Beautiful hotel, but service level borders on criminal negligence
This hotel is beautifuly appointed, glamourous, and very inviting. The rooms appear crisp and the beds are very comfortable. The bars/restaurants are great as is the spa, but it all stops there. The staff doesnt seem to work or care about the guests.
We checked into the hotel on a Friday early afternoon. We were given the gold upgrade, but the room seemed small and all it overlocked was a dirty parking lot.
The sheets on one of the beds was dirty with what appeared to be chocolate stains (I hope).
There was SIGNIFICANT construction noise and vibration going on the afternoon of check-in as well, to the point where we had trouble talking to eachother in the room. I mentioned this to the front desk on our way out to meet friends and was told that it would be over very soon and would not bother us again. When we returned, the noise was gone.
Over the weekend, the housekeeping staff was very inconsistant. Once they only left 1 towel, they took all of our glasses and did not replace, they never replaced our empty shampoos. They also never took out the trash one time, which included leftover food that then badly smelled by the time we got back.
We were at an event late Sunday noght and planned to sleep in and relax on Monday. That did not happen, as first thing Monday morning, the construction noise was back, btu this time, 10 times worse. It sounded and felt as if a jackhammer was going off above our room. I could barely hear the front desk when I called to complain. Not only were we unable to sleep, the noise and vibrations gave all of us severe migrain headaches, and made my traveling companion physically ill. (There was very little drinking the night before, so we can only attribute our condition to the noise and vibration)
Upon calling down to complain, the front desk was very unhelpfull. They appologized, said that the noise was coming from outside the hotel and there was nothing they could or would do. They said they could not move us as the only available rooms would have the same noise level. I asked about compensation and they said it was not their fault or responsibility. I then immediatly called SPG to see if they could help, but since the hotel would not do anything, all they could do was move us to a new hotel (45 minutes drive away) which was not going to work. I asked to speak to the General Manager twice, but he was never available. I asked for him to call me back, but he never did.
Upon waking up on the morning of departure, there were additional charges on our bill. They never comped the internet (as was arranged at check-in with my gold status) and even charged us for extra days we did not use. THey charged us for extra parking, and items from the minibar we did not take. The front desk refused to adjust the parking when I called down, saying only the manager of Wheels could do that. I asked them to have it taken care of, and they refused saying I would need to go down or call him myself. I then asked about what was going to be done about the 2 days of noise that forced us out of the hotel, and I got the same reply that since it wasnt their fault they would not do anything. The woman got very rude and then asked "What do you expect us to do?" I then asked to speak with the General Manager again. I was told he was not available and I asked to speak with him on the phone and she said she would arrange it. It never happened.
When we went downstairs to check-out and speak to the manager, there was no manager available. The woman at the desk (for the first time during the stay) was very nice, appologetic, friendly and willing to help. She acknowledged that there was a problem with the noise and that we did not recieve the stay we purchased. All she was able to do was waive our parking cost (which did not even come close to what we paid for a singly night at the hotel) and provide us with some SPG points. The points she gave us wouldnt even cover half of a night at this property. I thanked her, and asked again for the GM to call me. He still has not. I contacted SPG after leaving the hotel, and requested a call back from him or his supervisor, and no communication has been recieved.
The noise and vibration levels at the hotel with the construction are more than simply annoying, they are dangerous. If a workplace had those levels and did not offer some sort of protection to their employees, they would face severe criminal penalties. I guess its OK for a hotel to put it's guests in that situation, though. I hope that no guests suffered anything more than we did with the headaches and naussea.
This hotel needs to either warn guests in advance of situations like this offer a different hotel prior to check-in, provide rooms that will be further away from the noise, or work with the city or construction company to find ways of minimizing the impact. It was clear that the management of this hotel did not care for the physical safety, let alone comfort, of its guests, as they didn't even care during or after the fact. Their actions (or lack there of) could be considered criminal, as it endangers their guests and threatens their safety.