I'm a very inactive member what concerns SPG Plat. I'm basically made to stay in SPG properties by my company - enough to maintain plat every year. However, I usually never go for SPG properties for private stays. I prefer IC hotels. To cut it short, we decided to go for the Parker Meridien in NY for a private stay. And I was puzzled to find this thread after our stay. Let me contribute my rather very bad experience that is puzzling similar to the OP's...
- Checked in, booked cheapest did not get any upgrade. Not that I would care. SPG is rather inconsistant anyway.
- Were educated about non-smoking policy, explicitly, when checking-in.
- Entered our room. Room was a non-smoking one, but it smelled badly after smoke. I don't really care; mrs. is, however, rather picky, and can't stand smoking hotel rooms.
- Changed room to a "real" non-smoking room. Mrs. Chinatrvl also can't stand mold in any kind. I don't really care that much. But, well, she thought mold in bathroom was enough to have a hissifit. Changed room a second time.
- In the thrid room. Minibar is not cooling at all. I.e. beer is warm, I rather don't have one.
- Upon checking out (I), the rather rude staff states there's gonna be a smoking charge of 300 USD because smoke was in our first room. Well, no, she even realizes that we have not been in the first room long enough to smoke it up and also complained about the smoke so that we got another room.
- Upon checking out (II), the rather rude staff presents me a 60+$ bill of minibar charges. We have never taken anything from the minibar. I tell them that we did not use the minibar. I am sure that any proper hotel would, at this point, say "sorry Mr. Chinatrvl, it was our mistake, please accept our apologies". At Le Parker, however, it takes calling the Manager at Duty...
- ... who tells me that we would have had a plethora of drinks at our first room (that we refused because of the smoking odor) and we would have to pay for them.
- I have to argue with her for a long time in order to get drinks off my bill at a room that I have never set a foot in (well, not longer than 10 seconds).
- Design in any of the three rooms feels like in some standarized Novotel. Unexpiring. I expected 5* standard by Le Meridien. But this was hardly 4*, by hardware only a 3*....
- Upshot: Was very disappoitning
* Given a room full of smoke
* Mold in the second room (to an extent that it was noteworthy, and I do not really complain very much, but let a very lot of things slip at hotels!!)
* Staff tried to screw us over the minibar and handled it very unprofession, imo.
* Given a room full of smoke after being explicitly educated about smoking charges
* Mold in our room that made us change the room again. No apology. Nothing.
* Blamed by manager on duty and made felt welcome just as some kind of unwelcome hustler when disputing minibar charges.