Starwood Lurker

Sorry. I choose to put effort into something I can actually do something about. And, I do not have the authority to contact hotels on matters such as this.

Still sleeping pretty well about this one. Sorry if you disagree, but the OP was served well in my opinion.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

SoCalPLT

HERE HERE! If an attendant told me I had to move and I KNEW the seats were NOT RESERVABLE then I'd tell him to get the GM down here stat and tell me to move. Have some balls and stand up for yourself! When paying $250+ or even if you are on a discount don't let "the HELP" bully you. Without you they would be flipping burgers at M*Donalds... This kind of treatment gets me MAD

Furthermore, don't loose your cool, just smile and tell them you want the GM down there... don't let them ruin your vacation, you deserve it!

ajnaro

In my opinion, we really ought to believe the Lurker about his job description. After all, he is not just another FTer, but a paid professional doing his job. We can lament the fact that his job doesn't include what we think it ought to, but I don't think we can do anything about the situation. I, for one, regret that his job seems to be primarily unidirectional -- he represents Starwood's points of view to the customers, but his job seems not to include taking our points of view to Starwood. For this purpose he does, however, inform us of the appropriate contacts. This procedure may seem more like a run-around to many FTers, but it has worked for others. To me, it seems better than nothing at all, but far from ideal. The Lurker I would really like to see here would be more of an ombudsman, ready to listen to whatever upsets Starwood's customers and authorized to recommend remedies to the Starwood hierarchy if justified. Does anyone know if ANY hotel or air chain has such an employee?

srsaz

A prior post says that "lurkers" job is unidirectional, meaning he can can bring us Starwood's point of view, but can't take ours to them. If that's true, than I misunderstood his role and take-back my criticisim.

I too wonder if anyone, anywhere acts as an ombudsmum on behalf of primier level customers.

Still, I don't think I'll stay at the RH!

srsaz

DCF

I will be returning to the Royal Hawaiian in March (if it gets round to loading the 5th night free and triple points promotion!). But I am half-expecting trouble, and if it comes I will be going out of my way to cause maximum embarrassment at the beach and at check-in. I'm a quiet, unassuming sort of a person, but if the hotel elects to treat me the way it has mistreated a number of other FlyerTalkers I will assert my rights.

I am a Platinum SPG member, and it will be my third stay in six years. But it is obvious to Blind Freddie that the (mis)management staff at this hotel allow their staff to accept bribes, for example for prime positions at the beach, and instruct their staff to

a) close the beach and pool areas prematurely each evening to save on staff wages,
b) disregard SPG upgrade policy, and
c) hide behind the appalling excuse of "that is reserved for returning guests" whenever guests question this mistreatment.

More worrying is that the hotel management actually backs its staff when they are caught pulling these stunts - which really underlines that the responsibility goes all the way to the top.

The Royal Hawaiian is an historical treasure, and I wish Starwood would hurry up and remove it from Sheraton Hawaii's mismanagement and run it as a St Regis. Until that time we are likely to be stuck with appalling mistreatment for Starwood Preferred Guests, and while I do not blame Starwood Lurker for this, I think it is high time that Starwood took this abuse of loyal customers seriously, and stopped running away from the problem.

dujvari

DCF, Well said. Very well said.

I'll be there in January and plan to do the same.

Northbrook60065

I've been staying at the RH since the late '60's. My parents had a condo in Waikiki that they rented out when we weren't there, and often we had to stay at the RH for the first couple of nights of our visits when the condo wasn't yet available. In high school and college I started vacationing in Waikiki on my own during spring and summer breaks and with my folks during the holidays, and became a "regular" at the RH for the beginning and ending days of my breaks when the condo was rented.

SO, last May I decided to break up a return trip from Tokyo and spend a few days in Waikiki. And I too was told that Row 1 was for guests that have been staying at the RH for years. (I should have been flattered, but I already knew that I don't look half my age ). I laughed and told the attendant that I have been staying at the RH for years and proceeded to take a chair. I was astonished when he came up to me and suggested that I had to leave, as if there was a guest of the hotel that had more of a right to a beach chair than me (I never thought I was entitled to anything more than any other guest, but certainly I wasn't entitled to less). I sat back in the chair and told him that he should kindly put my name on the reservation list, and that I'd be keeping the chair all day. He said he couldn't do that, and I politely told him to go away.

He left angrily, and then came back and actually tried to revisit the reserved chair nonsense. I explained to him that if he mentioned it again I would have him terminated (as if any hotel guest goes down to the beach to be lectured on policies of how and where to use a beach chair). I got nothing but hostile looks from him everytime I got up to get a drink or stroll on the beach.

As a courtesy to him, however, I was thoughtful enough to remind him that I was keeping the beach chair for the entire day, so he'd know that he was not to clear my chair when I went to the health club in the Sheraton Waikiki to workout for a couple of hours, and then again when I went off to lunch. I have never bothered to inquire at any hotel about beach chair policies and would have never known that there is a 90-minute rule. Obviously if every chair is being used and someone wants my vacant chair I'd understand; but since there are almost always open chairs then I expect my chair to be held until I return! (now I get it, there are always open chairs because everyone is told that they're *reserved*).

If this had not happened to me I would have not believed the OP's post. While I think that the conduct of management at the RH is atrocious, I have to wonder why any guest would tolerate such treatment. Most of my hotel and resorts stays are not at properties where I'm a regular, and I think that most people I meet think that I'm a nice, easy-going, well-mannered guy that is easy to please; but I never hesitate to assert myself when someone attempts to mistreat me.

KENNECTED

Ok...You did what I would have done. One question. Did you or do you plan on writing a letter to Starwood telling them about this situation? Hell maybe even the Hawaiian State Attorney General's office would be interested in this?

Starwood Lurker

Thanks. My job is unidirectional as it pertains to hotel-related issues; however, as it pertains to SPG, I can assure you that our members' comments at Flyertalk are forwarded on to the highest authorities in the SPG corporate office. So, in that respect, it is anything but unidirectional.

It stands to reason that I would come across a lot of different issues here at Flyertalk that involve some entity at Starwood, but do not come under my authority...hotel-related complaints and SVO-related issues are two prime examples of this. In instances such as these, I can help anyone with information regarding which customer service entity to contact to get the quickest, most effective response possible, but I cannot work on resolving issues outside my authority. In this vein, I put together the information in this thread a very long time ago, which pretty much tells everyone who they need to contact for what:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...eferrerid=4179

Anyone needing assistance beyond what is listed here is certainly encouraged to send me an email or private mail as an inquiry. I may or not be able to assist personally, but I usually know who should be contacted if I can't.

Hope that helps a little in defining my primary role here at Flyertalk. It feels a bit strange to have to do so after being here for almost six years, giving out the same general information fairly consistently during that time period.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

ajnaro

It seems to me that brands like "Sheraton" or "St. Regis" are simply marketing devices that correspond more to perceived than to actual reality. I doubt that rebranding the RH would make any difference at all in who runs it and with what attitude. After all, nothing really changed when the RH went from LC to Sheraton. With the Sheraton branding expectations are lowered and there are therefore fewer disappointments. As far as Starwood itself is concerned, its directors are probably much more concerned about the possibility of the hotel's owners defecting to a different brand (think Lanai) than the possibility that you or I might do the same. It seems to me highly unlikely that Starwood would do anything at all that might alienate hotel owners.

Sam P. Goodman

I thought I read recently that the Moana was being rebranded as a Westin and the RH as a LC again. Is that so or am I smoking crack (entirely possible).

Eastbay1K

You did read that. Whether or not you are smoking crack is an entirely different and distinct matter.

DCF

I accept Starwood Lurker's comments, but I must repeat...

When is senior management at Starwood going to come down hard on the Royal Hawaiian's management to end the culture of corruption and mistreatment of Starwood Preferred Guests at the property?

No-one seems to want to raise a finger to intervene.

The Royal Hawaiian should not be debased in this appalling way. It is not enough to say "Write a letter to corporate office" when we all know what is going on, and it continues to go on uninterrupted.

I want to know why corporate office is allowing the corruption and mistreatment to continue today. And tomorrow. And the day after.

And I want to know what corporate office is doing to fix it. Put it this way, if the General Manager (Randall Ha) doesn't address the corruption at the beach, pretty much instantly, I assume that he therefore encourages it (or at least condones it). Does Starwood not have a policy on that sort of management?

Mr. Bob

How do you know that has not already happened?

If I were SPG, I would be handling this in house, quietly, and would not be posting on any public board that we had taken action against a property. If you discipline your children do you tell all your neighbors what you have done?

William has already stated "I can assure you that our members' comments at Flyertalk are forwarded on to the highest authorities in the SPG corporate office." That seems pretty meaningful to me.

And the OP who had the problem has already said that hotel management has cleared it up to his satisfaction. He also said he was told that a new GM has taken over operation of the hotel, has uncovered many problems and is working to clean them up. What more do you want?

Have the cabana boys been disciplined? We don't know, nor will we know because the hotel is not going to put out a press release announcing it.

Williams says issues go "to the highest authorities at SPG," and the OP says that it has been taken care of to his satisfaction and a new GM is at the hotel. Sounds like the things you are asking for have happened.

Starwood Lurker

Mr. Bob...there is blood in the water now. It is hard for the feeding frenzy to quiet down.

But, for what it's worth, it is the SPG-related issues that are forwarded to the highest authorities at the SPG corporate office. This isn't an SPG-related issue other than some hotel employees have created a situation that has made an SPG member angry...and rightly so, IMHO.

However, I'm with you. Management at the hotel has apologized, promised to keep an eye on any further negative developments, says a new GM is on board, the OP is happy with the outcome. I'm not sure what anyone else could want for reassurance that Starwood cares about the issue. To me that seems far away from washing their hands of the issue.

Sincerely,


William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]