Lots of noise, dust and no discounts (WSJ)
Jun 22, 2000, 12:51 am
#1
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Join Date: May 1999
Posts: 46,817
Lots of noise, dust and no discounts (WSJ)
Stretched out poolside at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel, Ray Botelho soaks up the sun, enjoys the gentle breeze blowing through the palm trees, and breathes in the salty smell of the nearby Pacific Ocean.
It's just heaven- that is except when the jackhammering starts bright and early each morning. "All you hear is clank, clank, clank," says the sales executive from Pleasanton, Calif., referring to the hard-hats drilling holes in cement and putting up "Danger: Area Under Construction" signs around the property. Mr. Botelho tries his best to, well, relax, but asks the obvious question: "What are you going to do?"
Answer: Not much. Across the country, hotels are in the midst of renovation frenzy that will last well into the peak summer season- and probably into next summer, too.
http://travel.wsj.com/n/SB961441358507766522-main.html
http://travel.wsj.com/n/SB9614413585...ain.html#TABLE
It's just heaven- that is except when the jackhammering starts bright and early each morning. "All you hear is clank, clank, clank," says the sales executive from Pleasanton, Calif., referring to the hard-hats drilling holes in cement and putting up "Danger: Area Under Construction" signs around the property. Mr. Botelho tries his best to, well, relax, but asks the obvious question: "What are you going to do?"
Answer: Not much. Across the country, hotels are in the midst of renovation frenzy that will last well into the peak summer season- and probably into next summer, too.
http://travel.wsj.com/n/SB961441358507766522-main.html
http://travel.wsj.com/n/SB9614413585...ain.html#TABLE
Jun 22, 2000, 11:45 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: Santa Cruz, CA USA
Programs: AA, UA, WN, HH, Marriott
Posts: 7,290
Almost the exact same thing happened to me at a Mobil 5-star property - Marriott's Camelback Inn in Scottsdale. No discounts, no compensation (upgrades, meal credits). Overall, a very disappointing experience. If we go back to the area, I'd probably opt for the Phoenician or the Boulders, if we can find a way to go on points/miles.
Jun 22, 2000, 4:48 pm
#3
Join Date: May 1999
Location: JFK, LGA, EWR
Programs: AA Platinum (Lifetime), United GS, HHonors Diamond, Shangri-la Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 549
i'm not exactly at a 5 star hotel at the moment - far from it. i'm at the doubltree suites in suburban cincinnati (sharonville). but i was shocked to get here yesterday to find the hotel undergoing a major renovation. there's no mention of it on the doubletree website, of course, and no indication that the restaurant, pool and health club are all closed.
fair enough... that's what the WSJ article is all about... and it's happening to all of us as we travel about.
but this is particularly noteworthy to me because i'm here hosting a 2-day seminar for 40 local people. it's a fairly modest event - no room nights (i'm the only one actually staying at the hotel) - but even so, we're dropping close to $2,000 over two days in F & B and meeting room rental.
geez louise... you think someone might have mentioned that there would be drilling, hammering, sawing and workmen screaming just outside our meeting room door all day long. and that parking is severely limited.
our complaints to management have gone mostly unrecognized and we've been unable to get any reduction to our bill.
(on the plus side, however, it's worth mentioning that this is the first of three doubletrees that i've stayed in this year that didn't look at my hilton hhonors card like it had just arrived on a spaceship from a foreign planet. they actually seemed to know what to do with it.)
fair enough... that's what the WSJ article is all about... and it's happening to all of us as we travel about.
but this is particularly noteworthy to me because i'm here hosting a 2-day seminar for 40 local people. it's a fairly modest event - no room nights (i'm the only one actually staying at the hotel) - but even so, we're dropping close to $2,000 over two days in F & B and meeting room rental.
geez louise... you think someone might have mentioned that there would be drilling, hammering, sawing and workmen screaming just outside our meeting room door all day long. and that parking is severely limited.
our complaints to management have gone mostly unrecognized and we've been unable to get any reduction to our bill.
(on the plus side, however, it's worth mentioning that this is the first of three doubletrees that i've stayed in this year that didn't look at my hilton hhonors card like it had just arrived on a spaceship from a foreign planet. they actually seemed to know what to do with it.)