Renovating occupied rooms
 

Today I got the most outrageous letter under my door, and since I've always considered Hyatt to provide very good service, I was amazed. This morning this HP put a letter under my door saying that, due to ongoing renovations, tomorrow they would be replacing the mattress and box springs in my room. I just checked in last night and I am checking out this weekend.

As you can imagine I went down to the front desk and told them that was not acceptable, I would using the room tomorrow, and I asked why they would have checked me into a room that was going to get a new mattress the next day. The FDC responded that until I showed them this letter they did not know when the mattresses were arriving. They did not offer to move me to another room, but did write a note with my room number for the hotel maintenance, to which I responded if this was not rectified I would have to check out of the hotel.

Excluding the fact that I am a globalist, and excluding the fact that I went and .....ed about it, the idea that any hotel would change mattresses in rooms that have been rented out seems way out of bounds. I have stayed in hundreds of hotels, many times while mattresses were being replaced or other renovations, and I have never seen a hotel attempt to remove/replace a mattress while someone is paying for the room. This is not like changing a smoke detector. In fact, last year I had a front desk tell me that the hotel staff would never handle my belongings, even if that meant they had to walk another guest.

This takes the cake. The hotel is trying to improve your experience and you're livid?

True. Changing a mattress takes about as long as making the bed. Changing a hard-wired smoke detector would take significantly longer.

:confused: Sorry, but I really see no issue to make a fuss about this. I'd be happy to receive a new mattress, a matter of 5 minutes I presume, 10 minutes max?

Most new mattresses have a bit of a smell for a day or two. I wouldn’t want a brand new one without it airing out first.

It gonna be my sole concern. Otherwise, I could care less what hotel replaces during its normal course of housekeeping. FWIW, it's all heavily used stuffs in a room, and isn't it better to have something new.

Deeeeep breath. In...out....in.....out....

Maintenance during occupancy is actually fairly common. Once, they had to install a new media center at, I believe a HP (can't remember where, but sometime in the last couple of years). I got a letter like you did indicating the work, and it stated it could take up to 2 hours, because they had to do quite a bit of wiring, hardware installation, etc. My wife and I were working from the room all day, and we let them come in and do their work -- they were very professional, and we chatted just a bit (though, most of the time we ignored each other, since we were all working), and apparently these guys are on contract with Hyatt and every couple of weeks they go to a new hotel, work room from room over a couple of weeks putting in the updated media centers. Last year, I took a cruise, I got a letter on the 3rd day that my carpet was to be replaced in my suite. I was a bit confused and unsure how they would replace an entire carpet while occupied considering not just us and our stuff, but the furniture and everything else (let alone the fact that this is a ship at sea with very tight spaces). But sometime during dinner (within a 2 hour time frame), they did it. When I got back to my room, I had fresh, brand new wall to wall carpet in my room.

I understand that you may not want interrupted, but your shock isn't warranted and you must have been quite 'lucky' to not encounter this sort of thing before. Really, a mattress change is very quick maintenance.

Personally I'd prefer a new mattress to one that has been slept on for many years by countless guests. It would have been slightly more convenient had they done it before you arrived but surely it should only take a few minutes to change it. I don't see the big deal.

Well, this is why I am a member. This place is always a good place to get responses. I am chuckling at how everyone is focusing on the time involved. As if a quick mattress change is less of an interruption than a long mattress change.

This has nothing to do with the time involved. I have unpacked my work belongings on the bed. It is preposterous to expect me to repack my belongings because hotel management is unable to coordinate the mattress schedule with room occupancy. This type of room / schedule coordination is a daily occurrence for a hotel's management, and never before have I found a management unwilling to reschedule. Their inability to schedule properly is their problem, not mine.

Nor should I have to "trust" them around my expensive materials. For example, last year I was staying at the Mirage in Las Vegas when they upgraded the wifi, the hotel had security come to my room and stand there with me simply to have a worker screw in a new antenna. That was unrequested by me, that is simply the Mirage's SOP. That is the way a hotel should operate.

Your work belongings are on the bed? Where do you sleep?

I can sympathize with you on the inconvenience, and I don't know why the hotel wouldn't/couldn't reschedule this sort of thing if requested (a good hotel would, but this is a HP, not a Park Hyatt). I suppose if I had stuff laid out carefully for work and had to spend time moving, I'd complain too. But, in the overall scheme of things, this kind of thing is common enough, and in my experience, very professional and respectful all considering the obvious inconvenience/breach of privacy/possible security concerns.

I would not have thought of that until just now, when I walked by the conference room where they are storing the new mattresses, on my way to the fitness room. Wow. Even out in the hallway the "new car smell" was unbearable. This is one of those hotels where the windows do not open.

1) What do you care? Perhaps the person sleeps in the everglades, or in the back room at the nite owl lounge.
2) Service persons that do such replace and repair are often outside contractors. If they break, throw out or steal something important, you
will likely be sol with no recourse unless you can prove loss. Not easy to do.
3) Sounds like you have led a sheltered existence. Wait till your first crisis. Sleep in an assisted care facility with no resources and die. Oops, sounds like
Hollywood north of Miami.

Are you insane?

No but well educated with accolades, ba, bs, ma, ms, and phd. . Multiple airlines million miler and top level for over a dozen years each at ALL major hotel systems.

Not too considerate are we? Not too tolerant of others preferences are you?

Personally, I would like to be provided with a new mattress (and bedding) every time I check into a hotel-for reasons too numerous and unsavory to mention.