fishernrex

HH Diamond Member - Made reservations @ the Hilton Singer Island on Sunday night for 4 nights starting today. Show up at the hotel today and sign in front of hotel stating "Hotel is Closed" - OK, no problem, I understand hurricane Irma is the root cause, but #1 - Why did they allow me to make reservations and #2 - When I called the hotel directly after reading the sign the best answer I received was "Well, I can give you some numbers to call to try and find a room..."

Called Diamond Desk as there very few hotels left available and the first answer I received was "nothing is available". They checked again and managed to get me into the Embassy Suites off PGA Boulevard. I checked in, got settled in, laid down and noticed an ant on my arm. Pulled back the covers and there were SEVERAL live ants seemingly having a party. Took a quick video, loaded my stuff up and went down to the front desk. Initially she proceeded to tell me they were fully booked but that she "could send engineering up" - Are you kidding me??? Currently sitting in another room (hopefully ant free), but plan to find another hotel tomorrow evening.

Besides writing a couple of reviews - How would you handle this?

KENNECTED

Talk to the manager of the property, first. Writing negative reviews makes you look petty. Unless you're writing a full review of the entire hotel, it will just be petty complaint.

jrx

I would rate ants in the bed as something other potential guests may want to know about via a review, and not a "petty complaint."

KENNECTED

@jrx People should know, but they know the entire situation, yes?

That is not a "review" that is a comment. Also, you don't talk to the manager first, you won't know what happened? For instance, do this be a result of the hurricane? Result of a bad made who left something in the room, that attracted ants? Is this a one-off?

As per the usual, with many "comments" / "complaints" like this, we only hear one side of the situation. So talking to the manager before posting a bunch of comments on ONE ASPECT of an OVERALL stay is the logical thing to do.

Letting management know, gives the property a chance to answer you directly. You can then say, write, and post, "I alerted the property general manager to X issue and this is how it was handled/addressed the my situation."

Amelorn

We only ever hear one side of the story on Flyertalk, and credibility is usually directly proportional to posting history. In this case, we get the "well, it's only one side with these so-called complaints."

Frankly, I would be more annoyed by the incident at the Singer Island Hilton. I can attest that they have been taking reservations for this week. I was looking at booking a room from today (Tuesday 9/19) to Friday. I was turned off by the parking/resort fee double whammy on the otherwise reasonable room rate.


Regarding Singer Island, that's an inexcusable fail on the part of the property AND corporate. Virtually every other Florida hotel that has been affected by the hurricane has disallowed bookings commensurate with damage done and time needed for necessary repairs. Why did this not happen here? Did Hilton corporate not exercise due diligence?

Personal note: I find wasting time to be nigh unforgivable. Most companies are pretty good about refunding dollars, and I can get more dollar. Time though is a fixed sum.

Generally, a complaint to the duty manager/front desk would be an appropriate starting point. In the case of Singer Island, an expression of disappointment to corporate would be in order.

HomerJay

I simply can't excuse Hilton accepting reservations for a property that is still closed following a major disaster without taking steps to ensure that customers won't be stranded if they can't meet the planned reopening date.

It's not like you're going down the street and discover that the supermarket is still closed. It's like you've traveled hundreds or thousands of miles and need a place to stay.

It's understandable that they had to close due to the hurricane. And it's understandable that it takes time to make necessary inspections and repairs afterwards. But the property owner MUST remain in contact with corporate and SOMEONE must inform anyone with reservations that the property has not yet been able to reopen. That's at the very least.

Contact corporate and raise hell. Then, contact the property and raise hell. There is no excuse for having guests show up only to discover the property is closed. None whatsoever.

fishernrex

Checked out this morning - Sorry, have irrational fears of anything that has more legs and less hair than me (= NOT a pet..) and I wouldn't be able to sleep. I did speak with the on-duty manager and simply explained that my biggest complaint was not being offered another room immediately, but rather being told that engineering could come up and look at the problem. Wasn't looking for a comp or points (nor did I accept either), just a clean safe place to park for a week.

Re "petty complaint" comment - Seriously not agreeing with you on this one. The two main things I look for in reviews are bugs and safety concerns. Rude service, bad food, slow check-in, etc are things that I tend to overlook and judge for myself. Creepy crawly things and open doors... Those I care about.

storewanderer

I too used to find bugs in a room unacceptable.

Then I worked a couple years in a job that sent me to Oklahoma for a week every couple months... sometimes in the summer.

Days Inns, Best Westerns, if we were lucky a Comfort Inn, and if we were luckier a Holiday Inn Express...

Sometimes you get used to the bugs.

One time at a BW, since rebranded to no name, then rebranded to Quality Inn, then rebranded to Econo Lodge (when I was there it was still a BW) I was first given a room with bugs, asked to switch rooms. Then given a room with red (blood?) all over the wall and a weird smell. Asked to switch rooms again. Bugs again. I decided at that point to settle for the bugs. Switching hotels was not an option with said employer.

I would find bugs biting me during sleep unacceptable.

365RoadWarrior

Do consider the possibility that the storms/waters drove the ants from where they normally reside (presumably outside the hotel) and that they are not usually inhabiting the bed/hotel. When I'm doing disaster relief work, I find that this is a common occurrence - ants, snakes, worms, spiders gastropods...anything living is or on the ground. It doesn't make the guest experience any better, but it may reflect a force beyond the hotel's control in the short term. (Once the problem is identified, affected areas should be taken out of service until remediated.)

username

I would rather consider the possibility that the ants are Honors Diamond Members from all the nights at the first hotel and also moved to the 2nd hotel

seaskybound

Corporate should have handled this better but post natural disaster, do you really expect full "backup plans" in place? Really?

If Corporate knew it would be closed unacceptable, if it thought it would be open but it ended up closed last moment that is a different issue (maybe they found it infested with ants and didn't open?)

Same with the ants in property 2, it's post natural disaster for god's sake. Properties were damaged, many employees misplaced. So what, just close down all commerce till everything is perfect? Or go ahead and live with some imperfections?

It is highly likely ants were there due to the disaster. Not sure what a bad review will make a difference.

365RoadWarrior

A little property hopping to keep status? Maybe they FTers.

fishernrex

So much of this I agree with - However, I'm honestly more peeved at the reaction of "I'll send engineering up" What were they going to do? Build a bridge for the ants to escape?? I get it, bugs happen - For the record, I live in Florida and completely understand natural disasters and the effect on property.

Regarding Singer Island, there's honestly no excuse for not notifying corporate they were closed. I was able to call HH Honors and get another room. The hotel next door was open (I'm staying here now). A common courtesy to your customers would be to assist in making arrangements and notifying Hilton Corporate of the situation and ask for assistance. I was personally stuck in North Florida and unable to get back down South until this week. I managed to notify both my customers and management of my situation and made other arrangements for their needs. I guess expecting service in a service industry is no longer a given....

seaskybound

Well it would be engineering to handle the situation, at first attempt. Not sure how many properties have in house pest control team, in the night shift.

Maybe they do have such a night team, but they were stuck in North Florida?

Maybe they have emergency pesticide contractors on call and they were even back from being displaced. But said engineer did not have the chance to assess the issue

Said engineer could vacuum the lot, put (human non toxic) pesticide/traps. Brought a portable bed for the "other side of the room". What do you do in your home when you find ants in the middle of the night?

Again the property that was closed, for benefit of doubt may have been meant to be open and had to close last moment (real safety issue). And since half of management is away did not communicate well to corporate

I understand you, you yourself have been misplaced and not easy and now this. I just don't think a public negative review is warranted here.

HomerJay

Oh, hell yes.

If you have a reservation for that hotel and don't show up, you are charged for a night's stay unless you contact them in time and cancel your reservation. That's fair. It's all about giving notice.

And they have an even greater obligation to contact you. I would hope we all agree that a firm and fast reopening date is not reasonable, but if they can't reopen in time to honor your reservation, they have an absolute obligation to have a backup plan in place to simply notify you so that you don't show up - maybe in the middle of the night after a long journey - and find you have no place to stay. They have your phone number and your e-mail address.

Understood they may not be able to accommodate you. Understood they may not be able to walk you to a decent place. There's been a disaster. But there's no excuse for not contacting you 24 hours in advance if your hotel is not open.