I stayed at the W Dallas when I went to see the Celtics play the Mavericks at American Airlines Center. When I made the reservations, I was told on the phone by the SPG Plat Desk, the Ghost Bar is a "must see" and since I am a Plat, I will have comp access to the bar. They charge guests that are non-Plats, $15 and regular cover is $20.
We try to head up there for a drink before the game that night....the bouncer on the 1st floor stops us and asks to see our key. We pull it out and he said, "that will be $15". I said, "we were told SPG Platinums have comp access to the Ghost Bar". He looked at us and laughed. Then he said, "sorry, cover is $15 if you are a guest". I then said to him, "we are Platinums". He said, "if your name is not on this list (he pointed to a piece of paper on a neon green clipboard), then it costs you. No freebees here".
Perhaps he wanted to charge me $15, because I was wearing a road green Larry Bird Celtics jersey?
Call me cheap, but I didnt want to pay $15, if I was initially told it was complementary access. I go to the front desk and the front desk agent acts like I am bothering him....in fact...I got that feeling all weekend long...from check-in to check-out...like I was bothering the staff. The only one that was nice about everything was the bellman (he did get a nice tip).
Anyway, I tried to explain to the front desk agent about what I was told by the SPG Plat Concierge. He then told me in a very serious tone, "I am sorry you were misinformed, but my experience with the SPG Plat Concierges are not good and they mislead a lot of our guests". I laughed out loud and left to the arena.
I was so uncomfortable during the stay, we checked out a day early before we were supposed to leave.
p.s. Celtics 99-Dallas 92
