Confused unfriendly staff, confirmed reservations not honored
I am a Marriott Lifetime Platinum and booked a stay at the Marriott Downtown. We were to arrive after midnight and I called two weeks before my stay to advise them of this and to also request a non-connecting room with two queen beds. The day of our stay, we called again to advise that we would be arriving after midnight and to confirm the room requests. When we arrived at the hotel, there was only one person at the desk and we waited about 30 minutes to check in. We were then told that the hotel was sold out and there were no rooms available. I pointed out that I am a Lifetime Platinum and had called several times to confirm the reservation, including earlier that day. They miraculously found a room which was so small, it was laughable, plus the phones in the room did not work despite repeated requests to have them fixed. A colleague who arrived with us was told that even though she prepaid for her room, she did not have a room and was "walked" to another hotel. The front desk clerk was confused and very unfriendly and gave the attitude that "I am only authorized to apologize." Then, there was a convention of teenage girls in the hotel and for some insane reason, the hotel allowed them to have a scavenger hunt which involved finding things on different floors. Guess what? That meant, we consistently waited 15-30 minutes for an elevator. When one did arrive, it was filled with screeching girls yelling about which floor they were going to next and since there was no room, we had to keep waiting for an elevator. The restaurant closed mid-day which meant that if you wanted a late lunch, you had to eat in the horrifically noisy sports bar. All in all, when I go to Chicago, I will not stay in this property. Unfriendly staff, reservations not honored and most importantly, no one on staff seems to care.