Originally Posted by
WESTINLAXGM
I was just about to write something like "let's temper our enthusiasm a bit...I've only been here for 90 days" and then I got an email with your post. I just got back from Starwood meetings in Chicago so sorry for the delay in responding.
First and foremost your comments are constructive and spot on. From experience I know that in your shoes extremely frustrated would have been an understatement. As a seasoned traveller you did what you could and maintained a sense of humor through it, but that doesn't make light of the scew ups on our side. You have my sincere apologies.
This is meant as an explanation and not an excuse. Believe me, as soon as this hit my email I was communicating with my operations team.... We have probably 25 no shows a night and therefore we overbook (and very rarely walk a guest - once since I've been here). What that does is create anxiety for the Front Desk team and at some point they unblock rooms. In this business when the train derails it rarely gets back on the track. As soon as your room was unblocked it all unravelled.
You shouldn't have to do this, but please feel free to email me your estimated arrival time so I can make sure we hold the room we have you assigned in. You are extremely valuable customers and I encourage you guys to play the "My Buddy Phil the GM" card and proactively communicate with me and with Erica so that we do hit on the basics and understand and execute on your preferrences.
Sorry again for the poor stay! I owe you one.
Phil
Many thanks for taking the time to respond. Unfortunately, the screw up continued at check-out where the incorrect BRG rate was applied to my stay. That was obviously Starwood's fault, but the duty manager at the time (a German speaker) was able to read through the correspondence I provided and fix the problem. It did, however, require some effort.
Anyway, I don't expect/want you to owe me anything. Instead, I've been saying for quite some time that I expect a clean, functioning room on my arrival. I consider that the basics. If you deliver on nothing else (like SPG benefits, upgrades, etc.), then at least have that ready for me. I don't like having to first fix problems when I arrive. As I have told Starwood in previous discussions, if I wanted to clean my own room, or fix my room's equipment (which wasn't the case here), then I would have applied to be a housekeeper or technician.
As for cancelling out no-shows, I never book a room w/ the intention of not staying. Further, if I cannot stay for whatever reason, then I make an effort to call the property and re-book or cancel. I don't really understand why properties feel the need to cancel out people who don't descend at precisely 3/4pm like gate lice; especially, an airport property where things (n.b. flight cancellations/delays, weather, etc.) happen all of the time. I don't know about other travellers, but the cancellation penalty is usually enough to prevent me from skipping out on my reservation. Perhaps, picking up a phone or shooting an E-mail out to guest that haven't arrived yet would be a great way to avoid this problem in the future.
During this stay, I couldn't get into a deluxe with a king bed because it was blocked for a flight crew that the FD already knew was not going to show up. One could interpret this as air crews being higher priority than us scrubs, but that thought never entered into my head because I just wanted to go to sleep by that point.
Ultimately, I remain uncertain that any of this would have
never happen if my room remained blocked. The room cleanliness issue may/may not have been there, but the lounge issue would definitely remain. Additionally, the lack of communication between FD associates and their manager would have also remained. Everyone that works at a hotel, whether it is the Westin LAX or the Four Points LAX, is part of a team to deliver excellent customer service to its patrons. If you have employees that are not even communicating with each other, then that's the tipping point where the team collapses, and revenue flies out the window.
I don't want to be a non-rev. I also don't want to be burdened by the constant barrage of service fails that Starwood has provided me in the last couple of years. I don't think I am asking for much in expecting the basics. I hope you agree.
P.S. For any Lurkers reading this, please have someone look into enforcing brand standards because I'm at a point where I will apply for that job at Starwood corporate (assuming, it does not yet exist).
P.P.S. Playing the Phil card has never worked at either the Four Points or Westin. I guess no one fears you.
