rcross23

Do you put the deadbolt on your room at night? Do you put the safety lever (or w/e its called) across the door at night? Better yet, do you lock your house at night? But it would take a complete alignment of the stars for something bad to happen to your house, no?

Oh yeah, I forgot, people get robbed and murdered all the time.

Ignorance is bliss...

rcross23

And just because this one instance occurred at the Icon hotel, doesn't mean it couldn't occur at a Fairfield or CY, which are not "upscale boutique hotels." The point, once again, isn't what did or didn't happen in this 1 specific instance, the point is what could have happen given the right (wrong) circumstances. That's not a risk I'm willing to take for my wife and kids...

nacho

It doesn't matter which hotel you stay at, no one should be able to get into any room without a key.

It's a fundamental function that a hotel room should have, and I (hopefully hotels) will definitely define the room as 'unsellable' if the door lock doesn't work.

sophiegirl

I think a hotel room with a lock that doesn't work IS a big deal. Should someone choose to disagree with me, they are entitled. It does not make them an idiot.

Speaking as the wife who could be in the non-working lock room - why in God's name would I be in the room and not have the deadbolt on??? A working lock does not guarantee no stranger entry- an incorrectly coded key, an unscrupulous employee....the FIRST RULE of hotel safety is use the deadbolt at all times..

Not doing so? THAT is idiocy.

And If I am outside the room and the door is open or unlocked? I agree with MSPeconomist - I am not entering the room.

rcross23

BKKLEE

+1
[QUOTE=sophiegirl;18920374] I think a hotel room with a lock that doesn't work IS a big deal. Should someone choose to disagree with me, they are entitled. It does not make them an idiot.

-1
[QUOTE=rcross23;18919180] I still beg to differ on this. I fail to see how ANY sane person could be ok with their hotel room lock not working. That does not equate to intelligence

sophiegirl

.....I agree with this statement completely. You should always use the deadbolt. However, it doesn't negate the need for the lock to work....

rcross23, nothing negates the need for a lock to work. But in the unlikely event it did stop working, and your wife and kids were inside with the deadbolt turned and the flip lock on, they are not at risk.

SkiAdcock

Well now that everyone has exhausted the hypothetical wife/children being at risk scenarios , look forward to hearing back from the OP re: the property's f/u.

Cheers.

thegoderic

email from the GM arrived this morning:-

Your comments did indeed get passed along to me and I want to personally apologize for the inconvenience that you experienced while at our hotel. This type of service is inconsistent with my expectations. I do appreciate your feedback as it allows us to use this information as a training tool.

Situations like this do occur in a hotel, but presenting the right solution to the customer is critical and we fell short on this occasion. I have spoken to both my Rooms Director as well as my Director of Engineering about your experience.

Thegoderic, as a Platinum Level Member, we appreciate your loyalty to Marriott and it is important that you know that this is not the norm for Hotel ICON. Although we did not recover as I would have hoped, we will be adding 10,000 Marriott Reward points to your account.

Again, I apologize for what you experienced at our hotel and hope, that if your travel brings you back to Houston, that I might personally handle your accommodations.

Humbly,

SkiAdcock

Good response, especially his indication of f/u w/ room director & dir of eng.

Cheers.

thegoderic

Yes - I contacted MR because it seemed to me that no-one in the hotel gave a stuff about what had happened, and nothing would change, but it seems as if the GM has noted and responded.

I'll stay there again next time I'm in Houston. I always liked the Hilton but the Icon is on a much more human scale.

fishernrex

I have just experienced the same problem @ the Palm Beach Marriott.

My situation was a tad bit different in that my key worked, the light turned green and I was able to enter. (expected result!).

I stepped out of the room for a second and realized I had forgotten something and simply out of habit reached for the door and much to my surprise it opened... Hum.. a fluke? I tried again thinking maybe I didn't shut the door very well... Nope... Called the front desk and the response was "we'll send someone up." - Ok, no problem. Guy comes, says "Oh, we have this problem, the battery died. I will fix it right now."

HOLY CRAP! Seriously, he takes a screwdriver, undoes the bottom, puts in 4 AA batteries and says "You're good to go ma'am."

So first of all, what idiot designed that program - Dead battery should equal door LOCK, not UNLOCK. Secondly. I have to say, I was a bit upset at the front desks casual response. There wasn't even an apology... Debating where to take this now? Just never stay here again?

rcross23

Wow that is just awful. I would have never thought that could occur bc of a dead battery and that the battery would be so easily accessible from the outside. Of course, everyone should use the deadbolt when in the room, but if this is true, anyone could access your room while you are gone simply by removing the battery. I hope this is the exception and not the rule. I have half a mind to go check my door right now as I am currently in a CY.

fishernrex

Further research has taught me a few things.

1) Many older hotels (this one is nice and been remodeled recently) have access to the batteries from the outside of the door allowing what happened here to be possible.

2) Newer locks access the batteries from inside the room and do in fact default to "lock" rather than "unlock"....

As if I'm not picky enough... I can hear myself now making my next reservations:
"What kind of locks do you have? Are the batteries accessible from the exterior of the door?"

... Ya know they are going to wonder what kind of freak they have on their hands!

4bangn

I'm not sure if a door that doesn't lock or a housekeeper that doesn't knock loud enough for a reasonable person to hear is worse. The housekeeper entered when my fiancée was getting ready which was in plain view of the door(where the full length mirror was). Housekeeper(guy) saw her completely nude. I was pissed. Renaissance Austin was the hotel. There were other issues with the stay such as multiple bugs in the bed(not bed bugs) and lady bird pink tile in the bathroom. I thought renaissance was a hip brand? No breakfast buffet on the weekend? The stay for breakfast rate was misleading when you pay $5 for a bagel against a $20 food credit. Front desk had no idea what bonus bucks were...