Originally Posted by
Adam1222
I wasn't there. But even on your description, I seriously think this is a mountain out of a molehill.
I'm sure it was frustrating for you but I'm not sure what you're expecting here. This probably isn't even in the top 100 weirdest things that happened to FT members trying to check in to a hotel today.
As you indicated, you're kicking off 4 days of R&R. I see no reason for this experience, weird or not, to continue to get in the way of that.
a mountain out of a mole hill? lets say there were 12 cars behind me that showed up at regular intervals. I was at the gate for a little over 15 minutes dealing with this joker. that means he wasted 105 minutes of time from guests, for what? having a chip on his shoulder. I'm not expecting anything here. you have thousands of posts. is this really the first FT story you have noticed where a member says 'guess what unusual thing happened to me on my trip'? it didnt stop me from having a nice trip. 30 minutes later i was in the hot tub with a book. no worries there. I'm approaching the 4 year mark worth of stays at marriott/spg properties. ive never had security physically block me from accessing a property, and by the simple nature of the design of the entrance, block EVEERYONE else from entering the property as a result. I thought this would be an amusing anecdote to report on.
That's a very strange situation! I guess the charitable view is that the guard went back to his hut and was trying to work out the next step because maybe he had not received training for this situation. I'm not sure I understand how the hotel is expected to operate with this system though, what about walk-ins? what about guests who've forgotten their room key? what about guests with reservations they just made online? what about delivery drivers? I've stayed at hotels with strict security (everyone and their luggage had to go through airport-style scanners when entering the building) and even then, anyone was allowed to enter the building to speak to the front desk.
I went on street view for the property and at the check in gate there is a sign that says "All delivery and ride sharing drivers (uber, lyft, etc.) must check in with security & provide a valid drivers license to access the property" so they
do have a policy for allowing non-guests into the property. They let the Google Street View car into the property! "How do I know that's you?" is such a strange question with that policy in mind: they could have asked for your drivers license.
Maybe the security guard was having a bad day, or
was calling the front-desk to confirm but didn't clearly communicate that to you and your call to the front-desk got through to them quicker than the security guard could. The trip advisor reviews for the hotel seem to be consistently positive about the front gate security, maybe you just got unlucky
a lot to respond to:
-the guard wasnt trying to fix the situation, as i mentioned the door to the guard shack is glass, he was just sitting there on his stool. I thought maybe he was trying to look me up, but after several minutes i realized he wasnt and thats when i called guest services.
-if you forget your room key you have to use the lane for the guard shack, same as if you were checking in. no idea about walk ins, but given the location i doubt they have many of those.
-ive literally made a reservation there and have the guard shack see it 2 or 3 minutes later.
-deliveries come to this property all the time, I've had a few myself in the past, they have a mail room for guests.
-they let plenty of people on property. ive often met family and friends here. you just give the last name and room number at the gate