Westin Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL [Master Thread]
Jul 25, 2005, 8:09 pm
#31
In memoriam
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Seattle WA
Programs: Kimpton IC, Hyatt Diamond, Gold Marriott, Lifetime Platinum Starwood
Posts: 8,665
Originally Posted by LonLH
After being woken up at 2 am London time by my irate wife and listening to her ranting about Westin Michigan Avenue , I decided to post this since I can not sleep 
She is on a biz trip- all her colleagues are staying at the Fairmont, but they were fully booked up by the time she decided to go. The choice was between Ritz and a starwood property, and I told her to stay in a Starwood property since both of us are SPG plats. She usually stays in W Lakeshore, but they had availability problems, so I booked her in Westin Michigan Avenue as it is close to Fairmont (big mistake).
We had pretty ordinary stays with Westins in the US (no upgrades in the last four stays)- she complains that Westin never upgrades her, so I book her an executive suite so that she doesn't crib. And hey, she is SPG Plat after all, so they should look after her well And she might get an upgrade to a better suite too 
She lands up yesterday evening at 2000 hrs jet lagged and is told at the time of check-in that she is being given an upgrade- of all things- to a junior suite. She tells them that she booked and is paying for an executive suite, not a junior suite. But no, she is getting a junior suite and that is an upgrade since she booked an executive room!!! She luckily had a printout of the reservation which clearly said 700 sq ft and executive suite and the usual blurb. They run around, came back and say they are upgrading her to a junior suite. She does not want this "upgrade" and just wants her business suite- then she is told that all other suites are gone and this is the only one left.
OK, she checks in, is too jet lagged to figure out how the alarm works and asks for a wake up call for 0700 hours next day which is duly registered. And guess what- no wake up call. She luckily wakes up at 0830 hours, rushes to her meeting which starts at 0830- and when she asks them why she was not woken up at 0700, she is told she never requested a wake up call .
She had landed up in Chicago straight from a business trip in Germany, so has stuff to dry clean. Since she is in a hurry to get to her meeting on time (thanks to the wake up call that never happened), she calls up the house keeping who tells her to keep it outside her door and that they will send somebody immediately to collect it. And when she lands up in the evening just now, she finds the laundry bag happily sitting on her bed. And it won't be ready until tomorrow 0800 hours now even with express laundry and she has nothing clean to wear. And no one knows why it was kept inside the room rather than collected and sent for laundry in the first place
This is gist of what has happened in the past 24 hours of her stay in the hotel- there are two more days to go
And I got half an hour of complaint about the customer service from my better half at 0100 hours long distance International. Will keep you posted on customer service, Westin Mich Ave style as I am sure this is only the beginning
She is on a biz trip- all her colleagues are staying at the Fairmont, but they were fully booked up by the time she decided to go. The choice was between Ritz and a starwood property, and I told her to stay in a Starwood property since both of us are SPG plats. She usually stays in W Lakeshore, but they had availability problems, so I booked her in Westin Michigan Avenue as it is close to Fairmont (big mistake).
We had pretty ordinary stays with Westins in the US (no upgrades in the last four stays)- she complains that Westin never upgrades her, so I book her an executive suite so that she doesn't crib. And hey, she is SPG Plat after all, so they should look after her well
And she might get an upgrade to a better suite too She lands up yesterday evening at 2000 hrs jet lagged and is told at the time of check-in that she is being given an upgrade- of all things- to a junior suite. She tells them that she booked and is paying for an executive suite, not a junior suite. But no, she is getting a junior suite and that is an upgrade since she booked an executive room!!! She luckily had a printout of the reservation which clearly said 700 sq ft and executive suite and the usual blurb. They run around, came back and say they are upgrading her to a junior suite. She does not want this "upgrade" and just wants her business suite- then she is told that all other suites are gone and this is the only one left.
OK, she checks in, is too jet lagged to figure out how the alarm works and asks for a wake up call for 0700 hours next day which is duly registered. And guess what- no wake up call. She luckily wakes up at 0830 hours, rushes to her meeting which starts at 0830- and when she asks them why she was not woken up at 0700, she is told she never requested a wake up call
.She had landed up in Chicago straight from a business trip in Germany, so has stuff to dry clean. Since she is in a hurry to get to her meeting on time (thanks to the wake up call that never happened), she calls up the house keeping who tells her to keep it outside her door and that they will send somebody immediately to collect it. And when she lands up in the evening just now, she finds the laundry bag happily sitting on her bed. And it won't be ready until tomorrow 0800 hours now even with express laundry and she has nothing clean to wear. And no one knows why it was kept inside the room rather than collected and sent for laundry in the first place
This is gist of what has happened in the past 24 hours of her stay in the hotel- there are two more days to go
And I got half an hour of complaint about the customer service from my better half at 0100 hours long distance International. Will keep you posted on customer service, Westin Mich Ave style as I am sure this is only the beginningYour wife should directly contact the GM at the hotel and explain her frustrations/concerns
Your wife should email *wood Customer Service as noted on the sticky at the front page
Your wife should ALWAYS select the Ritz Carlton in Chicago - why the tea room alone is worth the price!
Your wife should go shopping on Michigan Avenue to buy all new clean clothes
Last edited by ldsant; Jul 25, 2005 at 9:38 pm
Jul 25, 2005, 8:52 pm
#32
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: MCO-The Mouse House
Programs: AA EXPlt, SPG Plt, Nat EE
Posts: 1,542
Two years ago I had such bad service at this hotel that instead of switching rooms, I switched hotels. I ended up staying at the Chicago River North Westin (I think, anyway it was on the River instead of Mi Ave). Ended up with one the best stays I've had. The General Manager came out to meet me at the desk to appoligize for the treatment at the other hotel. My wife and I were upgraded and treated to breakfast. Best of all, when we returned the next afternoon, there was a voicemail from the GM to make sure everything was ok. A little touch like that goes a LONG way.
William,
Is it safe to guess that one hotel is a franchise and one is corporately owned?
William,
Is it safe to guess that one hotel is a franchise and one is corporately owned?
Jul 25, 2005, 10:20 pm
#33
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 233
Go with River North
The Westin River North is an excellent hotel and has always provided top notch service for me and my colleagues. The Westin Michigan Avenue isn't all that close the the Fairmont either (the Ritz and the Westin River North are closer, and the commute from the Westin River North is probably the easiest - completely avoiding Michigan Avenue traffic).
If you aren't looking specifically for Starwood and budget isn't a concern, I would always stay at The Peninsula or the Park Hyatt, but that's just me.
If you aren't looking specifically for Starwood and budget isn't a concern, I would always stay at The Peninsula or the Park Hyatt, but that's just me.
Jul 26, 2005, 5:53 am
#35
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: PMI
Programs: BA,LH,CX,EK SPG,IC mainly and a few others
Posts: 1,862
Originally Posted by ldsant
I would suggest the following:
Your wife should directly contact the GM at the hotel and explain her frustrations/concerns
Your wife should directly contact the GM at the hotel and explain her frustrations/concerns
Originally Posted by ldsant
Your wife should email *wood Customer Service as noted on the sticky at the front page
Originally Posted by ldsant
Your wife should ALWAYS select the Ritz Carlton in Chicago - why the tea room alone is worth the price!
Originally Posted by ldsant
Your wife should go shopping on Michigan Avenue to buy all new clean clothes
Originally Posted by MJChicago
The Westin River North is an excellent hotel and has always provided top notch service for me and my colleagues. The Westin Michigan Avenue isn't all that close the the Fairmont either (the Ritz and the Westin River North are closer, and the commute from the Westin River North is probably the easiest - completely avoiding Michigan Avenue traffic).
If you aren't looking specifically for Starwood and budget isn't a concern, I would always stay at The Peninsula or the Park Hyatt, but that's just me.
If you aren't looking specifically for Starwood and budget isn't a concern, I would always stay at The Peninsula or the Park Hyatt, but that's just me.
Jul 26, 2005, 6:21 am
#36
Join Date: Jul 1999
Programs: AA 1MM/Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,215
I've actually gotten so frustrated at a hotel and tired of dealing with them that I've called SPG customer service while still at the hotel. The CS people were great, I was promised a response within 1 week from the hotel, and I got one from the hotel's guest services manager.
Jul 26, 2005, 10:39 am
#39
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Originally Posted by BigBopper
...William,
Is it safe to guess that one hotel is a franchise and one is corporately owned?
Is it safe to guess that one hotel is a franchise and one is corporately owned?
Can you guess which one is which? Sincerely,
William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services
[email protected]
Jul 26, 2005, 11:12 am
#40
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: A Southern locale that ain't the South.
Programs: Bah, HUMBUG!
Posts: 8,014
I have a stay booked there in two weeks. Perhaps after all I WILL stay at the Peninsula. Frankly trying to pick a *wood property in Chicago is more trouble than it's worth! I've seen so much conflicting info it's mind boggling. The Sheraton Chicago is better than the Westin Mich Ave. The Westin is better than the Sheraton. The Ws are substandard, the Ws are fabulous... AAAAAARGH.
Last edited by kanebear; Jul 26, 2005 at 11:27 am
Jul 26, 2005, 12:28 pm
#41
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Palm Beach/ New England
Programs: AA EXP 3MM, DL GM, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,382
OP should also request a refund on the rate to the prevailing rate for an executive room. It appears that the front desk did not understand that she had booked a two-room suite, and thought she had booked a slightly upgraded regular guest room.
This is one reason why I dislike the nomenclature (junior suite, for example). The only thing that should be called a suite at a hotel is de minimis a standard bedroom with an additional room with door.
This is one reason why I dislike the nomenclature (junior suite, for example). The only thing that should be called a suite at a hotel is de minimis a standard bedroom with an additional room with door.
Jul 26, 2005, 12:43 pm
#42
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: Used to be elite in UA, SPG and Hertz...now I'm just a regular guy
Posts: 384
Originally Posted by kanebear
I have a stay booked there in two weeks. Perhaps after all I WILL stay at the Peninsula. Frankly trying to pick a *wood property in Chicago is more trouble than it's worth! I've seen so much conflicting info it's mind boggling. The Sheraton Chicago is better than the Westin Mich Ave. The Westin is better than the Sheraton. The Ws are substandard, the Ws are fabulous... AAAAAARGH.
The Westin River North seems to get the most consistently positive reviews on this board.
Jul 26, 2005, 1:33 pm
#43
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 1,394
Originally Posted by kanebear
I have a stay booked there in two weeks. Perhaps after all I WILL stay at the Peninsula. Frankly trying to pick a *wood property in Chicago is more trouble than it's worth! I've seen so much conflicting info it's mind boggling. The Sheraton Chicago is better than the Westin Mich Ave. The Westin is better than the Sheraton. The Ws are substandard, the Ws are fabulous... AAAAAARGH.
The Westin River North does get the most consistent positive reviews.
Jul 26, 2005, 10:23 pm
#44
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: A Southern locale that ain't the South.
Programs: Bah, HUMBUG!
Posts: 8,014
Originally Posted by boolean64
If the only reason you are choosing a starwood over the Peninsula is for loyalty, I hope you REALLY need that last night or stay to make platinum. The Peninsula is light years ahead of any Starwood in Chicago.
The Westin River North does get the most consistent positive reviews.
The Westin River North does get the most consistent positive reviews.