Originally Posted by
SoCalPLT
..I contacted Le Meridian Central Reservations and asked why the rooms were the same and was told by the reservation agent the hotel had DOWNGRADED the client from a Studio room to a standard room. By this time it was about 10pm Friday night in Moscow and any attempts to contact the property management by telephone went unanswered. I asked Le Meridian reservations if this could have been an occupancy issue and was told they showed the hotel had "plenty" of rooms in every room category and was they were at a loss for the DOWNGRADE.
Emails to the property went unanswered until Monday, the day after the client checked out. At that time here was the response from the front office manager:
Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to your VIP guest - Mr. ###### - during his stay at Le Royal Meridien National hotel.
Unfortunately our employees did not manage to clarify the situation with Mr. #####s booking on his arrival and this led to the fact that your client was accommodated in a standard room instead of a Studio room which was reserved for him by your agency.
I would like to inform you that refund to Mr. ######'s credit card was made today by our Accounting Department - 4573.68 Rubles in total. Could you please pass my sincere apologies to Mr. #####, I am very sorry for such a negative impression he received during his stay with us. Please let me know if he is planning to come back to Moscow. I would really like to do everything to regain his confidence in our service.
The amount refunded was the difference between the additional money he paid for the Studio room and the standard room he was placed in.
After several emails to the hotel they offered 3000 SPG Points and to send an apology email to the client. This to me seems inadequate. I had requested a refund of his 2 day stay for the one room. I would rather loose the commission than the client.
What is a fair compensation for DOWNGRADING a guest paying a higher rate and then not recognizing a GOLD SPG member with a benefit guaranteed to him by his status when it was, according to Le Meridian central reservations, was available?
Seems that Mr. ##### was compensated. Especially since this was Moscow you may have wanted to have just purchased the room you wanted him to have.
Last edited by SanDiego1K; Jul 3, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Reason: Removed client name as OP has now edited the name out.