My wife and daughter are currently staying in a California hotel, paying $129 per night. There have been minor problems such as voice mail in room not working, operator connecting 10-12 calls to their room which were meant for other rooms, etc.
On 4th night, key would not open door to the room. Luckily wife was inside and could open the door. Daughter goes to front desk...long story short the lock was broken and could not be fixed. Hotel advised that if they both left the room, even security could not get them back in. "We'll move you to a big suite upstairs for one night, no additional charge, then fix your lock tomorrow. However then you will have to move back to your regular room". Wife said no, if we must move, make it to a room where we can stay for 3 nights.
Hotel moved them down the hall, but to a handicapped room. Wife told front desk she didn't want to take a handicapped room away from a possible handicapped guest and front desk person was rude, acted as if my wife were being "impossible" and told her that they had 2 other handicapped rooms so not to worry.

Next afternoon, walking by the front desk, low and behold if wife didn't overhear a very disappointed handicapped person needing a wheelchair room, saying they had a confirmed reservation, etc, and a flustered new desk person trying to figure out what happened. Wife approached and told desk that she was occupying a handicapped room and clerk said that if they'd please check out of it, she'd moved them to an upgraded room. Wife and daughter once again packed up everything (for a 7 day stay this was a pain in the butt - lots of clothes, etc) since they felt bad for the handicapped person.

Low and behold the hotel had actually moved them to a slightly DOWNGRADED room with smaller beds and no view. Wife and daughter were late for a meeting so just settled in with no further discussion with front desk. But this mess really put a damper on what should have been a hassle-free 7 day hotel stay.

So, minor problems, a forced room switch due to faulty keys, ANOTHER room switch due to incompetent desk personnel, don't you think that my wife should at the very least ask that one night be complimentary???

I am asking the advice of seasoned travelers who may have had problems at hotels in the past. Any comments are welcome, including "stop whining and pay the bill" type comments. Thanks

You should have spoken to the front desk manager, not just the staff. If you were not given a satisfactory room you should have checked out immediately. You could try sending a letter to the hotel management and if it's a chain send it to the corp. offices also. But don't be surprised if you get no response. In the future you must be a lot more forceful with your requests and don't be afraid to walk out. Seems like that hotel situation put a damper on your holiday you put up with way too much aggrivation.

You should have spoken to a Manager while checking out and demanded a compensation, free night, or a discount. I have had less than pleasant experiences in a few hotels, and have always been given a discount, and in one case a free night.
Perhaps it is not too late, write or call the headquarters.
Good Luck!

I just want to know the name of the hotel so I don't make the mistake of staying there! Sounds like a nitemare.

I agree w/ the posting that you should send a letter to the corporate office and the manager.

Stop whining and pay the bill.

No matter HOW incompetent the staff were, or how unsatisfactory the rooms were, your wife and daughter accepted these rooms and used them. Unless the hotel is one of those (like Comfort Inns) that offer a 100-percent satisfaction guarantee, and they abided by the terms of the guarantee, they are not *entitled* to any compensation at all, including a free room. I think they should have accepted the original offer of an upgraded room for hte night when their lock was being repaired. Obviously, the hotel was near capacity (since they had no room available for 3 consecutiv nights except the handicap room)and IMHO this was a reasonable way to deal wtih the broken lock. You wife chose to take the handicapped room rather than move back to the original room after one night in the upgraded room.

Maybe this will teach them not to overpack next time.

Sure sounds like a nightmare to me. I think you're entitled to some type of compensation for all the inconvenience they went through. Definitely write a letter and see what happens. So sorry for them.
Margie

I am almost certain that if you write this down in a letter to the hotel's corporate offices you'll get compensated with a free night or a big discount on a future stay. It's an incredibly competitive industry and repeat customers are essential to the chains' success. Comp nights are very cheap alternatives to bad publicity.

All you people who think that the OP is entitled to be outraged: What would you have done if you were the front-desk clerk and a room was unusable but fixable and then saw that no rooms were available for 3 nights except the handicapped room?

What was this person, or the manager, suposed to do to please these people? They offered an upgraded room while the original room was being fixed. Yes, the OP was inconvenienced while the room was being repaired, but I think they got a reasonable alternative under the circumstances and just don't understand how this was a "nightmare" except by his own lazy, overpacking wife's insistence.

If I had to move due to a problem, I would expect at least as good a room and probably better, and would not expect to have to move again. I would expect something in return for the inconvenience and I'd also most likely write a letter regarding the stay to someone in customer service with that hotel.

As a hotel general manager, I am constantly amazed at the number of "I hated my stay at your hotel" letters when we have no record of any guest complaints. Your best course of action is to notify a manager while at the hotel. Otherwise, I assume many people are just trying to get something for free and are embellishing the story to accomplish this. I'd probably give Hector a free night but not as much as he would have gotten had he notified me while he was a guest!

I did not post the name of the hotel pending response from management, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt at this point. Wife was told that the manager would not be available until Monday morning (this happened on Friday night).

I neglected to post that it took TWO HOURS from the original lock problem before the hotel personnel decided that it just couldn't be fixed, and that they would have to move. Wife and daughter were headed out for dinner at the time and were delayed from 6:45pm to 8:45pm for this mess.
Also, I have emailed a letter to the general manager from my home, at the address given on the hotel website. The email bounced back as undeliverable.

The way that I found out about this incident was that I phoned my wife, and was told that she had checked out. I was insistent that she was still there, and the beligerent phone clerk just kept saying that his computer doesn't lie. After 3 minutes of persistence, he finally checked further and found that her name had been mis-spelled. "I'll connect you sir. It seems she checked out and then checked back in, probably to get a better room rate, and on second check-in to the new room, her name was misspelled. This sometimes happens when guests insist on doing this kind of thing to save a few dollars. I'll connect you now". Geesh!

Also, this is Carmel/Monterey on a weekend and finding another hotel would not have been easy.

Hector,
I agree with those that think you deserve compensation, and an apology!
If the hotel does not come through, you would be doing all of us a favor if you post their name on this board.
Good luck!

Oh give me a break! if this isn't a troll, then I don't know what you'd call it!
--A lock that couldn't be fixed? Hotels pop locks in and out of doors every day!

--They refuse the suite overnight, but take a handicapped room knowing they feel guilty, and then giving it up to said person when 2 other rooms are available?

--A hotel that isn't afraid of ADA and would just turn away a handicapped person with a confirmed reservation, who just happens to be there and speaking loudly enough for her to hear when she strolls through the lobby?

--And a hotel that has no weekend manager? Come on! Every hotel has about 3 managers on duty at any one time. Only if you push will you get them to admit that they aren't THE manager.
--And why are you e-mailing when according to your post, your wife currently is still there. Why doesn't she take care of this in person?
--And after all this, Hector doesn't want ot post the hotel in order to give management the benefit of the doubt?
Admit you're game and quit heckling us, Hector .

Please quit responding to this. We are about to get divorced and Hector is just trying to create evidence that I am an idiot, so I won't be given much in Divorce court. Any fool knows that hotels in Carmel don't go for $129 a night. the bottom line is that i changed rooms so he wouldn't be able to keep calling. Damn the clerk who gave out my new room number. I'll have to ask for compensation for this!

Well, what can I say? there aint much to do in Minot in the summer..especially if you're not old enough to drink.

I did not post that last comment, someone else did with my name.

The room rate over 7 days averages out to 129 per night.

The girls did not know they had been "placed" into a handicapped room until after they entered it. They had refused the "suite" because they didn't want to move again after one night.

The two other handicapped rooms were taken. Whether there were handicapped tenants in these rooms I do not know.

This is not a troll. Once I post the name of the hotel you can call them and check for yourself.

I too find it odd that nobody could fix one of these key-card door locks, after two hours of trying.

If the story is true, and the post is titled "Does this hotel owe us a free night?" I think it begs the question "why would you want a free night" By asking for a free night you are saying well it really wasn't that bad and we wouldn't mind staying in your hotel again. So, why would they give you a free night? I would think you wouldn't ever want to stay there again, not go back for another night.

maybe he means they should credit him for a free night...i.e. "refund"

$129 a night in Carmel is chump change.
Any major upscale hotel chain would certainly compensate Mr. Hector's wife.
With lesser chains and independent hotels, anything goes. You never know what you'll get.
I agree that this post does have a bit of a trollish odor to it.