The disappointing trend I've noticed is in the Hospitality industry's increasing lack of knowledge of what their purpose is. I understand that they are running a for-profit business, and I have zero qualms with that. My issue is as follows:
When was the last time you opened a Webster's dictionary? Thought so. Dictionary.com defines hospitality as "the quality or disposition of receiving and treating guests and strangers in a warm, friendly, generous way." Many of my experiences have been left short of that definition.
But I don't want to drag down the good places, so I will say that my stay at all three hotels in Costa Rica was beyond expectation when it comes to hospitality, the Embassy Suites is a brand exception to the rule, so the SLO and El Segundo (tomorrow night's hotel; now we're at 15) are also exempt from my consumer dissatisfaction. The Best Western Plus in Downtown Long Beach is solid as well, though pricey for what it is, and the Comfort Inn in Fulton showed some true Midwestern hospitality.
My poor experiences were at two Hard Rocks two Hyatts a Marriott, and a boutique hotel in Chicago. Mistake number one for a couple of these hotels (Huntington Beach Hyatt, $39; Hard Rock San Diego, $39; Sutton Place Hotel Chicago, $55, and probably the same at Hyatt Chicago, but we didn't have a car at that point) is that they charge for parking. Look, the typical guest staying at any of those places in between the parentheses isn't really bargain-hunting, so if the price of everyone's room went up by $20 per night, I'm guessing the folks that didn't drive wouldn't even notice that they were subsidizing those that drove. Wouldn't that be the friendly and generous thing to do, rather than profiteer from parking?
Other issues with a number of these hotels were related to the way the staff interacted with the guests. At the Hyatt in Chicago, the employees at the front desk were not empowered to do anything to help the frustrated guests that were trying to check into their rooms at 4pm (which were supposed to be ready by 3pm), only to be told that the room was not yet ready. To Hyatt's credit, when I sent them a rather terse email about the situation, they were highly apologetic and are sending a $50 gift card, but the point is that someone at the scene should be able to help diffuse the situation, because a number of the other guests decided to dictate their emails directly to the staff in the lobby.
Beyond a lack of employee empowerment, the Hard Rock brand embodies an attitude that does not have the word hospitality in its vocabulary. For the prices that the place charges, you would think that they would treat their guests well. However, in Las Vegas, when you stay in the poolside villa for 3 nights, that will only get you two, that's 2, admission wristbands for their "rehab" pool party. When you have two other rooms in addition to the villa in the hotel, and you ask if they can be next to each other, they look at you as if you're speaking a foreign language. On top of that, the minimalist look inside the rooms is designed to make it look nice, but the quality of the fixtures and furnishings did not warrant anywhere near their nightly rate. As for San Diego, the $39 per night parking, the fact that they pay more attention to the incoming clubbers and pool-partiers than hotel guests says it all. When you stay at the Hard Rock, you aren't staying for hospitality at all, I've learned. Just for the party, and you should feel lucky to be a part of it.
Finally, and backing up the parking issue, why has the hospitality industry become as a-la-carte as the airline industry-- but only in the nicer hotels? It seems counter-intuitive that of all the hotels that I've stayed at stateside in the past year-plus, the only one that provided a free hot breakfast, free parking, a free wi-fi connection, and a flat screen, not to mention a working ice machine on our floor, was the Comfort Inn in Fulton, IL. Yes I paid $100/night to stay there but hey, inflation's a bitch, right? So when I pay more, but a supposedly nicer place has an old-school TV, a broken ice machine, no ice machine on my floor, a $50+ per night parking tab, charges $15/day for wi-fi access, or can't provide compensation of some sort (heck,a free couple of drinks at the bar is an easy way to chill out upset customers), it really makes me wonder if the hospitality industry feels any obligation to be hospitable anymore.
But I don't want to drag down the good places, so I will say that my stay at all three hotels in Costa Rica was beyond expectation when it comes to hospitality, the Embassy Suites is a brand exception to the rule, so the SLO and El Segundo (tomorrow night's hotel; now we're at 15) are also exempt from my consumer dissatisfaction. The Best Western Plus in Downtown Long Beach is solid as well, though pricey for what it is, and the Comfort Inn in Fulton showed some true Midwestern hospitality.
My poor experiences were at two Hard Rocks two Hyatts a Marriott, and a boutique hotel in Chicago. Mistake number one for a couple of these hotels (Huntington Beach Hyatt, $39; Hard Rock San Diego, $39; Sutton Place Hotel Chicago, $55, and probably the same at Hyatt Chicago, but we didn't have a car at that point) is that they charge for parking. Look, the typical guest staying at any of those places in between the parentheses isn't really bargain-hunting, so if the price of everyone's room went up by $20 per night, I'm guessing the folks that didn't drive wouldn't even notice that they were subsidizing those that drove. Wouldn't that be the friendly and generous thing to do, rather than profiteer from parking?
Other issues with a number of these hotels were related to the way the staff interacted with the guests. At the Hyatt in Chicago, the employees at the front desk were not empowered to do anything to help the frustrated guests that were trying to check into their rooms at 4pm (which were supposed to be ready by 3pm), only to be told that the room was not yet ready. To Hyatt's credit, when I sent them a rather terse email about the situation, they were highly apologetic and are sending a $50 gift card, but the point is that someone at the scene should be able to help diffuse the situation, because a number of the other guests decided to dictate their emails directly to the staff in the lobby.
Beyond a lack of employee empowerment, the Hard Rock brand embodies an attitude that does not have the word hospitality in its vocabulary. For the prices that the place charges, you would think that they would treat their guests well. However, in Las Vegas, when you stay in the poolside villa for 3 nights, that will only get you two, that's 2, admission wristbands for their "rehab" pool party. When you have two other rooms in addition to the villa in the hotel, and you ask if they can be next to each other, they look at you as if you're speaking a foreign language. On top of that, the minimalist look inside the rooms is designed to make it look nice, but the quality of the fixtures and furnishings did not warrant anywhere near their nightly rate. As for San Diego, the $39 per night parking, the fact that they pay more attention to the incoming clubbers and pool-partiers than hotel guests says it all. When you stay at the Hard Rock, you aren't staying for hospitality at all, I've learned. Just for the party, and you should feel lucky to be a part of it.
Finally, and backing up the parking issue, why has the hospitality industry become as a-la-carte as the airline industry-- but only in the nicer hotels? It seems counter-intuitive that of all the hotels that I've stayed at stateside in the past year-plus, the only one that provided a free hot breakfast, free parking, a free wi-fi connection, and a flat screen, not to mention a working ice machine on our floor, was the Comfort Inn in Fulton, IL. Yes I paid $100/night to stay there but hey, inflation's a bitch, right? So when I pay more, but a supposedly nicer place has an old-school TV, a broken ice machine, no ice machine on my floor, a $50+ per night parking tab, charges $15/day for wi-fi access, or can't provide compensation of some sort (heck,a free couple of drinks at the bar is an easy way to chill out upset customers), it really makes me wonder if the hospitality industry feels any obligation to be hospitable anymore.
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