Update: Corporate filed a complaint against the hotel and GM.
Summary: Beware. This hotel is undergoing LOUD renovations. They may or may not tell you over the phone, like us. So do NOT rely on getting a great night sleep. The hotel is beautiful. Rooms are very nice; what you'd expect from a Hampton Inn. However, as the saying goes, one bad apple spoils the bunch. The general manager (GM), Priscilla Dias, is that bad apple that left me checking out with a bad taste in my mouth. She is "100% okay with guests leaving unhappy," her words. She has no desire to make sure you're happy. She has no customer service skills & I have no idea who gave her the job of representing this hotel.
My 1 star review is based on how this issue was handled. If corporate does something to appropriately resolve this, I will update my review at that time.
Full review:
I stayed the weekend for my birthday in a 2 bedroom suite. The room was beautiful & clean. We were out late & was awoken at 7am by the sound of what sounded like someone slamming a hammer against a pipe & dropping a ceramic toilet on a tile floor. It was impossible to sleep..and I'm a heavy sleeper & I like sleeping in.
We called front desk & they told us it was renovations all hotel guests were warned of & is posted on their website. I booked through the front desk at Hampton inn in Fort Lauderdale & she didn't mention anything. Also, I don't always visit a hotels website. I stay with Hampton inn all over the world when I travel & am a very loyal and frequent customer. She said she can either move us to two separate rooms, which would separate our group... not what we wanted. I was very unhappy with that, aside from having been trying to sleep over the noise for 4 hours. But then she said she'd call to see if they'd be doing construction the next day. Called me back and said they won't be & that we can just stay. Cool. I don't have to move rooms, but I still didn't get any sleep & was upset because of that. I have a chronic medical condition & being on no sleep aggravates my symptoms.
As you may or may not know, Hampton Inn is strong with their 100% satisfaction guarantee policy.
From their website: "..you can count on friendly, helpful service & so much more. Guaranteed. If you're not satisfied, we don't expect you to pay. That's our commitment and your guarantee. That's 100% Hampton®."
So when it came time to check out on Sunday morning, my dad was told she'd just file a complaint to corporate for us since the issue wasn't their fault. That's it. No offer to comp the first night for our trouble & being completely dissatisfied, since that's what their policy says. I was still in the room & was not happy at all with how it was "resolved."
I went down to speak with Priscilla directly. I told her I was very unhappy with how she handled this issue. I reminded her that they have a guarantee that I'm entitled to because of the issues highlighted above. She lied & said that she can't comp our stay & can only file a complaint with corporate. I know very well, especially as a GM, she has that ability to honor their own hotels policy & give us the night free we didn't sleep.
She said that she's there to "protect the hotel" & what happened was not her fault & something corporate has to resolve. She also basically told me to my face I'm a lier because she said I did not speak to a person in Ft. Lauderdale Hampton & it was a 1-800 number. I reiterated that I know the difference because I book with Hampton all the time, both 1-800 number & the hotel property directly, & again said no, it was a 1-800 number & other hotel properties can't access their hotels system. Not true. They do it all the time. When I asked the lady at Ft. Lauderdale Hampton Inn if I needed to call the 1-800 number, she said no it's okay I can do the reservation for you. Either way, whosever's fault it was, they're all one company & I was dissatisfied with them.
I again mentioned their guarantee, which was posted right on their front desk twice. She said that doesn't pertain to what happened with us. Really? So apparently the satisfaction guarantee is only for certain situations, not about our overall satisfaction with the stay? I'm sure no one at corporate would agree with that.
I then asked her, "so you're telling me you're 100% okay with us leaving unhappy?"
With a smirk, she responded "yes, I am 100% okay with you leaving unhappy." Her words exactly. I gave her another chance thinking she MUST HAVE misspoken, "are you really telling me that you are 100% okay with us leaving unhappy today, even though you have a 100% satisfaction guarantee?" She again repeated with a smirk, "yes, I am telling you that I'm okay with you leaving 100% unsatisfied."
At this point, I took a step back & confirmed I was dealing with someone who definitely needs customer service training & that this company needs to reevaluate her position as the face of this Hampton property. read more