The hotel failed to provide one of the most basic components of hotel stay. A secure, comfortable room and a decent shower are about as basic as it gets.

The hotel should have offered an apology and compensation proactively.

My inclination would be to write an honest online review about your experience. And I would never stay at the hotel again — not because of the hot water failure but because of the uncaring attitude about the failure. But I probably would not ask for compensation.

However, I'm not telling you what to do. You might consider asking the hotel manager what he/she would consider fair compensation if he or she had been the guest. Or you could ask for 10,000 points or 20,000 points or points equivalent to one night at the hotel and see what happens.

I think most of us would go for the ‘quick rinse’ option rather than ‘self-induced hypothermia’ when faced with a hot water failure like this .... :p

Yes! I was without power for over 3 weeks after Hurricane Wilma in 2005. No power = no hot water. I became an expert at showering with minimal contact with water. You douse yourself to get wet, lather separately, and a very quick rinse.

I doubt you'll get a consensus on this issue. Some will insist on a completely free stay; other people would be satisfied with a minor gesture.

As someone who used to work in hotels, I implore you to report the problem immediately next time. (Hopefully, there won't be a next time.) But, it's impossible for a hotel to fix a problem if they don't know it exists. Any time there's a problem in a hotel, just pick up the phone, dial "0", and report it.

Even if that problem can't get fixed immediately for you, consider the fact that you might be helping out another guest who isn't awake yet.

As for compensation, the absolute best time to figure that out is when you are at the hotel. Generally speaking, you'll get a better response when you're standing into front of someone when compared to an after-the-fact email or phone call.

As for what to ask for, I say go with Jiminy Cricket: let your conscience be your guide. If you think your entire stay was ruined by lack of hot water, ask for a full refund (or comparable points). If the shower was a bad part of an otherwise decent stay, ask for something less. There really isn't a correct answer.

When you called down to the desk to report the problem, what did they say? Did they at least offer you another room to shower in?

The worst part of this story is the poor response by the front desk. That, to me, demonstrates that hotel management doesn't care about properly training their associates. Attitudes like that (or the opposite) start from the top. I agree with previous posters who said to let your conscience be your guide in terms of asking for compensation; personally I would just let it go but add the hotel to my "never stay at again" list.

This is the key.

99% of problems are best dealt with on the spot. Even if the room is comped, you still did not get a decent shower. It appears from the conversation with the FD that this was not a universal problem. Presuming that there were empty rooms, this had an easy solution.

After the fact, you can certainly ask for whatever you want and the property can do whatever it wants.

I was on a tight timeline. 7:00 departure and a 5:00 alarm with me rolling out of bed around 5:20. I dind't have the time to call down, but did mention it when I was checking out at around 5:50.

This happened to me at a Marriott in South Florida this week - sent them a text and received 10k points without asking and they sent someone up while I was at work. The next day water wasn't hot again in the shower (was in the sink) and I didn't push the issue as I imagine that everyone was showering at 7:45 am.

A similar thing happened to me at the Element New York and I received 30,000 points... 10K SPG.

A credit of half the room cost or 10,000 points would have been fair for me.

You've lost all your leverage and as a Gold - I wouldn't be surprised if the hotel didn't give you anything

While I am not a "cut it close in the morning" guy myself, I understand this. But I think it's difficult to expect compensation when you don't try to immediately resolve the situation with the hotel.

Case in point. I recently had an issue with a three-night stay in Europe (not a Marriott). Day 1 AC not working, but it's not really that bad, so I didn't say anything. Day 2, AC not working, a little warmer and I call to the desk, who can't seem to get it set correctly and for some reason could not get anyone up to fix it (it was early afternoon). Day 3, the person who was supposed to come up and fix it didn't, I called repeatedly throughout the day. At about 5:00 it was 28 degrees in the room, which is way too much for my cold blood (and the windows could not open). Funny thing, it wasn't that hot out, but it was so stuffy in the hotel that the room just heated up. Hotel couldn't move me but kept offering me "cold drinks" from the bar. Staff was nice about it so I couldn't get very upset, but I still asked for compensation upon checkout, when they told me to write corporate, which I did and got the third night refunded. If I had not kept badgering them during the stay, I would never have asked.

If you don't get what you paid for, the portion of the cost should be refunded in one way or another. You pay for heat/air conditioning, a nice bed, a hot shower, towels, etc.

A $150 voucher credit won't sting a mult-billion dollar company.