Hilton’s Hampton Inn brand has promoted a ‘100% Satisfaction Guarantee’ for years. The commitment that ” If you’re not 100% satisfied, we don’t expect you to pay. That’s our promise and your guarantee” dates to the 1990s.
But is it even real? Hotel chains no longer see guests as their customers. Hotel owners are the customers and the goal is to sign on more rooms under their umbrella. Guests are the product they market to owners.
So when a Hilton guest spent nearly $300 at a Hampton Inn in Tennessee, here’s what they experienced:
- “spider webs with bugs trapped in them in every single corner”
- “The toilet didn’t flush.”
- “previous guests hair in the bathtub and on the walls of the shower”
- “As I was leaving I found needles.”
I stayed in a Hilton that was terrible.
byu/DownRangeDaniel inHilton
That seems like a pretty good case for a 100% satisfaction guarantee claim, since the guest was even checking out early and leaving the scene of destruction. They “called customer service and sent them these pictures and videos through an email.”
Unfortunately, not so simple! Hilton promised $100 back in a month. The hotel then offered $20.
The GM called me and offered me the 20 dollars again. He then got frustrated and said “we are humans who make mistakes. Take 40 dollars and leave the issue”.
According to Hilton Customer Relations, the guest says, it was “up to the hotel.” And the hotel general manager said “this was the best he could offer” on a $298+tax stay.
There are bad hotels and bad stays, but the way this is handled by Hilton is the perfect example I think of what is wrong with the major hotel chains today. They are sacrificing the long-term value of their companies for short-term growth.
- Since they all have adopted ‘asset light’ models, where they no longer own the hotels, all they really have to offer is their brand.
- The brand brings customers, and they deliver those customers to owners. Without the brand, they have nothing to sell to owners.
- But they’re allowing owners to degrade the brand. And they do little to protect it. They rent out the brand and the chain fails to act to protect it. That may keep owners happy in the short-term, but when the brand is no longer something customers can have confidence in, the customers won’t follow the brand the chain loses value.
There’s a balance in keeping owners and guests happy, since the hotel chains largely don’t own the properties. The customer isn’t always right. But without the customer, the chain has nothing. And that’s what makes this sad to watch – it’s obvious where this goes over time, and it seems as though the executives at Hilton and at Marriott don’t see it (or figure they’ll be gone by the time the consequences are felt).
A guest who experienced a stay like this might dispute the charge with their credit card issuer. Clearly they did not get the product they were purchasing. But then Hilton might ban them as a customer. It takes a lot more than a rightful dispute to get banned as an owner!
This has been going on to one degree or another for years.
My brother who’s a carpenter once described this phenomenon quite succinctly. He was talking about the home improvement services offered by a major retailer.
Their ads showed a smiling, well groomed 20-something in a clean, pressed shirt and tie, looking professional and ready to please. But that’s not who you get, he said.
“You buy the package, expecting Wally Cleaver (the polite, clean cut all American boy on ‘Leave It To Beaver’) and instead, Tattoo Rickie shows up at your door.”
Buyer beware.
Gary is 100% correct here: “Hotel chains no longer see guests as their customers. Hotel owners are the customers…. Guests are the product they market to owners.” Yup. And, unfortunately, airlines are treating passengers as the ‘product,’ and shareholders as the ‘customers.’ See: Southwest, Elliott. I’d say we need better consumer protections and passenger rights legislation, but, alas, for a while, it’s gonna be de-regulation, corruption, and ‘greed is good,’ over ‘the people.’
Dude was exhausted, but he should have handled it onsite, when he noticed the problems.
Frankly, I’m surprised he was offered anything after the fact.
For those that want to know this is the hotel.
Hampton Inn, Caryville TN I-75
@H2oman
Roadside three star hotels are always bad news.
Probably some franchise owned by some cheap family.
I’d definitely contact the Better Business Bureau on both entities.
This is a relatively minor issue, but clerks at a big-city Hilton which includes a $10 F and B credit as part of its amenity fee told me that the credit was only for cash customers actually paying the fee rather than points-paying guests like me. I begged to differ and, after the Diamond Desk said it would open an inquiry, got the $10 credit (in addition to the $18 per person, per day Diamond ( F& B credit). Bottom line – always ask questions when you check in and always know your rights, especially since some properties will try and make their own rules.
So many hotels no longer have daily room cleanings, not a surprise that this happened.
I knew some idiot would try to make this political, as if this were a last 4 month phenomenon. The year of the horse found its ass.
@Mantis
1990 is our resident perpetually online tds clown. He posts on every article and is usually the first poster because he has no life and spends all his time on this site.
@Mantis — This is the Year of the Snake; the only horse’s ass. here is a lot closer to home than @1990. Facts are facts, and the current climate n Washington does *not* favor regulation, nor consumer protections. That is not an opinion; that’s a FACT. De-regulation has been going on for decades — it’s not a Democrat v. Republican issue — and to a certain extent, it’s a good thing. Has it gone too far? In my OPINION, the answer is “Yes.” But it’s only an opinion, and YMMV.
The key takeaway here has nothing to do with de-regulation and the decline in consumer protection on a governmental level. Rather, it is the change that has taken place among hotel chains knowing who their customers are…with Hilton and Marriott no longer enforcing their own policies (again, nothing to do with Washington), all those promised benefits one supposedly get from being “an elite” become meaningless.
@Jason — That’s a nuanced point, sir. The real question is why do these companies think they can get away with not enforcing their own rules anymore? Such inconsistency breads distrust. I see it as a macro issue, which is why I find some (ideally, ‘better’) regulation of these programs necessary. Until then, they’ll just keep moving goal-posts, and we’re going to ‘pay the price.’
@Mantis @Walter Barry — Thanks for the attention. If I’ve riled y’all up, that’s a win in my book.
@Jason
Woosh. Look up what years are the year of the horse over the last, say, 35 years. Then add yourself to the list of asses, of whatever species.
But thanks for the super interesting point that the current admin favors deregulation, but it’s been going on for decades, but this issue has nothing to do with that…or something.
@1990
You sure showed us.
If only we could spend our entire existence on one obscure airline blog.
@Walter Barry — As Rick says, “Your Boos Mean Nothing, I’ve Seen What Makes You Cheer…”
@Walter Barry — One more, just for you: “Every breath I take without your permission raises my self-esteem.” (It’s wild show.)
When consumers lose confidence in one brand, simple: launch another and add it to your portfolio of 40 ‘brands.’
Back when there were more hotel brand owning companies than there are now, the brand owners had to think more about differentiation and protecting differentiation. Now, they don’t. And often a real estate company will own a mix of hotels brands across different companies, such as a company may own a dozen Hiltons, two dozen Marriotts and perhaps an IHG, Hyatt or other brand hotels in the mix. And the brand owners themselves often keep growing the number of brands so that they don’t really care to maintain standards as they can offer another brand and make another deal that pretty much means the only customers who matter are the hotel owner/operators rather than the guests with their own heads in the beds.
All Hilton brands have gone down hill since covid.
They have continued to use coved as an excuse for dirty rooms, lower food quality, and any customer service.
With articles like this, I really miss our resident Hilton cheerleader, the guy with three initials who ends his posts with “G’Day.” Unfortunately, Hilton is no better and no worse than Marriott when it comes to enforcing brand standards on licensees/franchisees. They don’t care because they don’t have to. The crapification and skimpflation of everything is a trend that began years ago and continues at full speed.
Someone should start a website that aggregates ratings and reviews of the owners of hotel properties
Lemme guess the last name of this franchise owner is Patel.
From last month:
“CARYVILLE, TENN. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $5.9 million sale of a 62-room Hampton Inn hotel in Caryville, roughly 24 miles north of Knoxville via I-75. Located at 4459 Veterans Memorial Highway along Cove Lake, the 42,000-square-foot Hampton Inn was originally built in 1994. Amenities at the property include an outdoor swimming pool, fitness center and a business center.
“Alexandre Duong and Lucas Jalenak of Marcus & Millichap’s Cleveland and Nashville offices marketed the property on behalf of the undisclosed seller. Alexandre Duong and Kishan Patel from the firm’s Louisville office procured the buyer. Jody McKibben served as Marcus & Millichap’s broker of record in Tennessee for the deal. “
I have been using Hilton brand for 10+ years. Only 1 time did I make a money back request: it was granted in full.
I was woken by a fire alarm going off and ringing for an hour at 1AM. The staff had no ideas of what to do and my night’s rest was shattered. Turns out no fire at the hotel but a power outage, and no one had a clue how to turn it off.
You might think it’s just because it’s a Hampton. But I have had similar experiences with all levels of Hilton properties, including one that caused $7000 damage to my car at a flagship hotel. They just don’t care about service or protecting their guests.
Ten years ago this was less likely to happen but many hotels with cost cutting a (dead end) have gone to the dogs as housekeepers have been cut to the bare minimum.Historically its Hilton’s guest assistance that handles these matters and if you are not a chronic complainer chances are they will make a decent enough resolution for stays gone wrong.If some reason you get BS response from the hotel itself its best to go contact them to resolve these kind of issues
@Larry Hyatt — You really are a one-trick pony, aren’t ya? Every time…
I just had the opposite experience. IHG compensated me on the first call with adequate points after a stay at the awful Holiday Inn Express, Nacadoches TX. The property did not repond to requests to the situation below (IHG Platinum Elite).
Credit where credit due.
=====================================================================
UPDATE 2025-05-25: 5 Days. No response since the GM MICHELE WALLACE claimed “we will look into this matter immediately”.
UPDATE 2025-05-23: 72 hours after checkout.
The owner responded (below) “we will look into this matter immediately”. Nothing heard back since then.
Review:
I stayed here for one night on business last week. On trying to have a shower on the morning of checkout I found there was no hot water. The front desk confirmed the whole hotel was ‘cold’.
I asked for a call from the GM to discuss points or cash compensation. I have heard nothing after 36 hours, so will call IHG tomorrow.
In the meantme, you can get an impression of the place from the picture below of the rusty bathtub. Note from the other picture that they are good at the fatuous platitudes.
Rooms: 1
Service: 1
Location: 3
I’m a Hilton member. Generally find Hampton Inns okay. The one area that has really declined is the breakfast. It’s awful!
@Walter
DEFINITELY owned by a lovely family with a name that starts with P…..or possibly S who hail fron a specific state in a lovely South Asian country.
The “we don’t expect you to pay” language cannot be found on the Hampton Inn website. Now it says
“100% Hampton Guarantee™
Making you happy makes us happy. If we can make your stay better, talk to any member of our team and we’ll Make It Right. Guaranteed”
Next time also please don’t post a picture of a urine filled toilet on the front page.
It’s disgusting and in bad taste.
1) ALWAYS Check RECENT reviews before making a reservation. BTW not sure when the above happened but the most recent reviews are great & hotel management is very responsive in replies.
2) If you are on the road and can’t check reviews & are just looking for a place to stay for the night – look for the property with the most trucks! When truck drivers splurge for a hotel room they want a great shower, great bed, & large towels.
3) Obviously this room was not cleaned properly – the customer should have insisted on a different room right away – & leave if a clean room was not available.
4) I’ve met many different owners from multiple countries – I find the ones that start with a “P” very hard working, putting in very long hours, are customer service focused & often their properties are above ave when it comes to cleanliness for the class of hotel. Anyone who comments against those owners that start with a “P” should be blocked from commenting in the future. There is no place for hate on this website – except against the big box hotel brands of course 😎
The same situation with the airlines. The code sharing allows them to sell you, for example, an American airlines experience, but once you get to your next flight you find out you’ve got ‘Joe’s puddle jumpers’. And the concept of ‘premium economy’ runs a close second to Joe’s puddle jumpers. what exactly am I getting for my money’ is just a guess.
@Kraus
Not saying they’re not hard working but its well known that they won’t spend one single dollar more than they need to at their hotels. You can expect the absolute bare minimum that the franchise agreement requires and not a single thing more. You can claim this to not be the case but we all know othereise.
I stayed at the Hilton at Boston Logan Airport. Wasn’t happy because I wasn’t a Hilton. Gold club member, getting service was extremely difficult. They sort of looked at me like I didn’t belong there. I’ll stick with marriott.They treat me much better and the rooms were cleaner
And now for the rest of the story…
The other part of the Hampton Guarantee that is interestingly left out is the part about we’ll make it right or…
Of the four issues that the guest in the example brought up, the only real way the guarantee would apply would be if the hotel did not offer to mitigate the first three issues. If you do not report it during your stay/do not give the hotel a chance to rectify the situation, no guarantee, period.
If the desk agent offers to move you to another room where those issues do not exist and you decline, TFB, no guarantee.
Just like if the hotel can’t/won’t do anything to fix the situation assuming it’s brought to their attention when things are discovered, then the guarantee definitely applies.
Sorry boys and girls, but it is a two way street and yes, guests frequently want their stay comped/invoke the guarantee days or even weeks after a stay. Yeah, not happening. Just like they want the guarantee to apply for dumbass things like: not liking the room layout because the standard king in Boise has outlets in a different area than the standard king in Lake Charles. For crap like that, again, hell no.
As usual, when it comes to hotel’s that are night 5 star destination properties, Gary, you have no damn clue what you’re talking about and your whole diatribe rant about the broken franchise model that exists with every North American chain really doesn’t apply here. As usual, you’re conflating two things which in the instance that you served up, do not apply and/or go together.
Try harder next time to get the WHOLE STORY versus cherry picking sensationalistic crap from Internet nobodies that can make up anything but you blindly post it like the gospel truth. Swing and a miss big time.
“The “we don’t expect you to pay” language cannot be found on the Hampton Inn website. Now it says”
Correct.
That exact verbiage hasn’t existed with the guarantee since 2017.
“The Road Goes On Forever” deserves death by cancer.
Each state has consumer protection laws, damages plus legal fees. Hard to see how federal regulation of hotels is going to work out well. I do admit I have taken to wearing my school hat that says “The Law School” beneath the name of the school. Beware of old men in dangerous professions.
It’s absolutely true and consistent coast to coast with Hilton properties. I’m close to lifetime diamond and average around 200 days a year on the road. Pre-Covid these types of issues were more of a Motel 6, Super 8 or locally owned no name hotel issue that you just accepted as part of your reduced cost stay.
I’m personally in top 10% of reviewers on Google and the decline is easily viewable in the reviews posted by myself and others. Hilton doesn’t care. I had a GM for one of LAs largest Hilton properties that corporate doesn’t care about reviews from individuals and management is encouraged to placate at a level that assures profitability 1st. I’ve left reviews so scathing that GMs have personally asked me to remove them or refrain from staying at their hotel.
Customers are now treated like cattle and what was once a service industry is now an industry that believes you should be thankful they let you stay.
@Jack the Ladd — ‘How could we possibly legislate anything federally’ is an odd take, sir. Consumer protection is indeed possible local, state, AND federal, setting a baseline of protections. It’s not hard. Note the recent example of hotels having to disclose all fees upfront. That was the FTC, you know, Federal Trade Commission. Some folks give up way to easy when we can do so much more here.
We’ve been staying in Hilton and Hyatt hotels and have been pleasantly surprised, especially in Europe. Had a less than pleasant experience with a Hyatt in Nashville, TN and unexpectedly was speaking with a manger about our struggles. She apologized and had a bottle of wine sent to our room. Got upgraded and free breakfast at a Hilton property in Krakow without asking in April 2025. In October 2024 we were upgraded to a suite overlooking the river and parliament building at the Hilton in Budapest. We were comped parking in Vienna without asking at the Hyatt. Things like that just don’t happen in the US.
The mistake the person made was going to Tennessee. I avoid as much domestic travel as I can, and I wouldn’t go to Tennessee, or maybe any states in the south east region, if you paid me.
It might not work all of the time but it has for me. “I am going to Trip Advisor and Yelp to post the name of your hotel, pictures of the room and give you one star. I will add that if I could give ZERO stars, I will.” IHG treated me pretty badly in London. I couldn’t get any reply from IHG headquarters in the UK nor North America to my letters. I did get my company to withdraw the numerous rooms we used on a daily basis. “Buh bye!”