Hilton’s tagline is “For the stay.” That implies that you check-in, and aren’t going anywhere. Your car though? Not so much. At the Conrad Orlando it harkens back to an older slogan: “travel should take you places.” When you leave your car at the valet there, you have no idea where it’s going to go, or what it’s going to do!
One guest had a dashcam in her SUV and it recorded the valet’s driving. The neurosurgeon posted the video to TikTok and it’s been viewed over 6.2 million times.
- reckless driving
- speeding
- and not for nothing but he wasn’t wearing his seatbelt as he tested everything the vehicle could do
It was a high performance Escalade-V and the guest received notifications of “heavy braking” and “heavy acceleration” from her car’s monitoring app.
It has a 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 engine, and the valet clearly wanted to see what was possible within the confines of the Conrad’s parking lot.
The doctor brought the dashcam video to hotel staff, and they comped a night’s stay. Yeah, I guess. The Conrad Orlando issued a statement acknowledging the incident,
We are aware of a video regarding an incident that occurred in Conrad Orlando’s parking lot involving a third-party employee. While we always strive to ensure our guests enjoy the most exceptional stay, upon learning of the incident, we took the necessary steps to address those concerns directly with the guest and with our third-party valet company.
Meanwhile, reactions to the incident have been mixed, with some commentators on social media defending the valet’s actions, citing the allure of the high-performance vehicle, and suggesting the use of valet mode to restrict access to certain car features. Others, however, pointed out the oversight of not noticing the dashcam and condemned the risk posed by such reckless driving.
@ladyspinedoc Replying to @longnovember13 what would you do? #valet #conradorlando ♬ original sound – Ladyspinedoc⚡️ | Dr. Grunch
At least the valet didn’t take a joyride in the car and get carjacked at gunpoint while driving it. Oops.
And to think, my worst valet experience was at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond where my car was returned with the door dinged – and after tracking down a couple of managers they agreed to cover repair costs.
(HT: Paul H)
Ah yes, I love the responses defending the valet because of the allure of a high-performance vehicle… how American… Yes, it’s the vehicle owner’s fault because they valet parked a car that was just too irresistible for the valet to refrain from abusing it. What crap.
Nedskid.
Just wait for more woke people defend the “poor” valent and blame thecal owner. Wokeness is going to kill us one day.
Lol at anyone defending the valet. Sure, use valet mode to limit them if they are gunning it down whatever road from the front of the hotel to the parking as that is arguably their job (assuming it is safe which I would question most times) but as soon as they go out of their way to joy ride with the car they are no longer doing their job.
The same thing happened to me last November at the Canopy by Hilton Philadelphia Center City. This hotel refused to accept any responsibility, so I could only dispute the charge.
Is this only an issue at Hilton properties?
Making the situation worse, Conrad Orlando doesn’t even provide a self parking option. It’s forced valet if you have a car. So guests are forced into handing over their keys to these knuckle heads, and get charged $50/night for the privilege!
Not for nothing, but I’ve noticed it’s difficult to find a review of the newly-opened Conrad Orlando that does not highlight some significant failure in service. They’re off to a very rough start and aren’t doing the Conrad brand image any favors.
My goodness, rich people problems!
Living His Dream
Valet: “You have nothing to worry about. I’m a professional.” IYKYK
For me the issue is when you have underpaid 3rd party operators handling important duties in luxury hotels so they can maximize revenue.This is the BS guests are subjected too by not having professionals handle the job.It puts the guest car at risk ,the safety of the guest and a potential security risk for vandalism and theft.Without the dash cam I’m certain the hotel would have shrugged it off and said not us couldn’t have happened here (roll eyes)
@Lars, agree that this hotel is definitely having problems unbecoming of a Conrad. Their staff are all very nice and friendly (which is not easy to find in Orlando) but they really have little idea what they are doing and management does not seem to care. At least this woman got a night comped. I highlighted several service shortcomings (including cleaning staff and supervisors walking in on us 3 times on a two night stay!) and noted that I travel to Orlando 3 or 4 times a year and they gave me the bit about “we will review with the staff involved” and that’s it. I won’t be staying there again. The WA, the Signet and the JW Marriott will work for me (especially the JW Marriott, which is awesome)
During my college years I worked as a valet in an affluent city. All the horror stories you hear about are just the tip of the iceberg. Some valets lacked maturity. Some had no respect for other peoples property. Some were petty thieves. Many were completely normal. There was a lot of hot dogging and reckless driving especially in the lower levels of the garage. I recall one customer valeted his Toyota Cressida in our indoor garage and proceeded to lunch. Upon his return our manager informed him his car was completely TOTALED! This was due to excessive speed and wet surfaces due to rain.
Now I avoid valet parking like the plague.
Hilarious. Valet should be immediately fired and have his drivers license revoked. That said, i don’t have a lot of sympathy for someone who wasters their money on such a stupid, bloated vehicle.
Joe United, you’re clearly the kind of trash that works as that kind of valet.
File charges, have the valet jailed. Solved.
FYI, the third party valet company is AAA Parking also known as Selig Enterprises of Atlanta, GA.
For the guest inconvenience, I noticed the Conrad Orlando comped this guest for a one-night stay but refused to give him 1,000 valuable Hilton Honors bonus points.