Pool closed. What would you do?
 

When I am staying at a place for more than one night, I always stay at a place with a pool so that I can swim some laps for some exercise. Anyway, I checked into the Stamford Marriott a few minutes ago only to only to find that the pool is closed all of this week. I am not happy as had I known this, I would have not stayed here and would have stayed somewhere else. I have clients meeting me here so I can't change my hotel at this point in time.

I am not looking for any sort of compensation but I think that this property should have contacted all the guests that were staying here to let them know that the pool would be closed. I realize that it may take a few hours to make the calls but I feel strongly that it should have been done. The front desk was not at all aplogetic or sympathetic but instead said that they worked out an arrangement to use the pool at the local Holiday Inn which is not really within walking distance.

What would you do?

It's hard to know from your post why the pool was closed. If it was closed down for planned repairs/renovation, then perhaps it would have been appropriate to put a notice on their website or contact the incoming guests. If the pool had recently broken down or required some unplanned maintenance, then contacting all of the relevant guests may not have been feasible.

The hotel did make arrangements for the guests to use another pool, even if it requires driving or being driven there. If you’re not looking for any compensation (which, as an elite member, you would probably get) what else do you want? :confused:

I'm at one where the pool is under repair as well although I don't care.

However if it really means that much to you, I would call prior to arrival or in your case booking the hotel. Anything can happen to cause it to shut down but if they have scheduled maintence they should be able to tell you.

If you really want to get something out of them, email them in advance, get their response in writing and if they told you the wrong answer you might be able to hijack them into giving you some points.

The question really begs, what common area amenities is it reasonable to be expected to be in working order? If they are not, what would reasonable compensation be for something like that. I don't have an answer but it is a good question

The pool is closed for scheduled maintenance and repairs. I want the hotel to know that if this is planned then they should be obligated to contact their guests ahead of time. I would no be happy with getting on a shuttle van and going to another hotel when the temperature is going to be in the 40's tonight.

If the hotel has pool, workout room, tennis court, etc. then I always ask during checkin if all of these facilities are open and available during my stay. If any are not, then I expect some type of compensation directly from the hotel, which could be in the form of a discount, dinner or breakfast comp, etc. The fact is that I'm paying for these facilities in my room rate, and if the pool is closed, then I'm not getting what I'm paying for, so I must have some compensation. Using another hotels pool or workout room doesn't work for me. If talking directly with the hotel doesn't work (which it usually does for me), then I have to get on the phone or send off an email asking why that hotel is charging me for something which is not available.

sit-ups and push-ups.

Since there is no way to change the fact that the pool is closed and that you weren't notified of this beforehand, then tell the hotel manager how you feel even if you aren't going to ask for any compensation. If you don't speak up then they will never know how you feel and won't know to act differently in a similar future situation. ...Dr. Phil moment over...

As I think back to my nearly 1000 nights spent in various Marriotts, I don't remember ever being directly notified by a hotel before I arrived that their pool is down for annual maintenance. And I have had times where the pool has been down just like the OP is dealing with. But in all fairness, they have always provided use of a different pool at another hotel. I do agree with the OP though that that can be problematic to use especially if the weather is cold outside. I wonder how many, if anyone, actually goes to the different hotel to swim in its pool? I bet the number is very small as it is definitely a big inconvenience.

In all those times, I don't think I ever asked for any "compensation". But I do seem to remember a couple of times, the hotel staff offered free breakfast, or a suite room upgrade or something similar. Those were probably times that I had planned on using the pool and commented to the staff about it being down with no previous warning. Considering that Marriott has an email address for me, and most every reservation I make has that email in the reservation, there isn't really any reason the hotel couldn't have sometype of automated email sent out to let people know.

Note that there have been times that I have stayed at some hotels where the pool was down due to renovations. And virtually every time there, the website had a notification of such. In fact, quite often in those cases, the reservation itself even mentioned the renovation information, just so I wouldn't be surprised.

Do they have a bike or treadmill? I'd say do something else for exercise.

Would you expect them to call everyone if their exercise bike was broken? What about their treadmill? Where does it end?

IMO thinking they will call you when something is out of order is asking too much.

Most likely whine and moan on FT over something this minor..... :rolleyes:

What would you do if your local beach was closed due to an oil spill? Call the oil company and demand compensation? Or find something else to do for that week....

I don't think the hotel should call every guest and tell them the pool is closed. That's just wasted effort as only a handful would probably even use the pool. Next time, call and ask if the pool is open.

The Stamford Marriott page on M.com notes that the pool is to be closed from 22nd - 28th October.

This was certainly up there a couple of weeks ago when I checked as I potentially had a meeting in the area to attend.

That announcement is publicity enough for me. I always double check hotels I'm staying at nearer the time if I book well in advance. It's inconvenient, but at least they have made alternative arrangements. Most hotels probably wouldn't have gone that far for a 1 week maintenence period.

Confirmed last week the pool would be open - Sadly not
 

I actually moved a reservation from the Marriott in Santiago to the Ritz because of the pool. I found myself actually calling to confirm that it would be open (and silently mocked myself for overkill). I knew that a recent renovation could delay the opening so I was just making sure. Arrived tonight and found out that the pool has delayed its opening once again and noted just now that the website references it being open by the 7th of Aug (6 days ago). This time it really bothers me. I changed hotels in part because of this pool (travelling with my 12 yr old). The odd thing was when I was getting checked in on the Club Floor the man told me they normally make arrangements for guests to use the Marriott pool - but as their pool is currently unavailable there is no option. I mentioned how much this annoyed me and he had no response.
Ok - vent over

Feel bothered that I had put a lot of stock in this pool being available and that they are pretty cavalier in their response.

Since the pool is the reason you chose the property, why not speak to the GM (or other appropriate manager) and mention this? They are not going to open the pool for you, but might provide you with another amenity instead. At the least, I would guess you would get a better apology.

really?????????
with temps hovering around 1C/5F your kid was going swimming......