I've not bothered to journey to Eliot's site to read the tale of his misfortune. Over half a century of staying in hotels, being the banker for a couple, running holding meetings, workshops and conferences in them (38 years worth), I've experienced, seen, heard and been told of a veritable plethora of tales of woe and anguish. Back before I knew better, young and naive enough to believe that hotel keepers were a better sort than used car dealers, repo men and bill collectors, I, like most, simply went with the flow, accepting the often tall tales I was being told by front desks. Long before finding FT, I learned to always ask for the MOD, no matter the hour, especially after bedtime, and that hotels like funeral homes largely depended upon the fact that unhappy patrons simply were not going to vent in such solemn, high class surroundings.

But recently, reading the Starwood threads, the terrible and unforgivable tale of "Honey Money", followed soon after with the quaint tale of a pre-welcoming email from a IAH inn closed by Ike, I was reminded that two of my worst hotel tales involved Starwood properties.

The first, a decade ago, involved a fancy new Sheraton where I had scheduled a 2 day meeting for 100+ among the contracted requirements for which, big and bold and irrefutable on paper, was a "Hospitality Suite", which after discovering that the days in question were otherwise in demand, the hotel attempted to snatch back to house some high status guest, offering the alternative of a stark and featureless ground floor meeting room, no windows, and the usual hard chairs. No compensation, side offers, etc., It cost the hotel the meeting with it's own F&B, about 250 room nights of revenue, and whatever the guests would have spent in the restaurants.

A bad command decision by that hotel, especially since the occasion so angered me as to avoid Starwoods for nearly a decade, for meetings and for my own personal and business use.

A couple of years back, at the urging of some local hosts, I relented, scheduling a big "do", 750 room nights, $50K in associated F&B and other association expenses, etc..
Massive flooding for weeks before the event cut registrations and attendance by 15% or so, and meanwhile the hotel's reservation setup was more than a month before the event rejecting callers claiming the "Block" was full, combining to hold down projections about 25%. At the same time, the rains had caused serious damage to the hotel, taking some meeting space out of service and the hotel had for whatever reason provided two prime function spaces to other events, leaving me to hold a keynote function with entertainment, etc., in what had been a shopping mall, all piped and draped to hide the storefronts, and the acoustics of a shopping mall.

Then the hotel had the brazen effrontery to attempt to collect an attrition fee, via emailed letter sent 3 days after our departure. My email response was in the classic naval tradition of brief messages..."'F' You! Strong letter follows." Cooler heads prevailed when the hotel was informed of the seemingly hitherto unknown - to the hotel - portion of contract law known as "Specific Performance". Amusingly, the regional association involved hasa state affiliate which a year later approached the hotel proposing to hold a conference (scheduled then for September, 2008, as hotels suck from a vacuum of too few guests, empty rooms and low revenue). The group was rejected, went across the street and was apparently quite happy with the change. Just how soon will they want to return to the afore-mentioned Sheraton.

Each of these four occasions represent in final analysis management failures, either on site or in the oversight group. I've experienced problems with other hotels and chains, but my two Starwood stories, added to the two recent threads here, don't do much for my future perspective. I'm retiring, so Starwood doesn't have to worry about the association which I ran for a couple of decades, but on my own account, still doing a bit of consulting and some pleasure travel, I'm not a fan.

I sincerely appreciate the efforts of Starwood Lurker on FT. I wish a couple of other hotel groups would take a more active part, but I suspect that in neither of my tales of woe could he have been helpful.