Marriott Hotel Problem

[jpc763]

I wanted to ask you all about a situation that I had recently. I live in Colorado and booked a room package at a newly opened Residence Inn near Denver International. The package included transportation to and from the airport with 7 nights parking. I had never stayed at this particular property but have stayed at others around that also offer the parking package. It was just my 17 year old son and I staying there. We were taking an early morning flight so planned on taking the 6:20 AM shuttle to the airport.

Everything was great until after we checked in. The first thing we noticed was that there was not a comfortable place to sit in the room. The "couch" if you can call it that had a strange slope to the back that put you at an uncomfortable angle and the desk chair was very uncomfortable. OK, not a big deal as we were just going to sleep there. When it was time for bed, we both noticed that the beds were also uncomfortable. Neither he nor I could get comfortable on the bed. We both tossed and turned and woke up frequently. At 3AM, we were both wide awake and decided to just go to the airport. We dressed and went downstairs and grabbed the next available shuttle to DIA. I grabbed the General Manager's business card and fired off an email. I wanted to let her know of my disappointment with the room. As a 20+ year loyal customer with hundreds of nights spent in various Marriott's all over the world, I wanted her to know that I had never had an experience like this. My comfort at Marriott's led my wife and I to actually purchase the Marriott Bed several years ago! I did not ask for anything, just wanted her to know. That email went unanswered.

We returned from our trip with more of my family in tow. It was late and we were all tired. I was to grab the shuttle at the airport back to the hotel and get my car. When I showed up to the shuttle stop there were at least 40 people in line. I called to ask if I was in the right line and was told yes, but there are 2 buses shared by multiple hotels so if you can't make the first, you should get the second. The first bus came and let no more than 15 people on. When it was about to leave the second bus came and would only let 3 people on. The ride to the hotel was 30 minutes round trip so I was looking at possibly having to wait an hour or more to get the shuttle. I called an Uber and went and got the car. So the parking part of the package was worthless in my opinion.

The next day, after not receiving any response, I emailed her again, adding the new part about the shuttle bus. Still nothing and 15 full days after I decided to send an email to customer care at Marriott. That was 10 days ago and while I received an auto-response that day, I have yet to receive an actual response from anyone at either the Residence Inn or Marriott corporate.

I am frankly shocked by the lack of customer service but it may just be the way it is with Marriott now.

Does anybody have any positive experience contacting a hotel or customer care?

 

[SandyPGravel]

I can relate. I have sent off three or more contact forms through the Marriott website regarding our upcoming stay in Puerto Rico. (Not a big issue, we would like to have rooms close together.) I have not received any communication back from the website. I have also tried contacting through messenger on FB and received no response. I think Marriott's CS sucks. I always received prompt responses from SPG. I don't know how it was before the merger, but since the merger CS is BAD.

 

[controller1]

For the past few months, waiting for an intelligent email response from Marriott Customer Service has been intolerable.

As to you stating "I called an Uber and went and got the car. So the parking part of the package was worthless in my opinion", I would think you still came out ahead with having 7 nights of parking at the Residence Inn vs paying for 7 nights of parking at DIA.

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

jpc763, your situation sounds pretty frustrating, and I'm sure I would have blown a gasket if those things happened to me. Especially the shuttle.

As for Marriott, unfortunately, they are probably only partially to blame here. They are responsible for the decor and furnishings decisions within their brands, at least at a high level. On the other hand, the General Manager of the hotel almost certainly does not work for Marriott. Most hotels are owned by private groups, not Marriott. Then, many hire a 3rd party company to manage that hotel for them. So the GM works for the ownership group and are managed by the managing company. As an example, a quick Google search provided me with this info:

The 100-suite Residence Inn by Marriott in Denver, Colorado is scheduled to open this month. Located at 6762 Tower Road, the all-suite Residence Inn Denver Airport/Convention Center will operate as a Marriott franchise, owned by DIA Development, LLC and managed by Baywood Hotels Inc. of Columbia, Maryland.​

I'm not sure that is the place you stayed, but the article is from May 2018. I would try to reach out to Baywood Hotels, if you can find contact info and let them know, not only about your experience, but also about the lack of response. One of my buddies is a VP at a company like Baywood, and he would not be too happy to hear about a GM ignoring a customer email. Good luck!

 

[jpc763]

jpc763, your situation sounds pretty frustrating, and I'm sure I would have blown a gasket if those things happened to me. Especially the shuttle.

As for Marriott, unfortunately, they are probably only partially to blame here. They are responsible for the decor and furnishings decisions within their brands, at least at a high level. On the other hand, the General Manager of the hotel almost certainly does not work for Marriott. Most hotels are owned by private groups, not Marriott. Then, many hire a 3rd party company to manage that hotel for them. So the GM works for the ownership group and are managed by the managing company. As an example, a quick Google search provided me with this info:

The 100-suite Residence Inn by Marriott in Denver, Colorado is scheduled to open this month. Located at 6762 Tower Road, the all-suite Residence Inn Denver Airport/Convention Center will operate as a Marriott franchise, owned by DIA Development, LLC and managed by Baywood Hotels Inc. of Columbia, Maryland.​

I'm not sure that is the place you stayed, but the article is from May 2018. I would try to reach out to Baywood Hotels, if you can find contact info and let them know, not only about your experience, but also about the lack of response. One of my buddies is a VP at a company like Baywood, and he would not be too happy to hear about a GM ignoring a customer email. Good luck!

Thank you! I have contacted Baywood. That is the hotel I stayed at.

John

 

[Luanne]

When I want to express concern, or have a complaint, I find a written letter works wonders. I will usually send a copy to the property involved, usually to the general manager, with copies to the customer service department for the company.

I had an issue, or more of a comment, for two Marriott properties quite a few years ago. They both involved food being left in the units, which meant they hadn't been thoroughly cleaned and checked. I wasn't asking for anything in my letter, I just wanted to express my concern over the issue. I received a very nice letter back AND 20,000 Marriott points.

Another time I had an issue with Hilton. I had pre-paid for a room which was supposed to include access to their lounge, free breakfast, and I don't remember what else. When we checked in we found that that floor and lounge were being renovated. We were given coupons to get breakfast at the Starbuck's in the lobby and told we could go to the bar for happy hour. Not with two small kids, thanks. When we checked out I asked if they could credit the difference between what we got, and what we were supposed to have gotten. The $ difference was about $40. If they'd even offered to cover our parking I would have been fine. But, nope, nothing. So I wrote a letter. I got back a very nice apology AND a free night at the hotel. Since this was a hotel we used (in San Francisco) on a fairly regular basis, that free night got used and it was everything I expected the original one night stay to be.

 

[jpc763]

Thank you! I have contacted Baywood. That is the hotel I stayed at.

John

Well that was quick! I got a call from the GM of the property apologizing for not getting back to me. Seems her email is incorrect on her business cards so she never got my messages. I explained the whole thing and she listened and apologized again. Seems that all the hotels in the area use the same pickup and even though Residence Inn was on the buses I saw,it was the wrong location.

Anyway she talked about training opportunities for the staff and she would look at the room to see if there was anything wrong with the furniture.

She also said she would deposit some points in my account.

 

[sfwilshire]

Those standard Residence Inn sofas are just awful. I always put a couple of pillows from the bed behind me, but even then they are barely usable. The desk chairs are often bad too. And don't get me started on the pillows. But the beds are usually pretty good, so that is on the property, I think.

Glad the manager at least threw some points your way.

Sheila

 

[cali-gal]

My sister and I recently stayed at a Residence Inn. Those pillows WERE terrible. They killed my neck. Otherwise I've been happy staying there, and I've stayed in four recently.