WWYD? Stepped in urine in my suite at the St Regis Abu Dhabi
 

First off let me say I have thought long and hard as to whether I want to go full disclosure or not. In the past I've always negotiated with the hotel itself, but this time the GM isn't having it.

Recently I stayed at the less than 2 month old property St Regis Abu Dhabi. Yes, we all know new properties have their issues, but boy was I in for a new one. At check-in I had been assigned a regular room, and I quickly understood why. When I signed the guest form I noticed I had been marked down as "Preferred Guest". When I inquired about it FDA insisted to see my Platinum card. Once this was sorted, a suite immediately opened up. I somehow felt trouble might be ahead...

The really nice and charming butler took me up to a really impressive Junior Suite with an immaculate view of Corniche street and the surrounding sea. I quickly unpacked and went for the windows - the ones in the living room, floor-to-ceiling facing the sea. I took a few shots from different locations and smack in the middle, noticed I had stepped in something wet and as a result my sock was wet. I immediately got a bad feeling and yes, it smelled of urine! I took my socks off and called Butler service. When I went down to sort this out there had been some confusion about me wanting a non-smoking room. FDAs suggested I change into a regular room or they clean my suite. As I had already unpacked I preferred not to downgrade myself and asked them to clean the room. I also asked for my socks to be laundered.

At no point was I offered any sort of f&b for this inconvenience. I later mentioned this incident to some staff and got shocked looks.

At check-out I asked to speak to a manager as it was clear there was no sort of proactive goodwill on the bill. He was apologetic and took off a few F&B charges which he carefully picked. I believe one of the charges he took off was for breakfast, which I had chosen as my amenity anyway.

After my stay I sent a polite e-mail to the General Manager about my experiences and to ask if this was something I should expect at a St Regis. He replied in a polite manner offering his apologies and assurance that my next stay would be better. When I in my next e-mail wrote I felt some sort of point compensation would be warranted, I didn't get any reply. I gave him one week to reply to no avail.

I'm pretty disappointed something like this would occur in this level of hotel and even more so that top management isn't willing to offer any goodwill.

What would you do? Has this happened to anyone else? How did you get compensated? Am I being too fussy?

I'd be pissed.

I haven't experience this, but it seems reasonable to expect one's room to be urine free at any hotel, let alone a St. Regis. Knowing how much F&B $ you were credited may play into whether people think you were justly compensated already, but if you feel you weren't, I'd contact customer care.

This is a classic case of the person I'm speaking with should read my mind. You have a certain expectation. Key word: Expectation. The problem with that is the "expectation" of the guest and staff member may not be the same.


This is a St. Regis and a certain level of service is to be expected. You chose to stay in the room. If I were a staff member, I would think you were ok. I may have sent you a fruit plate or small bottle of wine, for your troubles. However, I wouldn't just give your free stuff, "just because" If I was in your shoes, there is no way in hell I would stay in a room that possibly had urine. It was wet and had an odor, but that doesn't mean it was urine, it could be something worse. In my mind I would think housekeeping missed this. Also I would wonder what the substance is and is it toxic, as I'm asthmatic. I would also wonder if a dog or child was in the room. With these unknowns I would ask to move.


Please answer these questions:
What do/did you want?
Why did you not ask at the time of the incident, instead of later/at check out/post stay email?

Let this be a learning lesson, when unfortunate situations happen, when informing staff.

1. Go straight to the top
2. Handle situation immediately. Not later, not post stay.
3. Don't assume the staff will be proactive in offering restitution/goodwill.
4. Know exactly what you want when you call.

Since you didn't handle this ON SITE, thank him and move on.

I agree that OP should know exactly what he wants and express that to the staff. They want him to be happy, but need to know what will make him happy. (within reason of course)

I'd also point out that as unfortunate as the urine was, it was not intentional and likely not 'put there' by the St. Regis staff.

Urine? On the floor @ St. Regis after housekeeping cleaned up? Sometimes I am not sure to cry or laugh after some posts :rolleyes:

Thats why I wrote what I wrote. Not 100% sure its urine, but in a hotel room with carpet that is light or dark, a wet spot could be missed by a housekeeper wearing shoes.

I don't doubt there was something on the floor, but what it is, is the issue. In my experience, urine by a window would smell. It could be a leak and mold or mildew.

What did I expect? A bottle of champagne at the very least. Do I feel I should *ask* to get a bottle of champagne? Not at all. Perhaps this is a cultural thing, but to me it seems over the top to have to separately request for goodwill.

I checked in and out during the weekend, and it is my understanding that the GM is away during that time. The MOD was the highest I could get at check-out.

A bottle of Champagne? I wouldn't have sent you champagne. If that is all you wanted, what is the real purpose of this thread? It almost sounds like you want monetary or points goodwill, based on your first post.

You didn't get it, you did not effectively communicate what you wanted. For you it seems "over the top" but you cannot expect other people to assume what you need or want.

Move on.

I really hope this is the last of the bodily excretions posts this month. :rolleyes:

Good grief -- how do you KNOW what the substance was which wet the carpet? It could have just as easily been cleaning fluid. Unless you did some sort of lab test I think you are jumping to conclusions.:td::td::td:

AMEN!

Unless there are cleaning fluids that smell of ammoniac / urine that I'm not aware of, it was definitely urine. I was not alone in my assessment.

I just want to know if they cleaned it up to your satisfaction? I figure since you stayed in the room it must not have been that bad. Maybe someone had there dog in the room ? Well I say ask for what you want and see what you get. Maybe the next time you check in there they will give you a VIP suite and all the trimmings if not lots of other places to stay in that area.

I think I'd be able to swallow these threads a little easier if the OP would just start coming out and saying it: I want points, how do I go about it?

Agree!

Agree!

I mentioned both points in previous threads. ^^^