I’ve found that Starwood hotels are the best overall at responding to complaints. If something goes wrong on a stay, an email to Corporate Customer Service (customercare -at- starwoodhotels.com) generally takes care of it. I find that most of the time a meaningful complaint yields points equal to a free night’s stay at a given hotel.

It seems that Starwood seems to have the most control over its individual properties, and corporate headquarters is the most empowered to make things right unilaterally. The hotel itself, of course, it the one that’s going to wind up paying for any ‘make good’.

Most chains aren’t quite as responsive as Starwood. But thanks to the Hilton brand standards documents we know exactly what Hilton hotels are responsible for.

Hilton has separate documents for each of their brands and regions, and the guidelines vary. Hotels in some chains are supposed to have cards on hand for free breakfast, a free dinner (excluding alcohol) or free in-room movies for service recovery.

There’s generally a process for how any member’s formal complaint gets handled. Here’s the version for Embassy Suites.

CLAIMS
The Brand maintains a Guest Assistance Department to facilitate guest satisfaction. The Guest Assistance Department will acknowledge and resolve any guest complaint received in the corporate office via the Brand website, telephone or email related to Service, Cleanliness or Product issues.

ISSUE RESOLUTION
Comments/complaints are to be handled in the following manner.

Comments received via post stay surveys (SALT, HHonors) or complaints related to Safety/Security, Billing or Legal matters, will be forwarded to the hotel for resolution.

The hotel must respond to guest complaints and/or inquiries within 48 hours of receiving the complaint/inquiry. (Failure to respond within 48 hours will result in Guest Assistance resolving the complaint and billing the hotel the cost of compensation plus an intervention fee based on the guest’s HHonors status).

A response to all guest complaints, whether received by mail, email, in-house comment card, or posted on the Satisfaction and Loyalty Tracking website, must be made within two business days. Complaints and responses must be kept on file for at least three months.

The hotel will be billed the cost of compensation plus an administrative fee for these resolved complaints.

“BE MY GUEST” CARDS

When Guest Assistance issues compensation on behalf of the hotel responsible for the complaint, the hotel will have access to all backup documentation and will be invoiced for payment of the amount compensated or at the predetermined “Be My Guest” card rate (Plus applicable fees).

Payment will be due upon receipt of the invoice.
The receiving hotel that accepts the “Be My Guest” card will be reimbursed for the actual cost of the guest’s room and tax for the night, as booked on the reservation. The accepting hotel will be reimbursed for these room / tax charges by submitting an original folio and “Be My Guest” card…

Also fairly uniform across these documents is what is required for on-property service recovery if a Hilton HHonors Diamond member is disserviced.

They have three categories.

Paid Stay

If a Diamond Member is dissatisfied, the member must be immediately satisfied and compensated. Compensation is defined as either a refund “up to” a night’s room fee and tax or other appropriate service recovery based on the nature of the complaint.

The member must also receive full Points & Miles credit for any refunded amount of room and tax, and the hotel will pay for the Points & Miles. This may be done by completing the electronic submission form on the Focus HHonors website or, for OnQ PM hotels, use of the Revenue Service Recovery functionality will ensure that the guest receives full credit for the stay.

The hotel’s General Manager or General Manager’s representative must contact the member by telephone to apologize personally for the service failure.

The hotel must retain and make available a 30-day rolling record of these transactions. For OnQ PM hotels utilizing the Service Recovery functionality, the Service Recovery report will replace the need for a manual log.

Award Stay

If a Diamond Member is dissatisfied, he or she must receive an immediate (same day) refund of the points redeemed from the reward. The hotel must pay for these points. The hotel will not receive reimbursement credit for the reward, as the points were recredited to the member’s account. The hotel must complete the “Re-credit of Points for Reward Stay” form, which can be found on The Source.

The hotel’s General Manager or General Manager’s representative must contact the member by phone to apologize for the service failure within 48 hours of notice of dissatisfaction.

The hotel must retain and make available a 30-day rolling record of these transactions. For OnQ PM hotels utilizing the Service Recovery functionality, the Service Recovery report will replace the need for a manual log.

In order to support customer satisfaction and loyalty, the Hilton Worldwide Guest Assistance Department has the discretion to grant Diamond Members up to two complimentary future nights. The cost of these room nights will be charged back to the hotel.

Dishonored Reservation

Seriously, not a good idea for a hotel to ‘walk’ a top tier elite member of the hotel’s loyalty program.

Diamond VIP (and Preferential Gold VIP) member must be the last guest to be relocated.

Relocated guests must receive the best available accommodations if returning to the hotel on a multiple night stay after being relocated.

For relocated Diamond VIP members ONLY:
An immediate inconvenience compensation of $200 cash must be paid to the member.

The hotel must also provide the Diamond VIP member with Points & Miles credit for any nights the member was relocated.

The hotel must pay the normal cost of the points and miles.

The hotel must retain and make available a 30-day rolling record of these transactions. This may be done by completing the “Reservations Emergency Stay Credit” electronic submission form on the Focus HHonors® Web site.

The hotel’s general manager or general manager’s representative must immediately telephone the Diamond VIP member to apologize for failing to honor a reservation.

Starwood compensates a top tier elite with points equal to a free night (in addition to providing the night’s stay free somewhere else, and transportation) in the event of a walk. Hilton pays out $200 cash.

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