Category Archives for Hotels.
My cousin David, staying at the Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, was evacuated from his room Friday morning after a guest flooded an entire floor of the hotel, set off a fire alarm, attacked hotel staff and was throwing things out the window.
The man crowned national champion of Chinese chess had his title stripped after being granted another honorific: world’s worst hotel guest, including “defecating in a hotel bathtub.”
Yan Chenglong “overdid celebrations” after his victory, and is now also under investigation for cheating… with anal beads?
This hotel had been ‘off my list’ for awhile. They finished renovations a little over a year ago, and they did a fantastic job of it. My priors had been stuck in 2012, when my wife stayed at the Park Hyatt Chicago and reported a dirty, dusty in-room phone with missing and stuck buttons.
That’s no longer the case. The hotel is much brighter than it used to be – no longer the same dark tones – and the service and attention to detail here were fantastic. I absolutely enjoyed my stay.
At the end of last year I shared the hotel observations of a reader who racked up 249 elite nights on the road, mostly with Marriott, Hyatt, and IHG hotels.
He expected his travel to slow down to no more than 150 nights. That didn’t happen. And he reports back after a year on the road, sleeping around a bit across different chains.
Westin Hotels revolutionized the industry with its “Heavenly Bed” marketing. People genuinely bought into their claim to being better in bed. Guests chose the brand for their beds, and bought the beds and bedding for their homes. And other hotel chains were forced to up their game with better, branded mattresses.
The Sydney Harbour Marriott at Circular Quay has many rooms with fantastic views, of the harbor and even the Sydney Opera House, though of course there are simply ‘skyline view’ rooms which are less desirable.
You can imagine how disconcerting it was for Marriott Bonvoy elites to hear from the hotel that if they were staying on property during the “festive season” they would not be entitled to room upgrades.
People complain that room service is too expensive, sometimes takes too long, and isn’t always good. Many people think, do I really want a mediocre hotel’s mediocre food when I have the miracle of choice delivered at my fingertips?
But when the hotel isn’t providing an experience that’s differentiated from Airbnb, there goes their competitive advantage.
She was leaving the property at 2:30 a.m., realized she’d left her phone in the guest room they were partying in, and her friends went back to get it for her. They left her alone, apparently for an hour and she stumbled into a kitchen and into a walk-in freezer at 3:32 a.m.
Marriott doesn’t appear to be complying with its legal settlement on resort fees. Depending on the property, they still show up as part of taxes which is deceptive. And while Marriott now supposedly lets you include resort fees as part of the total price shown on its website at first display, they are doing this only for paid rates and not for award nights (where they are even more deceptive).
Now at Hyatt housekeeping is supposed to be available at least on request at all of their brands, though full service hotels provide it by default. I’ve been to a franchise Hyatt Place that won’t provide this even when asked to do so.
Another one like this is the Hyatt Place at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. Here’s what they tell guests: housekeeping is not an option but you can choose points, a drink at the bar, or to volunteer as a gardener for the hotel.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
