I used to stay at different hotel chains but recently starting to stay at Marriott more often and kind of like it because of the size of the room. However, one of the staffs at the location I am staying at needs to be coahced on his work ethic. I was checking in the other day at 11:55am and was told there was no room available and I was thinking to myself at this time, noon, weekday, the parking lot is really empty only may be 5 cars in total and I got the closest parking spot to the entrance? Most people should be checked out and in the office. Hmmmm! I then asked him if he can double check and he said if people is not checking out he can not knock on their doors, he was just plain lazy, I was like what can I do and since I have my luggage with me so I went to grab a seat and wait in the lobby. While I was waiting there was a housekeeping lady saw and heard the entire conversation and said to the staff she will go and take a look, she came back in 2 mins and said there is a room available....It tells how lazy the other guy was as I am entitled to upgraded room so he was telling me the entire hotel has no room available at all at 12 noon on a regualr business day..this is hard to believe...anyway i got my room and the next day when I checked out I got a surprise with over $30 on my bill. I asked the same guy the reason and he said because this is the correct rate, the corporate rate I had been paying was for those who stay at the hotel for 30 days a month. He told me he has noticed that at my check in and had corrected it. I basically told him I had no problem paying the rate supposed to be but if I was quoated a different rate when making the reservation and have been paying that rate since the 1 st time I stayed there. It would be much apprecaited if he would have let me know at check in not just adding the charges without letting me know in advance, he did not even apologize at all, this guy needs serious coaching on custome service skill.

FWIW - the only thing I think you have to quibble about is the changing the rate w/o telling you at check-in. If the rate was based on a 30-day stay & you weren't there for 30 days, the increase was appropriate - but he should have contacted you while you were in the room to let you know. And presuming your ressie said the rate you had booked before, he should have honored it & then sorted it out later w/ the accounting &/or Marriott reservation system to make sure the correct rate was quoted in the future based on lenght of stay.

The rooms not being available could be legit & probably was. We've all been at hotels that were fully booked the night before & housekeeping hadn't cleared all the rooms. He was correct - if someone hasn't checked out, it would be inappropriate for him to knock on doors because you wanted to check in before the (probable) check-in time of 3pm. The front desk doesn't usually know which rooms have been cleaned by housekeeping until housekeeping informs them. So someone could have checked out; doesn't mean the room was cleaned & ready for the next guest. And seriously - you're going to base availability of rooms on the # of cars in the lot when you were there at noon? For all you know, the lot was jammed at 7am before people checked out. Also, I'm confused. First you're saying no room was available when you arrived & then you're saying not the upgraded room to which you're (presumably) entitled. Which was it? No rooms at all or the upgraded room?

If you think the staff member needs coaching on customer service skills, you of course are entitled to contact the manager especially if you stay there often.

Also, what's the point of starting a thread to complain about someone at a property w/o mentioning the property? Unless the purpose was just to vent, in which case continue to have at it.

Chees.

+1. An empty parking lot might just mean that the hotel's jammed, everyone's at work and will return in the evening. Weekday, right?

Check in time is 3pm.

PS- Try adding some paragraphs -much easier to read.

I've only been walked twice. Once it was at a CY in CLT. When I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed there were only two cars parked. It looked quite odd, like a ghost town, and I was thinking how quiet the room would be that night.

When I walked into the hotel, it was a different story. Loud people jamming every sofa space in the lobby. The desk clerk explained there were busloads of German tourists and they needed more rooms than were reserved. The clerk asked if I would mind staying at another property and gave me the choice of which one. My coworker who was also supposed to stay at the same CY was given the same offer.

My point is the parking lot tells you nothing. (My point is not that German tourists are loud, just these specific German tourists.)

As noted, check-in is 3pm - so anything earlier is a courtesy.

Keep in mind with checkout being usually 11am or 12pm, housekeeping has to clean rooms. Housekeeping usually updates the computers when they're done with a floor - not each specific room.

Also, I'm guessing you were at a Residence Inn or a TownePlace Suites? The rates definitely vary by length of stay & they tell you pretty clearly that your rate may change based on early checkout.

I don't think this guy needs to be coached on his work ethic and it doesn't really sound like bad service to me.

It tells you something. Just not everything.

No rooms at all


I called at 8am to see if there is any room available and the front desk said no. advised me check in is at 12 noon, therefore, I went there at noon and the guy there also confirmed the same time. Check-in time for many hotels is 3pm but not for all.

For sure adding paragraphs is much easier to read, thanks for pointing that out

As per the norm, the Marriott apologists are out in force. "Take what Marriott gives!" say the apologists. "Anything else is a courtesy...."

Clearly the check-in guy isn't doing his job if the housekeeping staff has to correct him on room availability, right? And clearly the check-in guy isn't treating customers very well if he jacks their rates after quoting a lower rate and with no warning, right?

Forget all the hoopty with the parking lot - those are the two issues, and while the OP's writeup *IS* pretty poor, it seems clear to me that he has a real beef.

My only question is this: Did OP *do* something about it, or is he only ranting on an internet board because that's what's easy?

Gotta beef? Call the GM and Marriott customer service and do something about it. Don't complain to FT unless you're at least gonna tell us what property it is so we can know to avoid it.

I would say almost all the time at check in the rate is either stated or written on the card holder that is given to me. If this was done at one rate and then raised to the higher rate. I think discussing with the GM and Marriott CS would be warranted.

Who knows how many people are staying based on a parking lot at noon.

Housekeekping:

Booked 2 rooms at the Windsor/Slough Marriott. Checked in about 4pm, rooms are ready but not upgraded. Went to rooms and the second was not clean, this was not a problem of the FD but housekeeping not doing their job. I base this on the fact that both room had welcome notes from the GM to me, stayed before at the hotel. Rang FD from the room and issue was resolved by moving rooms. Did speak to the FD supervisor so a note could be made about the housekeeping

This shows that FD normal have to take housekeeping are telling them about readiness of the rooms.

Rate change:

Book a room at Desert Ridge, decided to upgrade for Cloud Club access a couple of days before checkin. Assumed the rate would change by 40USD but when I came to checkin the rate had suddenly changed by 150USD. I queried this with the front desk and as I did not have the original confirmation would not agree to change the rate back plus 40. As I had no way to get the original email sent to me 6 months before. I argued on the grounds that the rate had changed in the last 48 hours and did they not have an audit system of amendments. No was the answer.

I called Platinum Line and got a very helpful lady to find that the rate changed the day before arrival and that she would fax over a copy of the screen to the hotel. The hotel changed the rate back and also forgot to charge the resort fee.

I complained in both cases but it would not stop me from staying at either hotel as stuff happens.

I think the OP was "lucky" enough to get a lazy member of staff who was not going to go out of their way to be helpful.

SM

(PS - Checkin last week at 5.30PM and the room was not ready, told to go the bar and order a drink and the FD would pick up the check. In the end got a key cut for the exec lounge and had a drink in there. Hotel Manchester Airport)

So, you weren't okay with them changing the rate when it would cost you more, but you were okay with ripping them off for the resort fee? Why did you not point out the discrepancy to them?

Maybe because the resort fee is a scam that resorts use to trick people into paying more? Getting the room rate "forgotten" is one thing, but getting away with not being hit by the bogus "room rate component we decided to split off to deceive you" surcharge is quite another.

Sorry.

You know, I'm getting a bit tired of the 'apologists' comments that are being thrown around by dif FTers, simply because someone doesn't necessarily agree w/ a person's posting. Goodness knows I've ripped on Marriott a number of times & will continue to do so in the future when warranted. That doesn't mean I need to agree w/ every person's complaint or rant.

For example, just because a hotel parking lot is empty in the middle of the day does not correlate to minimal room bookings for the upcoming evening or the past evening.

Front desks are dependent upon housekeeping letting them know if a room is available. It's not appropriate for f.d. personnel to go knocking on doors of other guests saying, are you gone yet, would you get out, we've got someone ready to check in. Some housekeeping depts are good about letting f.d. know; others not so much. A proactive f.d. could call housekeeping & ask for a status update. As the OP discovered at that particular hotel, the f.d. person he was dealing with wasn't as proactive.

As I mentioned in my original response, if the OP was staying less than the 30 days the rate was based on, then adjusting the rate isn't totally out of line. But I also noted that if he had documentation, the hotel should honor it & talk to their internal accounting dept or Marriott to make sure the rates are loaded correctly for future or note that rates will change if check-out is less.

And while the OP has come back to post, he hasn't mentioned yet what the property is or if he contacted management while he was there to address his issues/concerns.

Cheers.