Alan

Alan here. I've been off the site for a week and a half (usual technical reasons), and when I came back last night, boy, did I get a fright! Here's someone named clairdesol on FIVE different threads saying exactly the same thing on each thread -- that the Waldorf in Sydney wouldn't honour a confirmed reservation. Five threads! Was this, I wondered, someone giving us a timely warning, or was there another agenda going on here?

Anyway, I know that Mucky has booked into this hotel in less than a week, and I can see from his reply to clairdesol that he's getting worried -- understandably so. So was I! So this morning I rang the Waldorf and told the manager what's been going on here at Fodor's, and told him that I felt a bit as if MY reputation on Fodor's (such as it is) was on the line.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here's what he told me. First, Mucky, he has your reservation right there in front of him. He knows the date and even the time (midnight!!) that you're checked in for. He knows what floor you'll be on. So relax. You won't get the clairdesol treatment.
Secondly, clairdesol, he would rather like to know your name -- not your fodor's nickname -- so he can check out exactly what went wrong in your case. He says that very occasionally a hiccup can happen (although he can't call to mind your particular case -- the most common hiccup, he says, is a guest who arrives in their room and instantly starts complaining that it's not as swank as expected, demanding as consolation an upgrade when the place is solidly booked), and in this kind of situation the Waldorf has no less than SIX "sister properties" in the city, and the procedure is to locate the guest in one of those. He was aghast to think that you'd just been told to "go away". He has a log book of "hiccups", and would love to check it to find out who you are and exactly what happened in your case, so please do either contact them or at least get back onto this forum with a bit more information so that this can be followed up. I can see you were really extremely hurt by the situation -- I mean, to write separate entries to different threads all those times, saying the same thing over and over, seems to indicate that you haven't settled down about it yet. Didn't the guy at the desk offer to find you ANYTHING? Did they really just leave you in the street, with all your baggage, to find yourself another place at 5 p.m. on a Saturday night? And where did you end up staying? Otherwise, did you have a good experience in Sydney? How about getting back on this thread -- just once will do, this time -- and telling us the WHOLE story?

Anyway, Mucky, you're in, mate, and I for one will be ringing the hotel again while you're down there to see if everything went well for you. In the meantime, I think I will go VERY quiet on the Waldorf until I hear Mucky's objective report on this hotel and how it treated him for a New Year's Eve stay in Sydney (in other hotels, one of the most expensive stays it is possible to have).

Alan

Sorry, clairdesol, I understimated you. I just re-checked, and found EIGHT threads where you rubbished the Wladorf. Boy, they really ruined your holiday, didn't they? Mucky, I'd watch it, if I were you.... maybe the manager of the Waldorf ran off with clairdesol's wife! Don't take the suits next door to the one marked "MANAGER", especially if there's a connecting door!

Sorry, clairdesol -- I'm not putting you down. I'd be upset, too, if it happened to me -- but I'm not sure what you have to gain by telling us eight times, and not giving us ANY other details about what happened before, during or after the "incident". Could it have just been a good old-fashioned balls-up, which can happen, you know, even in the Grand Hyatt? Maybe, then, you can find it in your heart to forgive them -- and Sydney. Unless, of course, they were rude and unhelpful (while, of course, you were being firm but polite) and ordered you off the place.

johhj_au

You are a classic Alan..what would we do without you!

All you have to do is learn what "hip" and "cool" means when it comes to accommodation.

AndrewDavid

Greetings,
Will our trip to Australia be as much fun as reading some of the threads on this site? I certainly hope so.
Alan, you've gone beyond the call of duty to check out the Waldorf for Mucky. Why did I assume Clair was a women and the manager ran off with her husband?
Please Mucky let us know that you and your family have aroof over your heads. Johnj, Alan is cool and hip!
We should all chip in for a service contract for his computer. Ditto an aloha shirt for you for all your good advice. Happy Holidays and the best of the New Year to all of you down under .
AndrewDavid

marg

I hope Mucky and his family are enjoying this week's Melbourne weather - mid thirties every day!

pat_woolford

Strewth! Melbourne's hotter than Cairns!

margo_oz

Well done, Alan!
I actually considered doing the same thing - but was overtaken by inertia! I didn't want Mucky and all the little Mucks turning up on my doorstep!

patw

Hi all,
Well we leave on Saturday and can't wait. Sick of shoveling snow here in NJ. As I'm staying down the street from Mucky if he ends up on the street, I can take him in.
Thanks to every body on this board for all the advice. You are all great.
Cheers,
Pat

crazymina

Alan, you're a class act. ;o)

Mucky, if anything happens to you, maybe we can all cram into my friend's studio apartment!

Mucky

Hi Alan,
I am currently at margs house in Melbourne. She very kindly informed me of your mission on my behalf !!
And very kindly allowed me to use her pc to pick up a few e mails etc..
Thank you Alan, you are a hero.
Melbourne is both very hot and today very wet.
I really hope clairdesol gets to the bottom of this.
Thanks again Alan and everyone else.
Your all brilliant.
MargoOz my little mucks are not so little any more, they will eat you out of house and home.
Will post my objective Waldorf report early in January.
Meanwhile I do hope that thanks to Alans generous efforts with the Waldorf manager, we will be well known by the time we get there and maybe some extra special treatment ;-)

Thanks again

Cheers

Muck

Alan

You will certainly get some special treatment, Mucky, as I mentioned to him that you were wanted by the Welsh police for drug-smuggling, that you were given to exposing yourself to room attendants, and that on your last visit to Sydney you spent several hours on the ledge outside your hotel window. He was very impressed!

margo_oz

shaping up to be an interesting visit

Janese

WOW! Alan, when is Mucky going to be there? I wanna come and see.

Mucky

Wow Alan,
how did you manage to find out so much about me ??

Just arrived in BRB 30 SECS LEFT ON INTERNET.

bye for now
muck

LN

Well Fodorites

This is but another example of Alan's thoughtfulness to we travelers.

You are truly a gem of a person - very, very special and we do appreciate it!!

And beside that I'd love to be in Sydney and get to meet Alan, Mucky, Mina, Pat and the whole group on New Year Eve!!

Have a great, happy and healthy New Year Fodorites!!
LN

As Arnold says "I'll be back"!!

margo_oz

Well, Fodorites - I've organised a small bus to be parked outside the Waldorf, for when Mucky arrives and the police arrest him. Should be entertaining viewing. I'm trying to arrange tickets for the raid, for those interested!

Alan

Unfortunately, we never heard back from clairdesol..... just eight damning threads in half an hour and he (or she) has gone onto other targets. That's a pity, as I would really like to find out the full story behind his misadventure; he may, in fact, have been very shabbily treated, but I am inclined to be just a wee bit suspicious of his motives, as wouldn't you think he's have stayed around here long enough to see what kind of a hornet's nest he had stirred up?
Merry Christmas, everyone!

smchrissy

Merry Christmas, Alan and fellow fodorites! we leave bright and early tomorrow morning! will try to get to your meeting site on NYE, Alan. Have a Merry Christmas!

Mucky

hi everyone,
just about to leave moreton island. faceis quite red again through sunburn.
so th cops will not recognise me when i get to the now infamous waldorf...lol
hope you all had a good xmas and looking forward to next 6 days in sydney.
bye for now
muck