YtoF

I found myself unexpectedly having to stay at Schiphol last night and being Gold SPG, rocked up to the desk at the Sheraton and asked if they had rooms.

'Yes plenty sir'.

What is the best rate?

'229 Euros sir'.

Really? Surely cheaper for a quiet January in the midst of a recession? What about internet rates?

'Don't know sir, if you would like to use our lobby internet, it's 10 euros for an hour'

Can you check for me?

'No sir'.

So I walked the 4 metres to the Internet terminal in the lobby where someone was just standing up and saw that I was looking at the terminal. He asked me if I wanted his 10 remaining minutes - yes, thank you very much, that'll do nicely, as Amex used to say.

Log onto sheraton.com. Best rate for Sheraton Schiphol 149 Euros. Bingo. Booked. Back to the check-in desk. I asked them if they really needed to put me through that. They shrugged and seemingly couldn't care less. Although they did upgrade me to a Club Room (same as the other rooms only higher up and with access to the Club Lounge, which I didn't visit).

Does this strike anyone else as somewhat silly? Certainly doesn't endear me to them.

SNA_Flyer

Was the rate you booked a prepaid rate, or a best available? That does make a difference.

singtx

Difference or not....Customer service should be front and center...good for you for getting the better rate!!

Shantanu

In my experience, I have always found access to the Starwood site for free from the public PCs at Starwood properties.....they didn't have that facility?

As for the difference in rate.......I can't comment on that.....may be there is a reason, I don't know, however, on the two occassions I haven't booked ahead at Starwood hotels:

LM etoile gave me the same rate as the internet rate - I didn't ask them for a special deal

Skyline Sheraton told me "the rate is £x which is £5 more than if you book online, but that's the best we can do. You can log on to the internet over there and make the booking to save the £5, and it will give me enough time to find you a good upgrade".....which I did....free internet for the Starwood site.

Starwood Lurker II

If you are referring to the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel and Conference Center, neither am I able to find the rate of Euros 149.

So perhaps you can elaborate further how you are able to obtain such a rate.

Nevertheless, the attitude of the front desk associate seems rather undesirable. You might like to contact Customer care to report the incident.

[email protected]

Shantanu

I just had a look; Euros 149 is a weekend rate.....and available if you look now!

incognism

Did you see if Club Rooms were 229 Euros?

That would be my best guess -- they did not actually have any rooms at their base level in their inventory, however they were overselling on the website to entice lower rated bookings. That's why you were complimentary upgraded to the Club Room -- there were no 149 Euro rooms that weren't physically occupied.

This does not justify his attitude, nor does it explain why he didn't just offer the 149 + comp upgrade, however.

Princess1

I've had this happen in Vegas several times. Showing up to the desk you get rate x. Online, (or the long ago phone res) and you get 1/2 or 2/3 rate x. While I did have one desk clerk give me the lower rate, all the others made me walk over to the phone/computer and book. Following the rules and all that?

Regardless, I felt silly for making a 2 minute phone call, then returning to the same person and saying "I have a reservation."

1K from MRY

The last time someone put me through that nonsense, I stood right there in front of them and made the booking on my iphone. (No one else was in line or I would have moved over - but since no one was around, I thought I would just make the point.)

clarkef

I've had hotels tell me that there are rates which the front desk cannot access electronically. This has happened across many chains. Consequently, I've had to book the rook on the internet, make a printout and return to the front desk.

However, the front desk has always been very apologetic when that happens

ttjoseph

Hey, you are paying for convenience when you walk up to a hotel front desk and ask for a room. Not very nice, but it's the same idea as airline walk-up fares.

animalj7

It probably drives some reporting somewhere too. We sold X rooms at our BAR vs Y rooms sold online at the Best Internet Rate.