lupine

Well I stayed in a Sheraton property in Arizona two weeks ago, and the first room we had featured 40-50 linear inches of active black mold on the shower tile grout. The second room didn't feature this. Would you think that I am not being accurate if you had stayed in the same hotel and had a room that didn't feature mold?

Would your answer be different if you saw a picture I took there?
http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...NAME=snapfish/

I'm personally quite pleased that the room I moved to didn't have this particular feature, and I'd like it quite scary if many rooms did. I do wish that the camera showed the mold as black as it really was, but it was just a cellphone camera and the lighting was just the bathroom lighting.

NBSPGMEMBER

I wonder when and how this story will end? Any more updates? This thing is a complete nightmare.
I will not stay here in the future, that's too bad because the location is incredible and the views, the views! I guess they only need a full renovation and new staff...

dashi

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9000/5.0.0.238 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/107)

Complaint again

Some hotels within the *wood chain are really old

Currently doing MR @ Le Meridian King Edward and the hotel room is just so so compared to like Westin Harbour Center or Sheraton Centre Toronto

Well, the 2 meridian I been to are both very worned out...

I would rather stay at a new 4P

NJUPINTHEAIR

Hmmm.

Matreess Run usually means cheap to me. LM KE from the reviews I have read = cheap and worn. You get what you pay for and you should not complain what the room is like.

The OP is in a very different league because the Parker is not a cheap hotel, unlike the KE, and one expects better rooms and service for the price.

OP -- Thanks for clearing up that misconception I had from your post. It is indeed strange given the timeline you have given. As others have said, Parker seems to have very poor CS, and your best hope seems to lie with AMEX.

By the way, you are quite wrong with respect to those politician's core constituencies, but that is for another day and another forum.

dfyant

Finally got the first response from the Parker Meridien to Amex, which was forwarded to me.

I don't think they meant to turn over a particular email that was included in their response. It's an email from Josette Hernandez-Coniglio to [email protected]. In that email Josette states that "Guest was then moved to a new room and complained about noise next door and requested a bigger suite for free This was not granted"

That same email says:

• Guest was the cause of an earlier noise complaint
• Guest was not happy that we called him about the noise and we beleive this is why he launched the complaint.
• There was a cigar and ashes in the room
• The room was full of smoke.
• They have pictures to validate the findings.
• The manager on duty (MOD) who was also the housekeeping manager inspected both rooms and found no mold in either room.
• Guest was contacted in his room by the MOD and all issues were resolved and addressed.
• "Please close the file, have a good one!"

These pictures have now apparantly been misplaced, as Amex has insisted on them Starwood won't give them. I'm actually impressed that this very retaliatory hotel hasn't gone so far as to mock up an ashtray and cigar in a room and say it was mine. I have left an unreturned voicemail to Josette (her phone number is in the email) also asking for the pictures and seeking to clarify that I never complained about anyone's noise. I was indeed the cause of a noise complaint as I hugged and laughed with some old High School friends that I hadn't seen in 20 years at my suite. The people next door had newborn twins and called downstairs to ask us to keep it down. When I met my neighbors the following day in the hallway I apologized to them and explained why we had made the noise. They were actually very nice people.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the string of false statements and change of story from this hotel has continued. As part of their response they provided their check-in policy which states a guest may incur a $300 fine for smoking (not $500 but $300). This really is an awful hotel.

I again state for the record that I did not smoke in that room - and I further state that I did not make any noise complaint! I wonder if they'll accuse me of causing the mold next

hoya2lane

Did Amex ever resolve the $500 dispute?

If I were you, I'd file a complaint in small claims court for the $500 plus the cost of the hotel.

It's ridiculous the way you have been treated...and the fact they now claim they found ashes and a room full of smoke. If they have picture proof, they can bring that to small claims court and show the judge. It seems like they are just covering their butts now by throwing out whatever allegations that they can come up with. I'm very disappointed with the way this is being handled. A $500 fine is ridiculously harsh.

dfyant

The fine is only harsh if they use it in a knowingly false manner such as mine.

Amex has upheld the dispute thus far and unless the lovely super-honest staff at the Parker does fabricate and provide photos, Amex will probably side in my favor permanently.

I implore others not to stay here.

Thunderroad

Wow. Quite the saga. OP, the fact that other guests at this property have seen mold and experienced poor service there lends your version considerable weight, IMHO.

One thing I wonder, though: Is it possible that what the hotel staff smelled in your room the residue of cigar smoke that was on your clothes from you and your friends smoking elsewhere, and that at least a bit of that residue permeated the room?

Anyway, FWIW, any time someone has a problem (or of course praise) re a hotel a good place to post it is tripadvisor.com, at the place where visitor reviews for the specific hotel are listed.

KENNECTED

Trip Advisior? What is FlyerTalk, chopped liver??? IMHO, FT is way more reputable than Trip Advisor.

sjuhawk_jd

I disagree. Tripadvisor's reach for hotel reviews is just outstanding and flyertalk is not meant to be a place for regular travelers to check hotel reviews (unless one is addicted to FF as a lifestyle as many of us do)

Sam P. Goodman

Tripadvisor's has greater reach, FlyerTalk is more reputable IMHO. Regardless, sounds like the folks at Le Parker have issues.

dfyant

I'm not an avid tripadvisor user, perhaps I should become one. There are countless reviews of Le Parker like these:

"We have stayed at Le Parker Meridien for the last three years and this was our most disappointing stay by far. What was once a crisp recently modernised property is now seriously fading around the edges and well overdue for refurbishment. Of more concern was the lack of good housekeeping, not general cleaning, but deep cleaning. Our room had very old cobwebs on the light above the bar, a build up of ingrained grease and dirt on the light switches and mould in the bathrooms. Also, the heating/ AC was smelly, erratic and very warm. The staff were as pleasant and helpful as always, but as the hotel was fully booked for the duration of our stay we could not change rooms. We will look for a new hotel next year."


"The worst thing was when you stepped into the shower their was mold everywhere. It was on the roof in many places and not cleaned from the crevices. Hair (black hair) as well. I complained about the mold and they were nice enough to bring up a bowl of fruit. Guess what the fruit was moldy as well! The grapes sticking together, the orange moldy, I was like are you kidding me!


$500 per night gets you:

- No heat in the rooms unless the outside temp drops below 50-degrees (official policy). Try working or sleeping in 51-degree weather

- No included Internet access even if you have Starwood Gold or are staying in a suite

- Inconsistent rates - my colleague and I booked within minutes of each other for the same room, same nights, and got two startlingly different rates. They refused to match the lower one

- An over-priced self-service burger joint

- A pretty good breakfast place (Norma's)

Skip it."


"Beautiful modern interior design (if you like sterile Bauhaus style) but NO COMFORT! I’ve stayed at motels with more amenities than this pretentious joke of a hotel! The rooms have thermostats, but they are not operational during cold months when the entire building is heated up to sauna-like temperatures and the only recourse a guest has, as the manager told us, is to open their window (to the sounds and smells of NYC traffic) or let them put a rotary fan in your room (like sleeping with a helicopter) because the building is very old and doesn’t have modern temperature controls. One wonders if they make everyone freeze in the summer and offer space heaters to those who complain! Mattress was hard as a board. Maid service only made the bed and didn’t replace any used glasses or even empty water from ice bucket (which, incidentally didn’t include a plastic liner –Disgusting!). No coffee or coffee maker in the rooms and for those who pay more to stay on a higher floor for a better view, note there are no ice machines above the 32nd floor. Le Meridien is strictly for the fake cool poseurs and faux hip yuppie suckers who line up to pay big bucks for the hotel’s coffee made from “counter-culture beans!” How do you say “Give me a break” in French?!!"


"The worst hotel experience in my life.

The bed was similar to a slab of concrete (with a pillow top). We could not sleep in the bed.

The roll-away bed that they provided for my son was made in the early 1920's, the plastic mattress had no padding and the metal springs were protruding thru the cover. It looked more like a torture device than a bed.

We could hear the elevators serving the upper floors of the building all night.

The door key does not fit into the pockets of any male clothing.

The bathroom is a well disguised joke.

The Internet access is archaic.

The manager is one of the rudest people imaginable.

It is so French in so many (unimaginable) ways.

I would give this hotel a zero if it was possible except for the fact that some of the staff were actually nice (not the French ones).

The last time something like this happened to me I was staying at the old Ritz in Boston. The next morning the manager said that we did not have a "Ritz Experience" and he did not charge us for the room. That is the way to run a hotel! There are so many other good hotels in New York you do not need to abuse yourself here."



"This hotel left me speechless and not in a good way"


"Found a great price but should have known better. The room smelled funny and truly was dated from the 1980's. TV was broken, called downstairs for repair and they told me to try unplugging then replug. Tried that and called back, they told me sorry it happens sometimes and that there was nothing they could do, they were full. This was a 3 day stay - all with no TV and with complete refusal for any moving, upgrading, or compensation.

Bathroom was also very old and smelled awful (mold on the walls, corroded shower head etc..). I felt like they should rename this Le Parker Motel.

I would suggest staying elsewhere as there are many great hotels in that area. For the price I paid I could have chosen a newer updated hotel. Even if it was free I would not stay at this hotel again."


But here is my favorite review of them all:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ECK_RATES_CONT

This guy above put up photos of the mold like I did here. I imagine they fined him for that too

Thunderroad

Hey, I love FT (except for the spotty search function). But when it comes to travel sites, I'm not monogamous. Tripadvisor is my other true love.

bigguyinpasadena

I agree-and now that they have removed 3 negative reviews of mine(funny-all the positive ones remain ) I have less confidence than ever in tripadvisor.com

Thunderroad

Even though I'd mentioned it, I hadn't checked the TA site for reviews of this hotel until you posted some. What also reflects very poorly on the hotel is the relatively high percentage of "Poor" and "Terrible" reviews it gets.