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Advice Needed, Hotel Breach of Contract - W New York - Union Square

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Advice Needed, Hotel Breach of Contract - W New York - Union Square

 
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Old Mar 25, 2015, 7:29 pm
  #136  
 
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The fact that the hotel changed the wordings and T&C after the booking to make my plan "illegal" is all I need to go forward with pursuing this. However, I will not stay at this place for fear of "retaliatory" actions on the hotel during the check-out process. I will instead seek a course for compensation but keep it reasonable. If it does not work out, then I will make a formal complaint to the appropriate regulatory agencies. I am more measured in my response as I like SPG generally and I think this is more like an isolated issue then a program issue.
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Old Mar 25, 2015, 7:42 pm
  #137  
 
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Good luck.
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Old Mar 25, 2015, 7:56 pm
  #138  
 
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Originally Posted by donotblink
Actually, it’s not that many:
New York Marriott Downtown
New York Marriott Marquis
Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel
The Westin New York Grand Central
W New York
W New York-Union Square
Thanks for pointing this out. These hotels are not getting any of my business anymore.

Funnily enough, I have stayed at 4 of those hotels. They are some of the more common choices in NYC. As a result, these are probably not very dependent on SPG guests. They probably get enough tourist / other traffic to keep their rooms full throughout the year.
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Old Mar 25, 2015, 7:59 pm
  #139  
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Originally Posted by Astronomer
Thanks for pointing this out. These hotels are not getting any of my business anymore.

Funnily enough, I have stayed at 4 of those hotels. They are some of the more common choices in NYC. As a result, these are probably not very dependent on SPG guests. They probably get enough tourist / other traffic to keep their rooms full throughout the year.
Do not assume. I've been told that the NYC Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Station has the highest percentage of Diamond guests in the Hyatt system. I would expect other similar large NYC properties to be similarly elite heavy as Starwoods or Marriotts.
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Old Mar 25, 2015, 8:28 pm
  #140  
 
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Originally Posted by dcstudent
I agree that the hotel should not have made promises it couldn't keep. That said, we might as well get the timeline right. The OP rented the room 6 months ago, he first spoke to the hotel about his party plans 2 weeks ago.

That said, I don't think whether it is 6 months or two months matters. The hotel employee promised x. The hotel later reneged on the employee's promises, feigning interest in the experience of other guests. Then the hotel decides the original plan is ok, but only if the OP pays for 5K in food and beverage.

In the end, all the hotel cares about is $$$.
Ahh, I stand corrected.
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Old Mar 25, 2015, 9:24 pm
  #141  
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Grand Central Station
Grand Central Terminal FYI, a common mistake...there are no pass-through trains at GCT thus it's not a "station"
helvetic likes this.
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Old Mar 26, 2015, 4:00 pm
  #142  
 
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Originally Posted by donotblink
Also, I think it's worth noting that the hotel has a large ballroom which they advertise as a great space for weddings. Do you think that a couple that is online researching wedding venues and comes across this discussion will be more or less likely to have their special day at this property?
This is a very bad comparison. There's a rather major difference between a ballroom and a guest room. There's also a rather major difference in the money you were offering to spend up front and the money a wedding party would spend to have a wedding hosted at a Manhattan hotel ballroom.
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Old Mar 26, 2015, 4:05 pm
  #143  
 
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Originally Posted by PayItForward
The fact that the hotel changed the wordings and T&C after the booking to make my plan "illegal" is all I need to go forward with pursuing this. However, I will not stay at this place for fear of "retaliatory" actions on the hotel during the check-out process. I will instead seek a course for compensation but keep it reasonable. If it does not work out, then I will make a formal complaint to the appropriate regulatory agencies. I am more measured in my response as I like SPG generally and I think this is more like an isolated issue then a program issue.
OP has two accounts on FT? If not, this response is rather weird.
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Old Mar 26, 2015, 4:18 pm
  #144  
 
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Originally Posted by dcstudent
I agree that the hotel should not have made promises it couldn't keep. That said, we might as well get the timeline right. The OP rented the room 6 months ago, he first spoke to the hotel about his party plans 2 weeks ago.

That said, I don't think whether it is 6 months or two months matters. The hotel employee promised x. The hotel later reneged on the employee's promises, feigning interest in the experience of other guests. Then the hotel decides the original plan is ok, but only if the OP pays for 5K in food and beverage.

In the end, all the hotel cares about is $$$.
I'm still not convinced the hotel would allow an event in a room when it is against hotel policy to allow such an event. Perhaps they have applied some sort of risk analysis to allowing the event to refunding other guests for allowing the disturbance to continue, but I am still of the belief they simply quoted a number that would send the OP looking elsewhere.

The other issue I see with this whole thing is that the OP discussed this with what is a glorified customer service person. Call the representative a poor man's butler or something else, but this was not someone associated with event planning. Perhaps the OP didn't know he needed to discuss planning an event with an event planner, so I digress on that point. A lot of people have pointed out signed contracts, etc. and these are common elements of planning an event that most people should know to work out before proceeding with any sort of definite plans.

However, I see things that are blatantly wrong with the entire scenario, such as the modifications of the hotel website's room description and published hotel policies (even though "no parties" has been a W hotel policy for almost at least a decade, published or unpublished). You can ask them why these were changed, but their answer is not going to make you any happier.

Honestly, this situation should be filed away in a "lessons learned" folder for personal growth. It sucks, but "calling it a day" is likely the best advice to consume here.

They breached no contract. It would seem like perceptions likely changed on both sides. It would seem like the correct people were not at the table discussing the planning. I'm assuming there's another side to this story than what the OP is sharing, but we'll never get that on here. Close the book and move on.
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Old Mar 27, 2015, 12:38 am
  #145  
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Originally Posted by UA-NYC
Grand Central Terminal FYI, a common mistake...there are no pass-through trains at GCT thus it's not a "station"
The #4, 5, 6, and 7 all pass through Grand Central Station.
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Old Mar 27, 2015, 5:45 am
  #146  
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Originally Posted by jibi
OP has two accounts on FT? If not, this response is rather weird.
Sure seems to be the case. Blew his cover in less than a month!
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Old Mar 27, 2015, 6:57 am
  #147  
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Terminal

Originally Posted by sethb
The #4, 5, 6, and 7 all pass through Grand Central Station.
All very OT, but those are subways, not trains; "Grand Central Station" does not exist
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Old Mar 27, 2015, 7:07 am
  #148  
 
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Originally Posted by margarita girl
Sure seems to be the case. Blew his cover in less than a month!
Let's not jump to conclusions. I guess what PayItForward is trying to say is that if he/she was in that position then he/she would do what he/she said in that post.
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Old Mar 27, 2015, 8:29 am
  #149  
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Originally Posted by UA-NYC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_Terminal



All very OT, but those are subways, not trains; "Grand Central Station" does not exist
Those are subway trains. Follow the links in the article you cite and you'll see that.

Grand Central Station most certainly does exist. Ask any native New Yorker.
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Old Mar 27, 2015, 8:36 am
  #150  
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Originally Posted by sethb
Those are subway trains. Follow the links in the article you cite and you'll see that.

Grand Central Station most certainly does exist. Ask any native New Yorker.
The point made up thread is it's official name, according to Google too, is Grand Central Terminal. According to http://www.gcthistory.com/:

Which is correct? Is this building properly Grand Central Depot, Grand Central Station, or Grand Central Terminal?Yes. It is.All three are correct…depending on the year. The original 1871 building was Grand Central Depot. It became Grand Central Station after renovation and expansion in 1901. The new building unveiled in 1913—whose centennial we’re celebrating—is Grand Central Terminal.
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