Extremely Poor Customer Service -- Save Your Money and Stay Elsewhere…read more
The saga at this hotel just continued to get worse.
We booked six rooms as a group, paying rates of up to $450 per night, and virtually everyone in our group experienced problems. In our case, we paid for an air-conditioned room for three days, yet the AC did not work for two days -- while the heat was actually on. Despite calling the front desk repeatedly, the problem was never appropriately resolved.
At one point, Allie (sp?), who originally checked us in, responded to our repeated concerns by saying, "We have given you the manager's fan. What else do you want?" The fact that a hotel charging these rates considers a portable fan an acceptable solution for a nonfunctioning AC system says a lot.
Things became even more disturbing when we spoke with Aureli, the assistant manager. Rather than resolving the problem, the proposed solution appeared to be moving us to an inferior room. When we tried to discuss the situation with her, the interaction escalated and she ultimately left the lobby while asking us to leave.
Throughout our stay, we encountered an astonishingly confrontational attitude from staff. Statements from Aureli included "You need to leave the lobby," "You can't tell us what to do," and even, incredibly, "We have the room but won't give it." She even walked out on us when we tried to ask her the reason she could not change our room. This is not simply poor customer service; it reflects staff who appear inadequately trained in how to handle legitimate guest concerns professionally and respectfully.
There were plenty of other problems as well: our bathroom cleaning was missed, the rooms were extremely noisy due to poor sound insulation, there was inadequate space for luggage, and there was no iron, phone etc etc But those inconveniences pale in comparison with the way guests were treated.
Even more disappointing, Renee, the manager, never once spoke with us, despite the situation escalating to this degree.
I do want to recognize Jenny, who was the one exception. She was courteous, helpful and genuinely tried to assist us, including helping us obtain the manager's fan so that we could at least sleep. We appreciated her kindness.
When one guest has a problem, it can be an unfortunate incident. When a group books six rooms and everyone has complaints about the service, it suggests a much larger problem with how the property is being managed.
For a hotel charging up to $450 a night, the combination of malfunctioning basic amenities, poor housekeeping, inadequate facilities and, above all, shockingly adversarial customer service is unacceptable.
I rarely feel this strongly about a hotel, but based on our experience, I cannot recommend this property. Save your time, your money and your frustration and stay somewhere else. This hotel needs a serious review of its management, staff training and basic standards of hospitality.
