Originally Posted by andymo99 (Post 24264696)

Upon checkin for a free (points) night, the desk clerk informed me that there would be a $15 facility fee for "parking and Internet."

I replied, "But I get free Internet as SPG Platinum and the website says that parking is free."

He summoned a manager. She immediately waived the fee, but also started saying a bunch of stuff about a "resort fee."

The hotel in question is not a resort!

Originally Posted by andymo99 (Post 24265658)

It gets better. When I replied to his email, I did so by hitting "reply all" to capture what I thought would be one or two colleagues that he had copied. Nope! It looks like I copied the ~40 other guests who received Bryan's email at the same time as I did. I assume he meant to hit us all on BCc. Mistakes happen, but definitely a poor privacy breach.

Anyhow, now those ~40 people have a link to this conversation here. Perhaps one or two will show up and opine. Maybe the Four Points will be issuing a lot of "Facility Fee" refunds tonight! Maybe I should head down for a little happy hour at the bar and meet my new email friends.

Originally Posted by cdancer20 (Post 24641829)

This is good info. I was looking at possibly booking this hotel this summer for a family vacation. However the $15/night is a lot esp for 2 rooms. I looked at your link and sure enough it says parking is free. Did you ever get a response on this?

Originally Posted by Bryan Clancy, Property GM

Good afternoon,

I would like to take the opportunity to apologize for the inconvenience you experienced during your recent stay with us. Here at the Four Points Studio City we take pride in delivering outstanding service and regret we fell short of our goal in this instance. I can assure you this is not the Starwood way. I’m very disappointed to hear about the problems you described below. I’m sorry you had to encounter this and I am very thankful that you have brought this to my attention so I can ensure we take the appropriate action to avoid this issue moving forward.

It does appear our team inadvertently sent the message to recipients in the cc line vs. bcc line. This was a human error and we deeply apologize for this. I will be following up accordingly and addressing appropriately with the team.

In reference to the facility fee, we should have explained this to you at check in and given you some handouts such as our coupon book, activities schedule, discount card etc. The coupon book allows our guests to receive exclusive coupons for staying at our hotel and then to use them across the parks. This is one of the advantages of being a Universal partner hotel which is an expensive process for us. Some of the additional benefits with the facility fee are complimentary parking (website is correct as we do not charge a separate fee as its part of the facility fee), transportation to the parks and many local discounts. Also, last year we completed a million dollar renovation of the pool area and now host scheduled pool activities (live music, magicians, movie nights etc.) multiple days/nights a week. These are scheduled events and vary in days / nights.

With that said, I want to personally apologize for the poor communication on our part. As noted earlier, this should have all been explained at check in and we obviously failed to do so. I appreciate the feedback as we can use this as a tool to better serve our guests as we continually strive for excellence. Its guests like yourself that help us improve and make a difference. As a valued Starwood Preferred Guest, I have requested an additional 2,000 points to be added to your profile. If there is anything else we can do for you please do not hesitate to contact me directly at 407-xxx-xxxx.


Sincerely,
Bryan

Originally Posted by andymo99 (Post 24643448)

Mr. Clancy did indeed respond about two days later. Good recovery but very weak policy. They give you a coupon book and want to charge a "facility fee." Please.

Originally Posted by artccc (Post 25349887)

I am planning a stay there for two nights at the end of December for family in order to Visit Universal Studios and Kennedy Space Center..How are they with SPG Platinium recognition and breakfast amenity? Do they charge these "resort fees" to Platinium guests as well?

I consider also the Universal Cabana Bay Resort as there are many positive reviews on Trip Adviser. How do they compare?