SkiAdcock

Thanks for doing that. I pulled out the details re: the walk policy & added it to the wiki.

Cheers.

lcpteck

I wonder if anybody have experienced being walked from an RC before.

ORD-TGU

Just got walked at a Fairfield Inn; My stay was paid for at the adjacent property.
That same night, made a claim by email to Customer Care. Next morning, by 9am, I had 90,000 in my account and an email from GM asking my address to mail me $100.

Surprised it was that simple. Happy PLT member!

KingBraden

I just showed up at a Marriott, they informed me that they have no power during 3 hours in the middle of the night. One of our companions has medical equipment that requires power constantly. The hotel argued they are honoring my reservation, I say they are not. Is this covered under the ultimate guarantee policy?

MSPeconomist

Location? Why is there no power in the middle of the night? Does this happen every night or is it some planned exceptional event? Also, wouldn't most jurisdictions require hotels to have emergency generators at least to light hallways and staircases, to provide emergency phone service if this requires power, etc. plus the hotel would want power for its computer system, door keycard lock system, certain employee areas. If I have a car with me, I wouldn't like the idea of a completely dark parking lot or garage.

KingBraden

Edinburgh, a one time thing with no notice before I arrived. All I know is I can't get power for the equipment.

CJKatl

Granted, a hotel should have power and should notify you ahead of time if the power is going to be off so you can make other plans if necessary, but I am going to say you and your party share the blame. If you know medical equipment is going to need electricity you should reach out to the hotel ahead of time in the off chance there is an issue like this. After my dad had his first of two heart transplants in 1984 he always needed a refrigerator in the room or access to his cyclosporin if it needed to be kept in the kitchen as well as chocolate milk in which to mix the medicine. For some reason Quik mixed into milk would not work, it had to be the commercially available stuff. We always called ahead of time and there were a couple times we change plans for hotels because of uncertainty.

OT: While my dad was a Presby in PIT another patient, a young girl, became the first person to get a heart and liver transplant at the same time. I've been thinking about her lately, as the little girl's name was Stormie Jones. Her work was performed by the same surgical team and she and my dad were in the recovery room suite together. My gosh did she look so much better almost immediately after her surgery. Immediately after her surgery the hospital released a statement that she was doing well and in fact even drank some chocolate milk. Most people thought that was wonderful, not realizing that she was going to have to drink chocolate milk twice a day for the rest of her life like some people have to take insulin.

teddybear99

Sorry, for bringing this up 18+ months after original posting, but just saw this thread for the first time:

Is it an ADA violation for not providing an accessible room to someone who is handicapped who needs one. I don't understand how and why a hotel who, is required to have these rooms, allowed to deny someone who requested the room. I would have had someone who is knowledgeable about ADA look into this and let Marriott know that they should be more clear on their reservations' website the ability to book these rooms. One should not have to call a special help desk for this access.

I am just learning more about this as both my wife and mother have become handicapped in the past two years. I have started reading the "Travel with Disabilities" forum as well for ideas.

sinfonia

KingBraden, we had a similar situation - we were guests at a Marriott and the person I was traveling with needed a CPAP machine continuously. The hotel suddenly had a power outage while we were there in the middle of the night. It took some doing, but I finally spoke with the manager who made arrangements for us to stay at a nearby hotel (not even a Marriott) and Marriott covered it when he realized the medical necessity. When I called Marriott Platinum CS, I was told that it was actually not required since the hotel could not foresee power outages that were unplanned and that we should have traveled with a backup system if we knew we needed power. That made sense to me, but I was grateful that the manager saw that it was a problem and handled it. Did you speak to the GM?

teddybear99, I had this same discussion with someone in Mr. Marriott's office. Marriott, oddly, sees an ADA room as a "room preference" only. We had a situation wherein we booked an ADA room but the hotel gave us a standard room and said that they did not have an ADA room available. I called platinum CS because I was thinking there was some sort of platinum benefit where you are supposed to be guaranteed a room even if they sell out or something, but they informed me that the ADA rooms are not guaranteed for platinum or anyone. I ended up getting to Mr. Marriott's office. The associate with whom I spoke at the executive offices really did take up our cause and I did believe her when she said that she was going to try to speak directly to those in the executive offices about changing the way Marriott sees it, but as of now, I believe that the policy at Marriott is still that it is a preference and not guaranteed. Unfortunately for those who are in wheelchairs or the like, it is more than a preference - it is a need, but that is not Marriott's current view of it.

Often1

The emergency power outage is a basis for you to move to another property whether you have a medical necessity or not. It's implicit in the marketing that there is power, e.g. photos of rooms with lights on.

"Walk" is a made up term.

If you are seeking compensation, there certainly isn't any obligation by the hotel to provide any, so it comes down to whether it wishes to make a customer service gesture.

Smart thing to do would, of course, be to make arrangements for the individual with the medical need and turn a bad situation into a good one.

Often1

Not sure I understand the issue. Properties are required to make "reasonable accommodations". That could be 5 rooms or 20 rooms depending on the location, size, and experience. But, if there are only X rooms and you are X+1, there won't be a room for you.

Marriott's policy is a bit silly. If there are only 5 rooms and those 5 are taken, better to tell the 6th caller that he might not have a handicapped room and then let him make a decision as to whether he wants to book elsewhere. As Marriott does it, all 6 are left wondering who is SOL.

SkiAdcock

I think there's a difference between the ability to book one & availability. For example, a hotel may have ADA rooms but other guests w/ disabilities booked the rooms or requested them, either online, with reservations or by contacting the property, before you. In that case, even if there are rooms, they're occupied by other who also have disabilities so are not available during your stay. That would not be an ADA violation. However, I agree it should be easier (I've not looked at the website recently) to be able to request one/show it on the website. If you truly need one & it sounds as though you do, usually contacting the property directly in advance is the best option.

Cheers.

KingBraden

I did. He offered to cover an inferior, less convenient hotel. Which I took but told him I'm going to file a complaint. His argument was basically as long as they told us the issue they were still honoring the reservation. I disagree. If they make their rooms uninhabitable (and a room without power is an issue even without medical issues) they cannot by definition honor the reservation.

An emergency situation is fundamentally different. To make an analogy had the notice said that they were testing fire alarms from 1:30 to 3:30 AM, no one would think that is acceptable. But if a fire alarm happens at 2 am they haven't violated the guarantee.

DJ_Iceman

Sometimes hotels need to perform maintenance that requires a complete removal of power. If not in the middle of the night, when are they supposed to do this? The same can happen with hot water (or running water completely), internet service, TV, etc. As long as the property provides suitable advance notice of the inconvenience, I think they've met their legal and ethical obligations to their guests.

In this thread we have an example of a guest for whom the complete loss of power is more than an inconvenience, it is a matter of life and death. While the offer of an inferior, less convenient hotel is being sniffed at, it may have been the best that could be hoped for. I do think a guest who has an out-of-the-ordinary life-and-death issue needs to take some personal responsibility, and also recognize that their situation may (once in a blue moon) result in some inconvenience.

KingBraden

I understand the mindset that if you have extra ordinary circumstances you can't expect constant accommodations (CPAP is pretty common). But power in a hotel room is pretty basic, if I look at the room descriptions they all list power outlets as a standard feature. There is a question is what things is a hotel allowed to take away and still say they are honoring the reservation? 3 hours of no power is a significant loss even without the machine. If they offered a room without a bed, would that still be honoring the reservation?

Maybe I'm unreasonable in assuming a hotel room will have water, power, and a bed. But at this point I've escalated to customer care. I have 8 years of spg Platinum and if it isn't resolved better I'll go back to Hilton.