For two years hotels complained about lack of staffing and supply chain, offering up excuses for high rates and low service. But that lack of service has in some sense been baked into the equation, as hotel properties try to grow profit margins – focusing on short-term gains while taking on long-term risk to their business. And since guest experience isn’t the key focus, it suffers more than the cost cuts alone would require.

In late June I stayed at Hyatt’s The Shay in Culver City, about 20 minutes from LAX. I really liked the vibe of the hotel. I used a confirmed suite upgrade, and asked about buying up the ~ $75 difference between their standard suite and a premium suite. My Hyatt Concierge got back to me, “The hotel has upgrade you to the Premium Suite with Balcony complementary.”

The Shay Lobby

The Shay Bar

The hotel honors breakfast at their rooftop restaurant, and it’s coded for an entree, juice and coffee for up to four people – so two or three people are going to be able to ‘over order’ without difficulty.

There were just two quibbles with the stay.

• No hot water in the shower.

• Non-responsive service requests.

The Shay, Bedroom and Bath

The Shay, Balcony

The hotel suggests making requests via text. I tried that twice. Neither ever received a response. It wasn’t just that they were slow. There was no response the next day, or at all.

As for the shower, the water didn’t even get lukewarm, but did get less cold. I mentioned this, and the text issue, in the follow up email survey that I received. I received a reply, hoping that I will return to the property,

I apologize for any communication lapses that occurred. Our team strives to provide prompt and efficient service to all our guests, and it is disappointing to hear that we fell short of your expectations in this regard. We are currently reviewing our communication procedures to ensure that all inquiries and messages are attended to in a timely manner.

Regarding the issue of hot water, we deeply regret the inconvenience caused to you. Hot water availability is a basic necessity, and we understand how frustrating it must have been to face this problem. Our maintenance team has been notified, and they are working diligently to identify and rectify the underlying issue to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.

They recognize hot water as a ‘basic necessity’ so I inquired that, since they failed to provide it, why they didn’t offer to compensate me in any way for the stay? They didn’t provide what I was paying for! No response.

Later in the month I was at the Hyatt Centric Atlanta Midtown. They were generous, upgrading me to a junior suite in advance (without suite upgrade certificate). Breakfast is a little less generous, though compliant – you get their buffet and the front desk notes that they cover “a 15% tip” and anything else on top of that is charged. 15% seems reasonable for a buffet!

Hyatt Centric Atlanta Lobby

At check-in I was asked whether I wanted housekeeping, and I said yes. I specifically requested housekeeping on my second day. They never came. So the next day I asked for it again, and at the desk was told “I’ll see if their schedule allows it.” This isn’t supposed to be optional for the hotel to provide. The desk agent was good, and did actually follow up to make sure it was done.

Hyatt Centric Atlanta, Bedroom

Most recently I’ve left the Westin Arlington and there’s probably no property which better represents gradual cheapening of product.

• They had a club lounge when they first opened
  
• After closing the club lounge, they offered Platinums breakfast of choice from the restaurant menu, and an evening cocktail and appetizer in the bar
  
• They restricted breakfast to the buffet
  
• And then eliminated the evening service
  
• And then restricted breakfast to a continental choice in the restaurant, no longer even offering the buffet.

The lobby still has the overpowering (though nice) white tea scent. It saw a minor renovation perhaps six years ago. The rooms, not so much. Even the TV in my room wasn’t working. Clocks were changed in March. Three months later the one in my room was still an hour behind. Several of the outlets in the room weren’t working. Bulk toiletries in the shower aren’t even tamper-proof.

These were my last 3 hotel stays, over a period of two weeks, since returning to the States. And each disappointed in their own way. I loved everything about The Shay except for lack of hot water, and that’s too important to risk again. I won’t return to the Hyatt Centric in Atlanta if I can avoid it. And the Westin Arlington? It’s too close to my office in D.C. to write it off completely, and more convenient than the Hyatt Place. It’s just sad to think about how chintzy they’ve become.

None of these are Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, or The Peninsula. But none of these are budget accommodations, either. And in each case the hotels are failing at something basic, or finding ways to give the guest less than they used to, and in no case is there more than lip service behind apologies over it.

There’s no grand point to that other than reflecting on it makes me sad. I love people who do their jobs to the extreme, care about quality, and overdeliver on expectations. And I see hotel after hotel that no longer does that, giving up their raison d’etre vis-à-vis homesharing competitors, somehow in the interest of squeezing higher margins – while chains strive to move the needle in the direction of greater sensitivity towards owner needs for quick profit at the expense of guest satisfaction.