SF1K

Well that was my exact situation for January and they basically just cancelled and said "good luck". They offered to rebook at Andaz but only at rates available for new bookings, nothing special offered. I'd say book a backup now if you want to stay in a particular area. Worst diamond treatment I've ever received from Hyatt.

zzrayzz

I see. I booked IC Park Lane as my backup. At least cancellation policy is day before. Hopefully, I will know before then!!!

Anyone know if they are even offering any type of compensation for the inconvenience caused? Similar to Hyatt Zilara Rose Hall...

thezipper

I was booked on points at the Churchill in a Grand Club room later this month, anniversary trip with the wife. I was proactive in reaching out to Hyatt and got rebooked for Andaz in just a regular king room. When I inquired about other places or anything to make up for no lounge access / breakfasts, they were unwilling to offer anything else, just refunding my points between a GC Room and King Room.

I was able to get a room at the Conrad for $ + points, at least I'll have breakfast there plus possible upgrade with lounge access, as well as being a bit more centrally located.

I understand "stuff" happens, but not feeling that much Hyatt love...

pleasantonian

I was staying at the Churchill (cash/points stay with diamond suite upgrade) with two of my children during the explosion. Scary, dark evacuation from 9th floor complete with a fall (absolutely no emergency lighting as others have said, had trouble even getting out of our room and finding exit stairwell) with two jetlagged kids made for a rough first night in London. No Hyatt reps until 4:30 AM... Radisson Blu staff did the best they could to help and were simply awesome. Told everyone I could find that my son's glasses/medicine and my jewelry were on my nightstand. We were finally relocated in our pajamas at 6:30 AM. Very clear that there was no emergency training and the chaos that ensued was troubling. Glad it wasn't worse.

My son is legally blind and had no glasses/medicine until they (hotel staff? Fire brigade?) retrieved and delivered our belongings at 9 PM the next night. I was on the phone all day and my older son made countless trips to Radisson and Andaz begging to get his brother's glasses back. Other guests received their items hours before we did. Our stuff was finally delivered (glasses broken from being thrown in a suitcase, but wearable), but you guessed it, no jewelry. My engagement/wedding rings and a few other items are gone.

This is getting lengthy, so I'll fast forward a few weeks and 100+ hrs of time spent on this. I'm out an iphone (dropped it in the stairwell when I fell over a towel left there while using it for a flashlight), jewelry, and most of a family trip to London. Only claiming jewelry and phone losses, despite losing 5 tickets to Lion King (hard to go to the theatre in jammies), a deposit for a tour guide and most of our 4 days in London. I'm not going after reimbursement for dr. visit (broken toe) from stairwell fall..not that type. Churchill Income Auditor keeps saying the insurer will be in touch right away, but I haven't heard a word so far.

They redeposited my points, no charge for stay and paid for our new hotel. Fair.

I'm looking to you, the pros. What should my expectations be? Any idea of timing on insurance claims? What would you do in my situation? I'm so sorry if this isn't the right place to post..I'm clearly a complete newbie. Thank you!

RTW1

Make a claim for what your actual losses are. Don't hold back but don't overdo it either.... Claiming a loss of your time will be a tough one, I would probably claim something for that but if your hotel was already comped that would be pushing it.

Best thing to do would claim on your travel insurance and let them sort it out with any other insurance company.

zzrayzz

claim everything you mentioned. even the stuff you dont want to. do not feel sorry for them. you should not have to accept a loss because of their misfortune and its all covered by insurance anyways, so there is no loss for them either. you should definitely claim the dr visit and file a claim for the broken toe injury (file a claim for pain and suffering) as a result of a fall due to poor lighting etc. I mean there is pain and suffering since your toe is broken and will need to be in a cast etc. Depending on the seriousness of the injury and length of treatment/healing. I would say the injury can get you minimum $10,000. But I would not settle and probably want minimum 25K and max 50K.... broken bones are serious!!!!

NickP 1K

Agree with others. Don't hold back on anything you had to pay for due to this incident. Hyatt corporate should wake up to the fact that the emergency procedures were throughly lacking and basic emergency lighting was either not working or present. Their insurer will pay and will hold them accountable on why these issues occurred.

Andrea Waters

Anyone, perhaps a Hyatt rep, know when the Churchill will return online for booking? I'm trying to book for summer of 2015 and several other dates and the hotel is not available.

NickP 1K

I was at Andaz earlier this week and their comment was end of Jan earliest is what they heard before any consideration to know if they can move forward with a planned re-open date.

Side note; I wouldn't be shocked if they required anything on the kitchen/restaurant updates done prior to be all pulled out while the evaluate structural to the entire hotel. They may need to re-brace the lower floors upwards if they find true shifting of sides of the building/structural from the explosion.

Summer may be safe if it's all isolated to the kitchen but if they have to go up floors to re-inforce structural that could easily be one year.

Andrea Waters

This was very helpful. I sincerely appreciate your answer. I'm going to, regretfully, book the Andaz and hope for the Churchill. I never thought about the structural damage to the entire hotel. That's quite possible. My trip, though for a big birthday, is really for my mom. She'd feel much more comfortable at the Churchill but we will made do at Andaz if we must.

Thank you very much for your response.

SethLevy

You should likely contact a lawyer, either in the US or UK, to understand your rights and to lobby for the best compensation. The hotel bears full responsibility for all loss, injuries and damages you suffered. You should and must hold them responsible.

You should consider filing an initial complaint, to preserve or bolster your claim, with the UK hotel association regulatory organization. I understand many complaints have already been filed against the hotel for rate differentials, lost or stolen property and injuries during the evacuation, and an investigation is underway, so don't ignore that option. Also, there may be a time limit to file your claim with the insurance company.

Keep in mind, you and your family could have been seriously injured due to the hotel's presumed negligence and/or poor crisis and emergency training.

RTW1

You're probably a lawyer yourself..... walking the street can also be dangerous. Normal people start with a decent claim and go from there.

pleasantonian

Thank you so much, everyone, for your advice. At this point, I plan to focus on the losses of my jewelry and phone. I don't have a cast on my foot, and it's healing slowly but surely. My health insurance covered most of the doctor's visit and X-ray. Watching my son struggle for almost 24 hours without his glasses was much more painful to me than my toe injury.

That being said, flying 5 people to London (my husband and daughter met us there the day after the explosion) is a very expensive undertaking, and we had saved and planned for quite a while to be able to visit while our son was he was studying there for a semester. This had a huge impact on our trip, obviously. I couldn't walk around very well once we finally got our clothes back, and we were absolutely exhausted for the duration of our vacation. It was so disappointing.

I asked for compensation in the form of GP points, and was offered 125K. I think a minimum of 250K is fair and reasonable, given our horrible experience. Seems that it is the very least they can do, IMO. Thoughts?

I submitted all of my documentation, and hotel rep said he filed a claim on my behalf and that it is now out of their hands. No word from the insurance company -- was told they'd contact me immediately, but it's been two weeks. Seems to me that the hotel should reimburse me for the cost of the phone since I'm out that money now. Any idea of how long an insurance claim like this will take?

Thank you so much! You've all been wonderful.

price123

I don't have experience of the same situation but I would expect it to take months. The insurance company may not do anything until the investigations are complete.

Re. points, if it was the fault of the hotel I may agree, but I think 125K is probably reasonable unless it is proved that the hotel were negligent e.g. did not carry out the annual checks. To be honest, you didn't do everything you could in the evacuation e.g. take valuables and necessary health items with you. We always lock items in the safe overnight but would have room key card, credit card and glasses on the bedside. In a foreign country, I would also take passports with me in an evacuation. It is always best to check for the emergency torch and the route to the exit when arriving in a hotel.

It seems that emergency lighting is generally powered through a central back-up battery. The damage in the basement was extensive, so this is likely to have been flooded. It would seem sensible to have the power sources in two different locations, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was standard practise to have both in the basement.

I think there is a different between what is reasonable for the hotel to directly give (for want of a better word) you and what is reasonable to claim on the insurance for. I would claim for taxi fares because of your hurt toe, for any new clothes you had to buy, for extra costs e.g. hotel phone calls, expensive roaming fees etc that you had because of having to contact insurance and family and for out-of-pocket costs that are causing a financial problem now e.g. if you had to buy a new phone using credit, I would claim for the interest on the borrowing. However, these are claims for insurance, not for the hotel directly.

If you have diamond status and would have had club lounge access and were not provided with a similar benefit at the Andaz, it would seem fair to ask the Churchill to provide a compensation equivalent to evening club access e.g. $100/day or an extra 3000 points/day.

thucanhho

20/20 hindsight. She did the most important thing which was to get kids and herself out safely, the only thing any parent is and should be thinking in a similar situation. The rest is a hassle but pales in comparison.

What percentage of guests do you think "emergency torch and the route to the exit when arriving in a hotel?"