Aug 25, 2019, 7:33 am
The Westin Resort & Spa, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico [Master Thread]
Nov 8, 2005, 9:18 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 22
The Westin Resort & Spa, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico [Master Thread]
William:
I just recently returned from a reward stay at the Westin PVR after a somewhat disappointing visit. This wasn't my worst visit to a Starwood property, but it was up there among the top 10. Considering I've stayed at your properties over 100 days last year and 97 so far this year, that's saying something and I'm wondering what course of action I have?
I'll start with the good news about the visit. I did receive a wonderful upgrade to a suite on the top floor. With that said.
1) After a long drive across Mexico (8 hour drive) we got into the room and were excited to see the hot tub out on the porch. After cleaning the hot tub out from the soot and gravel that had fallen into it, we started to fill it. After it got about 1/3 full, it began to leak all over the patio. We called maintenance, who took about 30 minutes to show up, they looked at it and said the "wires were all busted up, you can't use it until we fix it tomorrow" and then proceed to track dirt and mud through our entire room while he existed. In speaking to the temp manager that night, his basic attitude was "I'm sorry, nothing I can do, just wait." We had to ask a number of times and remind him that I was a platinum after he had said he couldn't do anything before he reluctantly offered to pay for our dinner that night. The next day they spent about 3-4 hours fixing the thing. That night, we again had to clean the soot and gravel (shouldn't housekeeping be doing this?) and it worked, but still leaked, this time not as bad.
2) Soap and free bottled water were never replaced in our room. I had to call every night to get the complimentary products, especially the bottled water which as you know is much more important in MX than in the US.
3) The fire alarm went off in our room and only our room while we were napping and woke us. When I called to let them know, they said they had no clue what I was talking about but would send a maintenance person. When maintenance arrived, they were like, "your smoke detector is dirty, this happens all the time, we will bring you a new one tomorrow." If it happens all the time, why don't they fix the problem instead of it waking and annoying guests.
4) Although the hotel claimed to have wireless internet, the internet was very spotty in our room. At one point, on the first night, the network completely went out in our entire room, and in the hall. Calling the front desk, they said they had no clue what I was talking about. It was fixed the next day, however, this meant that I was delayed in sending a number of important files to a client. In case you were wondering, the wall jack for internet in our room also didn't work, I tried it too.
5) The platinum amenity, a bottle of wine, was very nice amenity, but it gets a bit annoying when you have to call 5 times to get it to show up and it takes 2 hours?
6) Every morning at 4:32am, the AC in the room makes a noise that could wake the dead and lasts for about 1 minute. It woke us 3 nights in a row and the first night, scared us out of our bed searching the room to figure out what just happened. Not fun.
Overall, I was disappointed with the service in a hotel. This is a vacation, I am not supposed to have to worry about the hot tub, the ac, the amenities, the fire alarm. I paid the hotel 10k / night to worry about this for me. Moreover, the Westin PVR is in pretty bad shape. The shower tiles are moldy, the closets have a hard time closing, the hot tub and fire alarms are old and cranky. Don't you think its time for a revamp of the resort? I'm hoping you will let me know the best way to file my complaint.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Eli Diament
I just recently returned from a reward stay at the Westin PVR after a somewhat disappointing visit. This wasn't my worst visit to a Starwood property, but it was up there among the top 10. Considering I've stayed at your properties over 100 days last year and 97 so far this year, that's saying something and I'm wondering what course of action I have?
I'll start with the good news about the visit. I did receive a wonderful upgrade to a suite on the top floor. With that said.
1) After a long drive across Mexico (8 hour drive) we got into the room and were excited to see the hot tub out on the porch. After cleaning the hot tub out from the soot and gravel that had fallen into it, we started to fill it. After it got about 1/3 full, it began to leak all over the patio. We called maintenance, who took about 30 minutes to show up, they looked at it and said the "wires were all busted up, you can't use it until we fix it tomorrow" and then proceed to track dirt and mud through our entire room while he existed. In speaking to the temp manager that night, his basic attitude was "I'm sorry, nothing I can do, just wait." We had to ask a number of times and remind him that I was a platinum after he had said he couldn't do anything before he reluctantly offered to pay for our dinner that night. The next day they spent about 3-4 hours fixing the thing. That night, we again had to clean the soot and gravel (shouldn't housekeeping be doing this?) and it worked, but still leaked, this time not as bad.
2) Soap and free bottled water were never replaced in our room. I had to call every night to get the complimentary products, especially the bottled water which as you know is much more important in MX than in the US.
3) The fire alarm went off in our room and only our room while we were napping and woke us. When I called to let them know, they said they had no clue what I was talking about but would send a maintenance person. When maintenance arrived, they were like, "your smoke detector is dirty, this happens all the time, we will bring you a new one tomorrow." If it happens all the time, why don't they fix the problem instead of it waking and annoying guests.
4) Although the hotel claimed to have wireless internet, the internet was very spotty in our room. At one point, on the first night, the network completely went out in our entire room, and in the hall. Calling the front desk, they said they had no clue what I was talking about. It was fixed the next day, however, this meant that I was delayed in sending a number of important files to a client. In case you were wondering, the wall jack for internet in our room also didn't work, I tried it too.
5) The platinum amenity, a bottle of wine, was very nice amenity, but it gets a bit annoying when you have to call 5 times to get it to show up and it takes 2 hours?
6) Every morning at 4:32am, the AC in the room makes a noise that could wake the dead and lasts for about 1 minute. It woke us 3 nights in a row and the first night, scared us out of our bed searching the room to figure out what just happened. Not fun.
Overall, I was disappointed with the service in a hotel. This is a vacation, I am not supposed to have to worry about the hot tub, the ac, the amenities, the fire alarm. I paid the hotel 10k / night to worry about this for me. Moreover, the Westin PVR is in pretty bad shape. The shower tiles are moldy, the closets have a hard time closing, the hot tub and fire alarms are old and cranky. Don't you think its time for a revamp of the resort? I'm hoping you will let me know the best way to file my complaint.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Eli Diament
Nov 8, 2005, 11:18 am
#2
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Originally Posted by ebd
William:
I just recently returned from a reward stay at the Westin PVR after a somewhat disappointing visit. This wasn't my worst visit to a Starwood property, but it was up there among the top 10. Considering I've stayed at your properties over 100 days last year and 97 so far this year, that's saying something and I'm wondering what course of action I have?
I'll start with the good news about the visit. I did receive a wonderful upgrade to a suite on the top floor. With that said.
1) After a long drive across Mexico (8 hour drive) we got into the room and were excited to see the hot tub out on the porch. After cleaning the hot tub out from the soot and gravel that had fallen into it, we started to fill it. After it got about 1/3 full, it began to leak all over the patio. We called maintenance, who took about 30 minutes to show up, they looked at it and said the "wires were all busted up, you can't use it until we fix it tomorrow" and then proceed to track dirt and mud through our entire room while he existed. In speaking to the temp manager that night, his basic attitude was "I'm sorry, nothing I can do, just wait." We had to ask a number of times and remind him that I was a platinum after he had said he couldn't do anything before he reluctantly offered to pay for our dinner that night. The next day they spent about 3-4 hours fixing the thing. That night, we again had to clean the soot and gravel (shouldn't housekeeping be doing this?) and it worked, but still leaked, this time not as bad.
2) Soap and free bottled water were never replaced in our room. I had to call every night to get the complimentary products, especially the bottled water which as you know is much more important in MX than in the US.
3) The fire alarm went off in our room and only our room while we were napping and woke us. When I called to let them know, they said they had no clue what I was talking about but would send a maintenance person. When maintenance arrived, they were like, "your smoke detector is dirty, this happens all the time, we will bring you a new one tomorrow." If it happens all the time, why don't they fix the problem instead of it waking and annoying guests.
4) Although the hotel claimed to have wireless internet, the internet was very spotty in our room. At one point, on the first night, the network completely went out in our entire room, and in the hall. Calling the front desk, they said they had no clue what I was talking about. It was fixed the next day, however, this meant that I was delayed in sending a number of important files to a client. In case you were wondering, the wall jack for internet in our room also didn't work, I tried it too.
5) The platinum amenity, a bottle of wine, was very nice amenity, but it gets a bit annoying when you have to call 5 times to get it to show up and it takes 2 hours?
6) Every morning at 4:32am, the AC in the room makes a noise that could wake the dead and lasts for about 1 minute. It woke us 3 nights in a row and the first night, scared us out of our bed searching the room to figure out what just happened. Not fun.
Overall, I was disappointed with the service in a hotel. This is a vacation, I am not supposed to have to worry about the hot tub, the ac, the amenities, the fire alarm. I paid the hotel 10k / night to worry about this for me. Moreover, the Westin PVR is in pretty bad shape. The shower tiles are moldy, the closets have a hard time closing, the hot tub and fire alarms are old and cranky. Don't you think its time for a revamp of the resort? I'm hoping you will let me know the best way to file my complaint.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Eli Diament
I just recently returned from a reward stay at the Westin PVR after a somewhat disappointing visit. This wasn't my worst visit to a Starwood property, but it was up there among the top 10. Considering I've stayed at your properties over 100 days last year and 97 so far this year, that's saying something and I'm wondering what course of action I have?
I'll start with the good news about the visit. I did receive a wonderful upgrade to a suite on the top floor. With that said.
1) After a long drive across Mexico (8 hour drive) we got into the room and were excited to see the hot tub out on the porch. After cleaning the hot tub out from the soot and gravel that had fallen into it, we started to fill it. After it got about 1/3 full, it began to leak all over the patio. We called maintenance, who took about 30 minutes to show up, they looked at it and said the "wires were all busted up, you can't use it until we fix it tomorrow" and then proceed to track dirt and mud through our entire room while he existed. In speaking to the temp manager that night, his basic attitude was "I'm sorry, nothing I can do, just wait." We had to ask a number of times and remind him that I was a platinum after he had said he couldn't do anything before he reluctantly offered to pay for our dinner that night. The next day they spent about 3-4 hours fixing the thing. That night, we again had to clean the soot and gravel (shouldn't housekeeping be doing this?) and it worked, but still leaked, this time not as bad.
2) Soap and free bottled water were never replaced in our room. I had to call every night to get the complimentary products, especially the bottled water which as you know is much more important in MX than in the US.
3) The fire alarm went off in our room and only our room while we were napping and woke us. When I called to let them know, they said they had no clue what I was talking about but would send a maintenance person. When maintenance arrived, they were like, "your smoke detector is dirty, this happens all the time, we will bring you a new one tomorrow." If it happens all the time, why don't they fix the problem instead of it waking and annoying guests.
4) Although the hotel claimed to have wireless internet, the internet was very spotty in our room. At one point, on the first night, the network completely went out in our entire room, and in the hall. Calling the front desk, they said they had no clue what I was talking about. It was fixed the next day, however, this meant that I was delayed in sending a number of important files to a client. In case you were wondering, the wall jack for internet in our room also didn't work, I tried it too.
5) The platinum amenity, a bottle of wine, was very nice amenity, but it gets a bit annoying when you have to call 5 times to get it to show up and it takes 2 hours?
6) Every morning at 4:32am, the AC in the room makes a noise that could wake the dead and lasts for about 1 minute. It woke us 3 nights in a row and the first night, scared us out of our bed searching the room to figure out what just happened. Not fun.
Overall, I was disappointed with the service in a hotel. This is a vacation, I am not supposed to have to worry about the hot tub, the ac, the amenities, the fire alarm. I paid the hotel 10k / night to worry about this for me. Moreover, the Westin PVR is in pretty bad shape. The shower tiles are moldy, the closets have a hard time closing, the hot tub and fire alarms are old and cranky. Don't you think its time for a revamp of the resort? I'm hoping you will let me know the best way to file my complaint.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Eli Diament
Best of luck.
Sincerely,
William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services
[email protected]
Nov 8, 2005, 12:53 pm
#3
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: new york, ny, usa
Posts: 13,536
i would reiterate william's advice. for everything i hate about starwood (web site, web site, web site to name three), their customer service is T-O-P K-N-O-T-C-H. virtually every time i have had a problem in the years i have been platinum, it has been resolved at equal or greater than my expectations.
lay out your problems as nicely as you did in your flyertalk post, and i am sure the property will make you feel better.
lay out your problems as nicely as you did in your flyertalk post, and i am sure the property will make you feel better.
Nov 8, 2005, 2:01 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 22
yes fly co to see the yanks... I'm sorry I neglected you. The timing was bad though, you actually responsed right when I was writing the thank you to William, so I didn't see your response till after I had posted the thank you. Had I though, I would have been sure to include you too!
That aside, thank you for responsing so quickly too!
That aside, thank you for responsing so quickly too!
Nov 8, 2005, 6:41 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Riverside, CA
Programs: *wood, UA, HHonors
Posts: 1,581
Sorry to hear you had a tough time. I stayed there for a vacation three years ago and had a really nice time. I was off-season and these great thunderstorms would roll in every afternoon.
Nov 8, 2005, 7:53 pm
#8
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: new york, ny, usa
Posts: 13,536
Originally Posted by ebd
yes fly co to see the yanks... I'm sorry I neglected you. The timing was bad though, you actually responsed right when I was writing the thank you to William, so I didn't see your response till after I had posted the thank you. Had I though, I would have been sure to include you too!
That aside, thank you for responsing so quickly too!
That aside, thank you for responsing so quickly too!
Nov 9, 2005, 3:07 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 13,644
Originally Posted by ebd
William:
Thank you for your quick response. I will forward a similar copy of what I posted to the e-mail you suggested.
Thank you again for being out there for us!
-eli
Thank you for your quick response. I will forward a similar copy of what I posted to the e-mail you suggested.
Thank you again for being out there for us!
-eli
Mike
Nov 10, 2005, 2:18 pm
#10
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Saigon/Hanoi/San Francisco
Posts: 1,779
SPG Corporate Customer Service is the best I have ever encountered. I wrote them an email about my unpleasant experience at a hotel in Mexico. The next day, the Hotel manager called me personally to apologize and offered to compensate for my trouble. Apparently, SPG corporate won't allow the hotel to close my case unless I was completely satisfied with the resolution. ^
Jan 27, 2006, 1:47 pm
#11
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: NYC/SYD
Programs: Virtuoso Travel Advisor. FSPP, Ritz STARS, Rosewood Elite, Belmond BelliniClub. SPG PRO
Posts: 2,445
Westin, Puerto Vallarta (Master Thread)
I am new to SPG. Still not techinically a member.
However. I am staying at the WRS PVR in July for the 4th weekend.
I was wondering if it was in the minds of the faithful here worth the effort to push my way from Gold to Diamond on HH before asking for the comp over to SPG.
Seems strange I know. But with several stays the rest of the year SPG would gain all others after I pushed for DIA on HH.
Basically. Do you think I'll get the upgrade from a confirmed RBC room to a suite as gold? As Plat? or not at all because of the week I'm going?
Thanks
However. I am staying at the WRS PVR in July for the 4th weekend.
I was wondering if it was in the minds of the faithful here worth the effort to push my way from Gold to Diamond on HH before asking for the comp over to SPG.
Seems strange I know. But with several stays the rest of the year SPG would gain all others after I pushed for DIA on HH.
Basically. Do you think I'll get the upgrade from a confirmed RBC room to a suite as gold? As Plat? or not at all because of the week I'm going?
Thanks
Jan 27, 2006, 3:33 pm
#12
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: fwp blood diamond, dykwia uranium
Posts: 7,251
First, definately ask for the match regardless. It'll be another gold card to carry! 
Resorts are weird about upgrades. Due to the amount of packages sold, rooms are blocked off and assigned in the morning. Plus you're going to have a lot more long-term (1-2 week) guests blocking off rooms.
But it's worth a try, I got lucky at the Westin Casuarina in the Caymans
Resorts are weird about upgrades. Due to the amount of packages sold, rooms are blocked off and assigned in the morning. Plus you're going to have a lot more long-term (1-2 week) guests blocking off rooms.
But it's worth a try, I got lucky at the Westin Casuarina in the Caymans
Jul 16, 2006, 9:38 pm
#14
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: ELP
Programs: AA EXP/LT PLAT, Marriott Titanium/LT PLAT
Posts: 4,120
Westin, Puerto Vallarta (Master Thread)
I have 5 rooms for 10 guys to Puerto Vallarta for a GUYS ONLY weekend. All of us are in the 30-40 category and make good money, so we can afford the good restaurants and so forth. Need some suggestions with the following:
1) GOOD restaurants for dinner
2) Good, cheap places for lunch
3) Hot Nightspots
4) Where is the hotel located? How is the beach?
Any thing else, pls let me know...
1) GOOD restaurants for dinner
2) Good, cheap places for lunch
3) Hot Nightspots
4) Where is the hotel located? How is the beach?
Any thing else, pls let me know...