It all started at arrival. Before leaving home, I checked the address on my e-mail confirmation, plugged it into MapQuest, and printed out my directions. I landed a little after 7:30PM, got my rental car, and headed off to the hotel. The drive from the airport was easy and I soon found myself parked at the hotel entrance. I took my bag out of the car, tipped the valet, and happily, headed to the front desk. I gave the desk clerk my name. He looked at his computer screen and promptly said (somewhat snidely) “We have you at the other hotel.”
Other hotel, I thought? Huh? I asked the desk clerk "So, I'm not staying at this hotel?" "No," he replied, "You need to go to the other hotel." Too tired to argue and figuring I must have made some sort of mistake mistake, I asked the clerk if he could tell me how to get there. "It's easy," he shot back and proceeded to tell me to turn here, turn there, then turn again, blah - blah -blah. "Could you write those down for me, please?" I asked. He handed me a pre-printed sheet with directions and, before I knew it, I was back in my car driving to the other Westin property in Hollywood.
Upon arriving there, I was greeted by another valet. He, of course, also needed to be tipped. I went to the front desk and, sure enough, they told me they had a room for me. I checked in, went to my room, unpacked and, with nothing better to do, began to check e-mail. Immediately, I got a message from one of my colleagues. She was livid. “They don’t have a room for me at the hotel,” she wrote. “They’re overbooked.”
I don’t know about you but I’ve never heard of a hotel being overbooked. I thought that only happened with airplanes. Who knew it could also happen with a hotel? And, by the way, how about some sort of proactive acknowledgement of that to me and an apology instead of the pretty rude brush-off that I got when I showed inquiring about my room?
Oh, well, I figured. I'll just deal with it. So, I settled in for my stay.
Have I mentioned yet that the Westin where I was supposed to be staying was a beautiful skyscraper of modern design, set right on the beach, with several pools, multiple dining options, and loads of beautiful people? And that the Westin to which they “re-directed” me was a half-mile off the beach, around the corner from a Burger King and a Wal-Mart, and across the street from some rather ratty apartments? Or that all my meetings were at the beach hotel? Every single time I had to go back and forth between properties, I had to deal with multiple tip-expecting valets? By day two, I was cashing in ten-dollar bills for singles.
At the beach hotel, rooms have beautiful balconies that overlook the Atlantic Ocean. My view from my second floor balcony? You guessed it - an unencumbered view of the front entryway where guests arrive and depart. Just lovely.
What else can I tell you? Oh, right. The safe in my room didn’t work. I told the front desk. They sent someone up who couldn't fix it and then never made any further attempt to help me out. The restaurant (that’s right – the lone restaurant) was closed all day on Friday. They were kind enough to slip a note under my door about that on Thursday evening. In a very thoughtful gesture, the note told me that the front desk would be happy to make reservations for me at any one of the multiple restaurants at the beach property? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?The only saving grace was that my room had a nice bathrobe. I get kind of grossed out in hotel rooms, walking around in bare feet, sleeping in beds that other people sleep in, and all that. But, I’m a sucker for those soft, fluffy hotel bathrobes. I’m sure I was quite the sight, sitting at my desk, doing e-mails in my robe. But, you know what? I deserved it.
In case you're wondering why I decided to suck it up and stay there all four nights and not ask for a transfer back to the beach property when a room opened up, I give you two answers. First, God forbid I have to re-pack. Second, I figured it would give me some good fodder for a post. I was right.