Next day, the neighbors were gone, no more complaints. Maybe he looked at our F&B tab, who knows, but all week our champagne flutes were being replaced, the staff were going out of their way to find things for us (cocktail shakers, etc.), and housekeeping did the wonderful task of making and unmaking the living-room sofa bed daily. Manager could have said "guests gotta get out" etc but they wanted us there. Find some place that'll make your birthday special instead of just tolerating your presence.