frenchft

Pathetic management, not a Le Meridien and far from the standards... really crappy place.
280USD PER NIGHT..., look at this (platinum 75 here this year) :

- 25+ minutes waiting in line to check in : understaffed, crew checked in at the platinum counter, and not even a “sorry”. Messy and long…
- I have requested to get my luggage (was in storage) delivered in the room (note during booking)…. Guess what… nothing has been done.
- I arrive in the “room” (it’s closer from a rabbit cage than a room) and I realise that :
1. I have not been upgraded even one category (even if rooms, club, junior and senior was available).
2. I am a smoker, heavy smoker (it’s in my file and mentioned at check in) and guess what = I can’t be more far away from the lift (in a 5 floors 1025 rooms hotel, it means long minutes walk to go to the lift. Is it a punishment ?
3. Of course not assigned a room on the club floor (I guess platinum 75 is not enough to get access to this floor).
4. No boiler, no coffee machine, no coffee stick in the room… really? Remember : 280USD / 4 stars.
5. Not even a bottle of water…. Nice touch If you ask me. It’s not a mistake, employees confirmed me that it’s a management decision.
6. Not even a welcome letter, I guess welcoming guest is not part of the culture of this crappy management team.
7. Of course, forget about the welcome gift or anything like an apple or a banana (too expensive I guess).
- They don’t have coffee machine but propose the complimentary (generic I guess, not illy) complimentary signature coffee. It’s mentioned that there is a coffee machine at each floor… guess what : they are no coffee machine, but they don’t care to let this leaflet in the room. 40 minutes searching… poor management at the director of room level.
- Of course my key does not work for lounge access and there is not even someone at the door or a bell.
- The lounge…. Disgusting, dirty, poorly managed, cheap quality products ever… except the view (if a seat is available because it’s the smaller lounge ever, they even refuse access to gold as I heard).
- And last but not least there is no minibar in the rooms and fill it in is not an option, Le Meridien you said? … remember again 280USD / 4 stars.
- Instead they are train station style vending machine at each floor in the lift area… is this what we expect from such a brand? Sorry but it’s pathetic. It’s ugly, insulting for guests, and not what we expect from this brand, sorry but they should be ashamed.
- Of course because they are understaffed for everything, the hallways are full of trash, food, room service dirty dishes, etc. Sounds that it can stay in front of the doors for hours…
- They promote their “amazing steak housse” restaurant… but forget to mention that it’s closed on Sunday (reason : there is nobody going there anyway… sic). Full service hotel, really?
- Of course as they don’t provide enhanced internet for Platinum and offer Internet for free to all guest (even non member)… they have an internet good enough for email but forget about conference call in the evening or watching the news… slow like hell.
- And last but not least, Do not Disturb is not part of the culture here, housekeeping enter the room without knocking to ask for “when do you check out, at 1pm”… nice touch and nice training for the management.

This property used to have 700 employees, now they have 400 for 1025 rooms (bigger property in Paris) and the management is proud of his cost cutting by as confirmed by some employees that : "the guests can complain, it's a not a problem but removing the boilers and coffee machine in the rooms saved them 1M euros per year".

Understafed, poor service and far away from the standards of the brand because of "local management rules"... Sad place and I'm sad for the people working in such conditions.

estnet

So basically nothing has changed - (maybe except a bit worse). Never was wonderful (or even very good), but apparently there are enough people willing to pay the rates so they don't care about us

Yul_voyager

At 120 EUR / night, it's an ok option.
At 280 USD / night, you have been robbed...

frenchft

totally agree. It's an option at 120/150 Eur max. More is waste of money.

frenchft

I've got the change to try the steak house for lunch and was a GREAT surprise, amazing value for money for this area and top fresh products.
27 euros (-20% for platinum) for a delicious Brazilian steak, fresh asparagus and homemade French fries + delicious homepage dessert (cherry clafoutis). Even the béarnaise sauce was homemade. Amazing service and table set up for such price. 100% recommended.

After my complain I have met staff members and I confirm : people there are really great professionals but management and owners are cost killers and not people from hospitality. Sounds that things will change in the following month and Marriott is focusing on bringing back the standards to this property as I understood.

If available at less than 140euros per night, will give them a second try, at least for dinner or lunch in their great steak house. We got here an illustration of how fund managers manage hotels vs hospitality professionals... but let's see if Marriott really enforce the rules and order them to respect the brand standards.

paolo64

It's better in the past couple of years: they used to have a lounge, then closed it; now open again and it's not bad ( Your description of it is a little harsh).

frenchft

I can tell you that for me this lounge is nothing but a lounge by European / asian / Middle East standards, of course better than most of US lounges... but this time (with a huge convention + Rolland Garros tennis tournament, they are partners), the hotel was full of platinum and I have give up with the lounge, seating outside requires to be lucky to get a seat and the f&b selection is poor (cheapest cheese ever, wine is horrible, etc) and understaffed so it's dirty, plates stay on table for ages, buffet is always almost empty and messy, etc. It's little bit harsh, but we talk about a SPG property in Paris, not a Marriott in the US , expectations are not the same ))

frenchft

120 euros is the price of a classic hotel with such small rooms in this area (low season / no convention around).
Paying more is not an option as this hotel is not a full service one right now... and I don't talk about the fitness (almost inexistent) or a gym.
So why to stay in a chain without having the benefits of the chain... ? I will never go back to this place if more than this price and of course I will never redeem 12K points for such a place.

SkyTeam777

What is the difference between a Chic and Smart room? They appear to be the same size, but are they in a different position in the building? or perhaps a different view?

anchor79

Any update for this hotel?

Using points to stay here for 5 nights - wondering if this is a good idea to do so?

Also, I want to ship package/baggage here beforehand - do they charge for receiving packages?

EuropeanPete

You'd have to look at what your alternatives are on points, but I don't think that it's a particularly good choice (or usually good monetary value) as a Cat 5. It's also a hotel which is impossible to love and very difficult to like - It's a clean enough space to lay your head, but that's about it.

I doubt they'd charge for receiving packages as I've never seen that outside of the US, but I'd call in advance just to see how it would work, as when I've left bags there before it was massively disorganised.

gkbiiii

So how is the Hotel & Executive Lounge doing in 2020?
I have stayed at the Hyatt next door, which hotel is better?

CommentatusMaximus

I have not stayed at that Hyatt but I have stayed at this LM and at other Hyatts. The lounge at the LM is more like an American lounge where the space itself is nothing special though the outside seating area has some obstructed views. The food and drink were pretty limited but free and of acceptable quality. My guess is that the Hyatt's lounge is likely better.

paolo64

Both LeM and Hyatt are essentially conference/group hotels. They make most sense for couples/ solo at times when no mega meetings are on and rates are consequently lower. I think they’re quite similar in standard ( Hyatt has the advantage of the more recent...desperately needed...renovation).
One problem I detect with the LeM is that SNAs cannot be used to upgrade a points booking . I used to do it successfully, and quite happily, but the last 2 times I tried I got an error message saying ‘SNAs cannot be applied to your booking’ ( so I cancelled and went elsewhere)
Has anyone else had this problem or was it my bad luck with dates/season/whatever?

UA-NYC

Did the Hyatt last month - really nice property, lounge is on the/a top floor IIRC w/amazing views of Paris. Not crowded at all, good selection.