The Trafalgar St. James London, Curio Collection by Hilton {GBR} (formerly Hilton)
Nov 21, 2010, 11:24 am
#151
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 454
The Trafalgar Trip Report
Based on some of the many "Hilton London" threads, I recently booked and completed a Reward Stay at \The Trafalgar Hotel in London.
As described by other FT'ers, the location is great. Our stay was a fiasco, so I thought I would share a few observations.
Check-in was uneventful and the bell-hop was very friendly. We were checked into a standard room, which had an inter-connecting door with the adjacent room.
Our 1st problem was being woken at 530AM by our next door neighbour's telephone conversation. The sound-proofing in our room -which had a connecting door to the adjacent room-was PATHETIC. It sounded like the neighbour was sitting in our room with us. I am not a light sleeper but there was absolutely no way I could sleep with our neighbour using the phone.
We had to call the front desk two or three times to get any action on this problem. They didn't offer to do anything about it, we had to insist on being moved to a quieter room.
The "solution" in the end was to move us to a corner room down the hall (with no inter-connecting room). Thankfully it was quieter. Unfortunately the new room had a soaking wet carpet and an overpowering mildew smell.
The wet carpet was from bathroom overflow during the previous occupancy. There appear to be some design problems with the shower set-up in the room. When we politely told the front desk about this problem, we did NOT receive an apology. The front desjk said "oh yeah that happens a lot." They eventually gave us an ineffectual and noisy fan, which did not solve the problem. We lived with the mildew stench for the following night.
We showed the carpet/mildew problem to a manager, he promised to follow up with an offer of compensation.
What would folks consider appropriate compensation?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
As described by other FT'ers, the location is great. Our stay was a fiasco, so I thought I would share a few observations.
Check-in was uneventful and the bell-hop was very friendly. We were checked into a standard room, which had an inter-connecting door with the adjacent room.
Our 1st problem was being woken at 530AM by our next door neighbour's telephone conversation. The sound-proofing in our room -which had a connecting door to the adjacent room-was PATHETIC. It sounded like the neighbour was sitting in our room with us. I am not a light sleeper but there was absolutely no way I could sleep with our neighbour using the phone.
We had to call the front desk two or three times to get any action on this problem. They didn't offer to do anything about it, we had to insist on being moved to a quieter room.
The "solution" in the end was to move us to a corner room down the hall (with no inter-connecting room). Thankfully it was quieter. Unfortunately the new room had a soaking wet carpet and an overpowering mildew smell.
The wet carpet was from bathroom overflow during the previous occupancy. There appear to be some design problems with the shower set-up in the room. When we politely told the front desk about this problem, we did NOT receive an apology. The front desjk said "oh yeah that happens a lot." They eventually gave us an ineffectual and noisy fan, which did not solve the problem. We lived with the mildew stench for the following night.
We showed the carpet/mildew problem to a manager, he promised to follow up with an offer of compensation.
What would folks consider appropriate compensation?
Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Nov 22, 2010, 2:46 am
#154
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, TK Elite, HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 7,683
I am surprised to hear this. I've stayed at this property many times and nenver had an issue with anything. My last stay a week ago was in of the interconnecting rooms, and no noise issue arose.
Nov 22, 2010, 10:19 am
#156
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UALifetimePremierGold, Marriott LifetimeTitanium
Posts: 71,095
Neighboring guest aside, I'd be pretty unhappy if I had a hotel room w/ a wet carpet & the hotel's solution was to send up a fan 
And status doesn't matter in that instance.
Cheers.
And status doesn't matter in that instance.Cheers.
Nov 23, 2010, 1:49 am
#158
Join Date: Mar 2009
Programs: BA Gold, Hhonors Diamond, SPG Platinum, AVIS Presidents' Club
Posts: 563
))Hope to see you there one day!
Wadge
Nov 23, 2010, 3:26 am
#159
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, TK Elite, HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 7,683
And, yes, hope to see you there once day as well! I love hanging out at the Rockwell bar.
Nov 28, 2010, 4:19 pm
#160
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Vancouver, BC
Posts: 454
FWIW my status is Silver VIP (which meant little or nothing at this property).
However I don't think any status should be necessary to get a DRY and QUIET room that doesn't stink of mildew. I view that as a minimum required level of service, particularly at a Hhonors Category 7 hotel.
However I don't think any status should be necessary to get a DRY and QUIET room that doesn't stink of mildew. I view that as a minimum required level of service, particularly at a Hhonors Category 7 hotel.
Nov 28, 2010, 9:39 pm
#161
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,905
Just an observation here...this is much less a true "trip report" (ie. details of the hotel amenities, interaction with hotel staff, facilities utilized- aside from the issue you experienced, etc) and much more of a "demand for compensation"-type thread.
May 28, 2011, 8:01 am
#164
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: NJ USA
Programs: AA PLAT 2MM, MR TITANIUM 2M, HH DIA, Hyatt EXP, BW DIA, IC AMB, IHG PLAT, UA GLD
Posts: 1,086
Perhaps this is just venting but I feel as a HH Gold member we were sorely mistreated by the Guest Relations Manager. I don’t understand the value of her attitude in alienating ANY guest let alone a HH Gold member. Note, our reservation was using a free night Hilton certificate.
We arrived at noon. They had been fully booked the previous night (which I had known so I specifically requested an early arrival so that the hotel could try to plan and block a room vacated early. Yes, I understand a EA request is not a guarantee.) Was told the room would not be ready before 3. I explained that my mother had 101 fever and would like to lie down and although we were booked for a twin, NS I said I’d take a king or smoking room – I didn’t need to wait for the specific room or room type that they had blocked to become available, I’d take anything. We were ushered into the bar and kindly offered coffee or tea while we wait – all the while being told by Rashinda Deen the Guest Relations Manager that she would “rush, rush, rush our room.” I asked what if “rush, rush, rush” meant a half hour wait or how long and she said “oh, no, at least a few hours.” (So what is the “rush, rush, rush???”)
After waiting a while I asked if I could use the business center internet or wireless in the lobby to get some work done and was told no – even though I am a HH Gold member and do get free internet in the guest room. Ok.
From the lobby lounge I’m watching people check in and go up to their rooms.
Around 1 PM I went to front desk to check again on availability. Clearly overheard a guest checking in who wanted a smoking room and had been preassigned a NONsmoking room. The front desk clerk changed their room to smoking and they went upstairs with their luggage. So after that transaction was completed I asked Ms Deen if I could have the nonsmoking room that the other guest had released and was told no -- but she would rush, rush, rush my room. Frankly, I had the distinct impression that if I pressed a 20 into her palm a room would suddenly become available.
At 1:25 I inquired about my room availability to a front desk clerk and she kindly called housekeeping (specifically mentioning the room 3xx that had been blocked for me). I stood near the desk and waited until housekeeping telephoned back about 10 min later and distinctly heard her repeat the room # to housekeeping. She told me the room would be ready in 5 min, I should have a seat and she would bring the keys. Great. At 1:55 no keys so I inquired again and Ms Deen chimed in that nothing would be available until 3 (even though she was rush, rush, rushing it and I had heard that the room was ready). So I went upstairs to the 3d floor, asked a chambermaid if room 3xx was cleaned, she said yes it had been cleaned for a while. I then saw a supervising housekeeper and asked her to double check, she opened the door, it was clean, she checked her chart and the room had already been marked ok. I asked if she could please call the front desk and let them know. She did and by the time I came down the elevator a front desk clerk was making the keys to that same room. Now about 2:30.
So…In my opinion: The hotel is either totally inept for not properly relaying from housekeeping to the front desk that the room was cleaned and available OR (more likely from my first hand experience) it has a serious problem with it’s upper level guest relations staff. I understand that check in is 3 but when you see an 84 year old woman who obviously looks ill and is a Gold member one would think a quality hotel would go out of their way to either find an available room or thoroughly keep tabs when the room DOES become available and immediately offer it to the guest.
This property is an unbranded Hilton. The only Hilton reference I saw was a small logo on the telephone and on the card given to us as Gold members indicating the free internet code. No Hilton sign outside hotel, not on key cards, no normal Hilton policy notifications in the guest rooms. The only thing I can glean is that the only relation they want with Hilton is as a booking agent for paying guests. The hotel has no Executive lounge, I didn’t see an Executive Floor and from my experience they care nothing about benefits for Hilton elite and by our using a free certificate for the room night it put us at the bottom ranking versus other guests in terms of service.
Our preassigned room was very basic in amenities and faced a courtyard. The internet speed and quality was excellent as was the breakfast which has a guitarist playing soft mello tunes – a very nice touch. Lovely roof garden (although mostly uncovered and can’t be used in the rain). But personal service is most important to me in a property. I work hard for my Gold Hilton status and I expected more. Next time back to Grosvenor House where my Marriott Platinum status is appreciated.
We arrived at noon. They had been fully booked the previous night (which I had known so I specifically requested an early arrival so that the hotel could try to plan and block a room vacated early. Yes, I understand a EA request is not a guarantee.) Was told the room would not be ready before 3. I explained that my mother had 101 fever and would like to lie down and although we were booked for a twin, NS I said I’d take a king or smoking room – I didn’t need to wait for the specific room or room type that they had blocked to become available, I’d take anything. We were ushered into the bar and kindly offered coffee or tea while we wait – all the while being told by Rashinda Deen the Guest Relations Manager that she would “rush, rush, rush our room.” I asked what if “rush, rush, rush” meant a half hour wait or how long and she said “oh, no, at least a few hours.” (So what is the “rush, rush, rush???”)
After waiting a while I asked if I could use the business center internet or wireless in the lobby to get some work done and was told no – even though I am a HH Gold member and do get free internet in the guest room. Ok.
From the lobby lounge I’m watching people check in and go up to their rooms.
Around 1 PM I went to front desk to check again on availability. Clearly overheard a guest checking in who wanted a smoking room and had been preassigned a NONsmoking room. The front desk clerk changed their room to smoking and they went upstairs with their luggage. So after that transaction was completed I asked Ms Deen if I could have the nonsmoking room that the other guest had released and was told no -- but she would rush, rush, rush my room. Frankly, I had the distinct impression that if I pressed a 20 into her palm a room would suddenly become available.
At 1:25 I inquired about my room availability to a front desk clerk and she kindly called housekeeping (specifically mentioning the room 3xx that had been blocked for me). I stood near the desk and waited until housekeeping telephoned back about 10 min later and distinctly heard her repeat the room # to housekeeping. She told me the room would be ready in 5 min, I should have a seat and she would bring the keys. Great. At 1:55 no keys so I inquired again and Ms Deen chimed in that nothing would be available until 3 (even though she was rush, rush, rushing it and I had heard that the room was ready). So I went upstairs to the 3d floor, asked a chambermaid if room 3xx was cleaned, she said yes it had been cleaned for a while. I then saw a supervising housekeeper and asked her to double check, she opened the door, it was clean, she checked her chart and the room had already been marked ok. I asked if she could please call the front desk and let them know. She did and by the time I came down the elevator a front desk clerk was making the keys to that same room. Now about 2:30.
So…In my opinion: The hotel is either totally inept for not properly relaying from housekeeping to the front desk that the room was cleaned and available OR (more likely from my first hand experience) it has a serious problem with it’s upper level guest relations staff. I understand that check in is 3 but when you see an 84 year old woman who obviously looks ill and is a Gold member one would think a quality hotel would go out of their way to either find an available room or thoroughly keep tabs when the room DOES become available and immediately offer it to the guest.
This property is an unbranded Hilton. The only Hilton reference I saw was a small logo on the telephone and on the card given to us as Gold members indicating the free internet code. No Hilton sign outside hotel, not on key cards, no normal Hilton policy notifications in the guest rooms. The only thing I can glean is that the only relation they want with Hilton is as a booking agent for paying guests. The hotel has no Executive lounge, I didn’t see an Executive Floor and from my experience they care nothing about benefits for Hilton elite and by our using a free certificate for the room night it put us at the bottom ranking versus other guests in terms of service.
Our preassigned room was very basic in amenities and faced a courtyard. The internet speed and quality was excellent as was the breakfast which has a guitarist playing soft mello tunes – a very nice touch. Lovely roof garden (although mostly uncovered and can’t be used in the rain). But personal service is most important to me in a property. I work hard for my Gold Hilton status and I expected more. Next time back to Grosvenor House where my Marriott Platinum status is appreciated.
May 29, 2011, 3:15 am
#165
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, TK Elite, HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 7,683
fmkgb, I know Rashida personally, and I have nothing but the good things to say about her. She is a very kind and understanding person, and believe me that she does care about the guests. I understand that you feel that your circumstances are unique and that they should ahve done more for you. I am a frequent guest at the property, and I too had to wait for a room until 2 or 3pm when they were fully booked the night before.
I don't think it is appropriate to complain about something that is never promised or guaranteed. Early check-in is not guaranteed, neither is the use of the business centre, and I don't know why you thought they were supposed to let you use for free. If you needed access you could have paid as others do.
I am sorry about your mother and I can imagine how stressful it was for you but don't blame the hotel staff for nothing. It's a good hotel and good people. I am sure you'll have a good time when (and if) you come back.
I don't think it is appropriate to complain about something that is never promised or guaranteed. Early check-in is not guaranteed, neither is the use of the business centre, and I don't know why you thought they were supposed to let you use for free. If you needed access you could have paid as others do.
I am sorry about your mother and I can imagine how stressful it was for you but don't blame the hotel staff for nothing. It's a good hotel and good people. I am sure you'll have a good time when (and if) you come back.
Last edited by Andriyko; May 29, 2011 at 5:27 am
