weirdest problem checking into a hotel
 

So I pull into the sheraton vistanna villages i-drive orlando. The way the entrance is set up there are two lanes, one for guests that have checked in and have a room key that will activate the entry gate, and another for guests wanting to check in who have to talk to a guard. It's my turn so i pull up and a state my name and then spell it. he says he cant find my reservation. i spell my name one more time, still nothing. i show him my app where it says i have a 5 day stay checking in that day, then another screen where is says my reservation number. He says 'how do i know thats you? Do you have a print out of your reservation confirmation?" i say "of course not, who does these days"? he walks back into his little guard shack and closes the door, pretending that I'm not there. mind you a line of cars behind me is building up to the point that there are cars sat waiting on i-drive trying to get into the property. I call the property and explain the situation and without even finishing the spelling of my name the guest services gal has my reservation pulled up and said she will call down to the guard office. Magically about 30 second latter the gate goes up without a peep from the guard who apparently was confused. I guess he thought he was protecting fort knox, or a stockpile of nuclear weapons or something.

Man, what a way to start a few days of r&r after being stuck in traffic for 4 hrs driving out there.

Not sure this is the weirdest problem or even a problem checking in. When you actually tried to check in, did the hotel have your reservation under your name or was there something odd?
Either way, this (a security guard not being able to find your reservation and doing his job to limit access to guests with reservations) hardly seems worthy of spending another moment thinking about.

ok, a weird problem in trying to get to check in. and no, as i said, when i called guest services they found my booking before i was done spelling my last name. nothing wrong with my booking at all.

maybe i didnt properly explain the situation. i was directly infront of a closed security gate. to my immediate left was a guard shack. to my immediate right was concrete bollards. immediately behind me was a line of cars waiting to get into the property. short of ramming the gate i couldnt move. it was at a busy time so the line of cars extended up the driveway of the property and continued onto the highway, thus making it impossible for ANY guest to get in, even one with a room key, because the line of cars wanting to check in blocked the entire entrance at this point.

you seriously think the guard going into his little shack and pretending i wasnt there was 'doing his job'? the door to the guard shack is glass, so he was in plain sight. just sitting there, staring off into space. not trying to rectify the situation.

I wasn't there. But even on your description, I seriously think this is a mountain out of a molehill.

I'm sure it was frustrating for you but I'm not sure what you're expecting here. This probably isn't even in the top 100 weirdest things that happened to FT members trying to check in to a hotel today.

As you indicated, you're kicking off 4 days of R&R. I see no reason for this experience, weird or not, to continue to get in the way of that.

I am grateful to the original poster (OP) for sharing his parking access issue while checking into the hotel.

Happy New Year!

That's a very strange situation! I guess the charitable view is that the guard went back to his hut and was trying to work out the next step because maybe he had not received training for this situation. I'm not sure I understand how the hotel is expected to operate with this system though, what about walk-ins? what about guests who've forgotten their room key? what about guests with reservations they just made online? what about delivery drivers? I've stayed at hotels with strict security (everyone and their luggage had to go through airport-style scanners when entering the building) and even then, anyone was allowed to enter the building to speak to the front desk.

I went on street view for the property and at the check in gate there is a sign that says "All delivery and ride sharing drivers (uber, lyft, etc.) must check in with security & provide a valid drivers license to access the property" so they do have a policy for allowing non-guests into the property. They let the Google Street View car into the property! "How do I know that's you?" is such a strange question with that policy in mind: they could have asked for your drivers license.

Maybe the security guard was having a bad day, or was calling the front-desk to confirm but didn't clearly communicate that to you and your call to the front-desk got through to them quicker than the security guard could. The trip advisor reviews for the hotel seem to be consistently positive about the front gate security, maybe you just got unlucky :(

+1 I agree this was strange. The security guard could have and should have handled the situation better. As others have already noted, I would expect this is a fairly common situation and there should be a standard process in place to handle it. stant Glad it worked out without too much extra hassle. Hope you were able to get back into a relaxed frame of mind to enjoy your R&R.

--Jon

a mountain out of a mole hill? lets say there were 12 cars behind me that showed up at regular intervals. I was at the gate for a little over 15 minutes dealing with this joker. that means he wasted 105 minutes of time from guests, for what? having a chip on his shoulder. I'm not expecting anything here. you have thousands of posts. is this really the first FT story you have noticed where a member says 'guess what unusual thing happened to me on my trip'? it didnt stop me from having a nice trip. 30 minutes later i was in the hot tub with a book. no worries there. I'm approaching the 4 year mark worth of stays at marriott/spg properties. ive never had security physically block me from accessing a property, and by the simple nature of the design of the entrance, block EVEERYONE else from entering the property as a result. I thought this would be an amusing anecdote to report on.

a lot to respond to:
-the guard wasnt trying to fix the situation, as i mentioned the door to the guard shack is glass, he was just sitting there on his stool. I thought maybe he was trying to look me up, but after several minutes i realized he wasnt and thats when i called guest services.
-if you forget your room key you have to use the lane for the guard shack, same as if you were checking in. no idea about walk ins, but given the location i doubt they have many of those.
-ive literally made a reservation there and have the guard shack see it 2 or 3 minutes later.
-deliveries come to this property all the time, I've had a few myself in the past, they have a mail room for guests.
-they let plenty of people on property. ive often met family and friends here. you just give the last name and room number at the gate

Yes, I still believe that you are making a bigger deal out of this than warranted, and should focus on enjoying your R&R. I think my reaction was to the vague thread title. It remains unclear what it is you want from this thread - advice, warning other guests, or just venting.
If it was advice, my advice was to let it go and stop worrying about it and enjoy the R&R you were seeking. You seem to not want to do that. But certainly, my response is not the first time a poster has complained about something and others have suggested letting it go. You now say you thought this was an "amusing anecdote" to share, but the tone and nature of your posts, including the derogatory references to the security guard, suggested to me you were not "amused" but rather outraged. Apologies if that was a misunderstanding.

Also, not sure how you've been staying at "Marriott/Spg properties" for 4 years given SPG went away more than 4 years ago, nor am I clear as to its relevance. Most Marriott properties do not have gate houses with security of course.

I am glad this experience- weirdest ever or not-, despite your expressed concern that this was a bad way to kick off your R&R , did not impact your enjoyment of the property.

I guess not everyone will agree on what we define as strange/weird. So we just have take things in stride.

But IMO, the mobile reservation and an ID should have been enough. It is weird to ask for a printout nowadays..
So no, he wasnt really doing his job because at the end of the day, he still a frontliner in the hospitality industry. You know...First impressions. A simple "one moment while a verify with front desk" would have created a better impression.

Clearly, the original poster (OP) was referring to the total number of stays at Marriott / Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) properties -- almost 365 x 4 = almost 1460 days. Four years ago is not when he began staying. :)

The relevance is that with over 1,400 stays, he has never seen a parking attendant back up check-ins like this. I have been to several properties with such parking controls. I appreciate the surprising and amusing (if not personally involved, otherwise frustrating) anecdote. :tu:

Clearly, I have come to gather that if I say black anywhere on this forum, you will say white. I am not sure why this has gotten so hostile and adversarial. You have already posted once to say you appreciate the OPs (Original Poster's) post. I am glad you will find this useful information planning your beaucoup Bonvōy travels. That of course does not minimize or contradict my (my) reaction that this seems not a big deal.

When someone posts about an experience being the "weirdest," it is reasonable for others (others) to respond that they do not find it that weird. We will have to agree to disagree on to whether there is anything "clear" about the term "four year mark worth." Thank you for speaking for the OP (original poster) and providing an alternate meaning.

As for your response to my failure to see the relevance, we will agree to disagree. :D. Til the next time...

It is when we impute motives to others that we are most likely to err.

I simply check "My Recent Posts".

i already told you i dont want anything. i just thought it was an unusual story to share with my fellow travelers.
one time i told a story in the american airlines bit of FT about when someone pinned a sign on me saying 'you snore loud' while trying to catch some Z's in the admirals club at clt. i wasnt demanding help to track down the perp, i just thought it was a funny story to tell.

4 years as in 4 years worth of stays, ie well over 1300 lifetime nights. starting with spg, now with marriott since the merger.

for the record, without asking for it, the GMs office, head of security, and the individuals direct supervisor all reached out to me. THEY didnt seem to think the guard was 'just doing his job' and their comments about hospitality mirrored other's opinions in this thread. so maybe your black really is white.

Thank you for the follow up! As I said in my earlier gracious post, I really am glad you didn't let this impact your experience and had a relaxing time. And as I also said, I'm not sure why this thread is so nasty and personal.
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Goes to show you that different people have different opinions about things. Lol! Beaucoup Bonvōy to all. May your next 4 years worth of stays have no security guards that offend your hospitality norms!