RE: 2 False Fire Alarms in middle of night.
 

Stayed at Renaissance Tulsa for 2 nights on $129/night plus taxes and was loudly awakened at 2:20 a.m. and 4:20 a.m. by false alarms. Both times were told to go back to rooms after a couple a minutes. The next morning posted signs on elevators saying (Sorry for inconvenience but weather caused false alarms). The weather on this Sunday morning in Tulsa was 44 degrees and 20 mph winds. Typical Oklahoma weather. Should we expect or ask for any compensation. Am currently a lowly general Marriott Rewards member with very few points in my account.

Always the compensation.....I don't get it but I'm sure some will say yes.

I've had this happen also a few times. Once it was popcorn burning in a microwave near the lobby! I'm more of a ".... happens" kind of guy vs a compensation type.

YMMV.

Tulsa has a Renaissance?

Is your complaint about the false alarms, or your belief that the hotel provided what you appear to believe is a bogus explanation for the alarms?

I chalk it up to a) stuff happens; b) I'm glad the alarm wasn't real :eek:

Cheers.

What the heck, go for it. I think this is worth about 1 million MR points. And you should ask the GM to gift you platinum status. And comp all your meals next time.

:rolleyes:

Things could have been worse. I was staying with my wife at the downtown Chattanooga Marriott on the top floor a few years ago when a big storm came through in the middle of the night. Lightening hit the building and set off the alarms. We had to walk down the stairs as quickly as we could and then go out into the rain to wait until the fire dept. got there. We then had to wait 30 minutes to get an elevator back to our floor. Then guess what? An hour or so later, the alarms again went off and we had to go through the whole exercise a second time. :eek:

I definitely wasn't happy, but guess what? There just wasn't much the hotel could have done differently. And just because I was inconvenienced, doesn't mean the hotel has give me something extra. Especially given there wasn't much they could have done differently.

Now if the hotel had decided to "work" on their alarm system in the middle of the night and directly caused the problem, I would have a different opinion. But as long as the hotel was reasonably doing what they should be doing, then "stuff happens" and you go on. ;)

Ask to be compensated with a real fire.

A customer-oriented manager will likely give you one in no time.

If you stay regularly at hotels I would think this is a given. I have been a regular hotel stayer for about 10 years now and have had 2 middle-of-the-night fire alarms, both false, thank goodness.

It's a pain and I do see your point, you're paying for a room and a bed, not to stand around on concrete, which you could do for free, anywhere. Having said that, this is one of the vicissitudes of life, a sh*t happens moment. Fire alarms mean less guests die in hotel fires. False alarms are the price we pay for living instead of frying.

I wouldn't have dreamt of claiming against the hotel on either occasion, though I know several tried to get a few quid off the bill. I hope they were unsuccessful.

Others seem to be a bit harsh on you for your seemingly honest, innocent question... I guess everyone's a bit jaded with compensation-seekers...

The signs might have said "Sorry for the inconvenience...weather", but I would interpret it as "it's not our fault the alarms went off and don't bother asking for anything because you aren't getting it!".

Therefore I think your request will fall on deaf ears and I wouldn't recommend wasting your time.

This is tough issue because who really knows if the hotel was "at fault". Maybe the direct cause is the "weather", but if you dig deeper could the hotel owner have selected a better fire system that is less susceptible to weather issues? The discussion could be a long one and likely not worth the effort. Even if the hotel is "at fault", good luck finding a satisfactory middle ground between guests who all think they should have their room comped and management who is probably running on a thin profit margin already in the current economic environment.

My opinion is the hotel management could have been a bit more proactive with their response. A nice spread of bagels, doughnuts, and coffee in the lobby the next morning with their "it's not our fault" sign on the table could have been a more customer-friendly resolution to the issue.

A very nice one. Stayed there several times.

I'm with you.

Sounds right to me.

Wow, you guys are incredibly rude. I hope to God you don't talk to friends you disagree with IRL like you're talking to the OP.

This happened to me once in a Fairfield at Tallahassee -- not to 1-up the OP, but literally 3 fire alarms in one night. I asked them to credit the room fee since I paid money for a fighting chance at a good night's sleep, and their equipment malfunction specifically prevented me from sleeping. It's the only time in my life I've ever asked a hotel to give me money back. They gave a full refund without arguing one bit.

There was a fire last night at the Hampton Inn at Hobby Airport. Not a mere fire alarm, but an actual fire. No injuries were reported, however.

Who had it worse: the OP, or those who stayed last night at the HOU Hampton Inn and faced the real possibility of losing their belongings?

Wow, tough crowd here. I'm no compensation hound but the wx reason provided seems iffy.

+1. And glad for the OP's sake that there wasn't a real fire.

Cheers.

Of course a real fire is worse, but a false alarm is much more the fault of the hotel than a fire.

Now there is a generalization if ever there was one. There are many reasons for a fire to start and many reasons for a false alarm. I don't think I would subscribe to one or the other being more likely to be the fault of the hotel or anyone else for that matter.

Obviously, I don't believe the OP deserves compensation, because unfortunately, false hotel fire alarms happen.

But if he does, can I ask for compensation for the two times I've been woken up by fire alarms at Marriotts, especially for the Newton Marriott where they put signs up near the elevators that they were testing but didn't leave notes under the doors, ergo my parents, who didn't take the elevators that morning, didn't warn me?

Or the extreme fear I suffered when the fire alarm went off at the San Juan Marriott soon after it was (re)opened from its changeover from the Dupont Plaza?

And also, can I ask my landlord for a free month of rent because the fire alarm keeps waking me up when I'm sick? In the middle of March, the alarm went off and woke me up, and it was supposedly because of the weather, evidently a waterlogged sensor.

Thanks for all those who responded, both the tough nuts and the concerned individuals. I am not after the free handout as much as I am bothered by the honesty issue. Blaming the alarms on weather on an average Oklahoma evening was weak.

Fire alarm the other night FI Denver......

Twice but close enough together to consider it once. Took them FOREVER to turn the dang thing off.

They said someone pulled the lever on the 3rd floor.

Compensation? :p

I agree with most here -- just be happy there was no real fire. I'm sure management will look into the cause further to ensure that it does not happen again.

I hope the remainder of your stay was enjoyable.

I was at a hotel recently when the fire alarm went off at 4am (not a Marriott). Called the front desk & they said it was legit (not necessarily meaning a fire, but yup get out of the room). Trooped down 6 flights of stairs & outside next to fire trucks. 30 minutes later all clear & back to room to try & get some sleep. I put it in the 'stuff happens' category (and glad it wasn't a real fire). Didn't even think about compensation.

A few observations:

* It's really interesting to see what people will put on in the middle of the night when they evacuate a hotel ;) :eek: :D In my case, a pair of sweats, running shoes, wallet & room key.

* Next time I'd probably grab my laptop & bring it w/ since it's my main computer & I need the info on it.

* Is it a general rule that firemen are hawt?! :D

Cheers.

Ahh....I didn't grab mine either. that would have been a serious mistake.

I just put on the workout clothes I had on that evening and grabbed my wallet and car keys.

The most annoying thing for me was that dang flashing light.....even under the covers I could see it. ughh

WHAT?!?!?!? Blasphemy!

I know - what can I say? It occasionally happens.

If it makes you feel any better, I was at the Marriott Eaton Centre one time when there was a fire alarm about 3am. They actually came on the loudspeaker & told us we didn't need to leave our rooms, but they couldn't turn the thing off until the fire dept ok'd it. I was glad Marriott had multiple pillows to put over my head, but seemed like forever before the loud blaring noise got turned off.

Cheers.

4 in a week
 

Staying in hotels for the past 15 years.

I had one week where the fire alarms went off 4 difference nights. The interesting part was that it was 4 different hotels. One was a really fire in the kitchen the others were false alarms. Not all the hotels were Marriott.

Interesting had a fire alarm when staying at Sydney Circle Quay and was up in the exec lounge. The attendant told us not to bother going down the 30 floors to the ground level as it was a flase alarm. It went on for about 5-6 minutes.

SM