I never thought I’d write a post like this. The GC is one of our favorite properties and we go there several times a year. It’s a long one (sorry) but it’s pretty ridiculous and should serve as a heads up when going to this property. It’s a shame, because it really is a gorgeous property and I’ve loved going there. Heck, I’ve made trips just to go to the hotel, with Disney as a side benefit. It used to be the other way around.

In a nutshell, the front desk messed up my diamond requalification, cost me more money, and I lost a ˝ FFN because of it. The front desk clerk was also clairvoyant and knew exactly where I was sleeping at all times

A synopsis:

I originally had a 4 night SOS package with 1 night free at the $279 rate. A short time later I realized I could cancel that reservation and book 4 individual nights, 2 each between myself & my husband alternating nights so I could get my last 2 stays to requalify diamond. As a bonus, between us we’d earn 2 FFN and my husband would qualify for platinum.

I never made this a secret. I told everyone I spoke with at the front desk every time I was there I was trying to requalify and to please not join the reservations. They had blocked us into the same room for all 4 nights on the RC floor.

All went well for the first 2 check ins. At the 3rd, which was my last for the year, the front desk clerk didn’t know what to do and went to the back to get someone more senior (I guess).

That’s when the trouble started. She said what I was doing was not allowed and she handed me the GP T&C and kept on repeating that I had to be out of the hotel for 24 hours in order to get a stay credit. Except, technically, I was. I had 4 different reservations. She then told me the most amazing thing I’ve ever heard This was on his reservation. I almost fell over. She also said “the hotel has to pay for all these bonus promotions.”

No matter what I said, she kept on saying I wasn’t out of the hotel and that because we had the same last name the system was recognizing it as 1 stay. I told her to combine the last 2 reservations into 1 in my name in hopes that I would requalify, because if what she was saying was true, I would end up 1 stay short. Except the “system” DID recognize the first 2 stays as individual stays.

She told me to take it up with Gold Passport – because they make the rules.

I called GP and was told it was up to the hotel how they wanted to post the stay and also that staying on 4 reservations was perfectly fine – it was unusual but not “illegal.” They also requalified me for 2007 as a courtesy.

The only thing that I can see that may have caused an issue is that I was upgraded to the RC floor as a diamond and my husband has no status, so technically, they gave him a “free” upgrade. However, after the number of times we’ve been there, I would expect this courtesy from the hotel, particularly since I explained I was trying to requalify. At a minimum, they should have told me this the first day I was there and allow us to decide if we wanted to change rooms.

I called GP yesterday and explained everything again. The last stay showed up in my account as a 2007 stay and they made it “count” for 2006 so I made my 25 stays. They also comped my husband the 1 stay he needed to plat and noted it as a hotel mess up. I sent an email to Karen and she has replied and confirmed my status for the year as well as informed me I didn’t do anything against the GP T&C.

I sent an email to the GM of the hotel explaining what happened, the aggravation caused, and what I lost because of it. I also asked him to restore the reservations back to the way they were (2 stays each) and to contact GP to have the courtesy requalification removed from my account. I didn’t want to use up any good faith I had with GP because of their issues.

The reply I received was truly mind boggling. Even the GM is telling me, in effect, that I did not follow GP rules. Here it is with names removed to protect the innocent:

BTW – I still haven’t received that email

So far, not a single person at the hotel can tell me what I did wrong except that I wasn’t out of the hotel for 24 hours because they knew I was sleeping with my husband. The only other thing I can think of is that they left us in the same room for all 4 nights, 2 of them on the RC floor when we shouldn’t be there. The funny part of all this is that we hardly used the RC this trip. We were out every night and had AAA breakfast coupons. We went in there to say hello to the staff and took out a few cups of coffee. Karen did confirm that technically my husband was not entitled to RC access and he had it for the 1 night when he was checked in. If that is the case, well, we should have been told when HE was checking in and given the option of moving rooms.

After the email from the GM, well, I’m thinking of contacting Hyatt Consumer Affairs. I know others have had issues with the front desk staff at this hotel and I didn’t believe it fully. Now I understand. If they can treat us this way, after our 12 or 13 stays (for over 35 nights) in the last 2 ˝ years, I can only imagine what they do to the first time visitor.

So ^^ to the GP Diamond CS staff. They went out of their way for me. ^^ to Karen who checked into everything & verified I was in order for 2007. A big , not only to the front desk staff, but to the hotel GM. You don’t treat one of your better customers this way.