Hotel Manager Confessions - Your Thoughts?
 

I found these comments by an anonymous hotel exec on another travel website. I was surprised and disappointed by some of his views: "Guests really should reserve directly. It’s been said that we treat guests worse when they reserve through third-party Internet sites. It’s no myth: Of course we treat them worse! Travelocity, Expedia, Priceline, Hotwire, Orbitz, Hotels.com—you name it, we turn up our noses at them. At some websites, you put in a price and stay at whatever hotel comes up. You can’t tell me that these people care about service! Can’t! The way we look at it, these folks are solely concerned about price, and they probably can’t differentiate good service from bad.
People who reserve through third-party sites are the first clients we downgrade or relocate if rooms are oversold. Heck, we might even pull the sparkling water, cheese and crackers, and other nice amenities from their rooms. You might think that policies such as these are unspoken rules, but they’re discussed openly during our staff meetings. On the other hand, guests who make reservations through our website or call center almost always have access to the lowest published rates. And when you book directly, it says that you picked us for us, and we’ll treat you accordingly."

Laura
What travel site was this please?

While this may or may not be for real, it makes a certain sense. I don't know if it was just a coincidence but when we booked on a discount booking service at Caesar's Palace a few years back, it was the worst hotel room we ever had.

My thoughts are that I can buy a lot of cheese and crackers or house mints for what I've saved in hotel rooms.

In fact, I could probably make another payment on my house in Michigan. Ha-ha! No, make that several. And people are always asking me how I did it/ how I could afford it. One of the many reasons.

Service to me is kindness, politeness, safety/peace/quiet, and clean. It is not about the best view. And I love a smile and good directions. It is true, I am not the kind of person who wants a hovering servant filling my glass, nor an every ready room service person to locate my latest necessity. But I do tip for most any service rendered.

There has never been one time out of at least 50 where I have felt seconded or even gotten a type of bed or room I did not want.

I really don't care how the Hotel Manager feels about me or booking on a travel or discount website. As long as I have my room reservation filled as I reserved it.

And- he would rather see me than an empty room. I'm sure. No one has ever "turned up their noses" on check-in, check-out or any other time in between.

I believe I have seen this, or similar views, in Budget Travel magazine. Honestly, I would think that it would be obvious that guests paying the lowest room rate would be downgraded or walked in an oversold situation. But, that situation aside, it is ridiculous to assume that guests using Priceline or Expedia can't tell good service from bad. If I felt that I was not receiving proper service because of the rate I was paying, I would raise hell! Blame the Revenue Manager of the hotel for not securing higher rates, not the guest.

I think I saw this same thing posted here a while back.

I can't imagine who that person works for or what he is "manager" of! Enough said--that's all it deserves.

Here's the link to the entire article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6854124
I've personally had only one bad experience, when our family of 4 used Priceline to book a Fairfield Inn in Amarillo. Upon booking, we immediately called the hotel and requested 2 beds, and they were very polite in taking our request. However, when we arrived, the clerk said they had no rooms available with 2 beds and bluntly commented, "A request is just a request." Thankfully, the man in line behind us who was traveling solo offered us his room with 2 beds -- which he had not yet moved in to. The clerk very begrudgingly allowed us to have his room -- despite his cheerful insistence. I left a long note of complaint to the manager, but never heard a word. I'll never visit that hotel again. I've heard other stories of Priceline customers getting absolutely the worst room in the hotel -- one that had worn carpet and furnishings or fixtures that did not work. That said, I used Priceline to book accommodations in Williamsburg in June, and afterwards checked the hotel's website and found that rooms were selling for a whopping $2 extra per night. Let's hope my $2 savings doesn't result in a really crappy room or service.

It's from Budget Traveler. He has worked for several big-name hotel groups.

"Our anonymous confessor, who over the past decade has worked as a front-desk clerk, auditor, accountant, human resources director, and general manager at several big-name hotel groups, is currently based in the Pacific Northwest."

laura - Your family was extremely lucky to get the two bed room with your priceline bid. Sure, if they have one, they'll typically give it to you. But they are under no obligation to do so. And it really does happen that sometimes all the rooms with two beds are already taken. Priceline explicitly states that they guarantee only double occupancy.

As to bidding $2 less than the going rate, a little homework first can definitely eliminate that possibility!

With good preparation and reasonable requirements, priceline can be wonderful. With poor preparation, or expectations beyond what they guarantee, it can make for a miserable experience.

In any event, if a hotel is truly full, someone has to receive the worst room, right?

I am with JJ5 on this. The hotel manager can pull all the cheese, crackers, and mints from my room that he wants. They are not worth the premium.

We've had that "Priceline" discussion before, and while I agree that the experience may vary and can often be very good, I'm always amazed at the number of people who refuse to believe that if a hotel is fully booked, the discount site buyer is more likely to get the bad room than the person who booked direct and paid full price. That is only common sense.

This guy sounds like a real jerk, but at least I appreciate his honesty. It is not unlike the restaurant help who will admit they know that food for "bad customers" may be spat on or worse in the kitchen, or the waiters who aknowledge that those with major coupons will probably not get the same quality service as those who don't.

I guess my thought is, airlines don't treat certain customers differently based on the amount they paid for their airfare, and restaurants offer the same food and service even if a customer is using a buy 1, get 1 free coupon. You would think that the hotels would treat even their budget guests the same in the hopes that their experience will be so wonderful that (1) they'll desire to return and be willing to pay the hotel's going rate and/or (2) they'll gush about the hotel to friends and Fodors forum people, which will bring in more business.

By the way, jlm, I HAD done my homework and bid based on biddingfortravel recommendations. The hotel that accepted my bid must have been having a fire sale that week because their typical rates are $30-$40 higher per night than what they posted when I checked.

"airlines don't treat certain customers differently based on the amount they paid for their airfare" - HUH???? which airline?????

Southwest, American, Delta, etc. I've paid $200 for a ticket and have been seated next to people that paid double that. We got the same seats and the same food and service -- or lack thereof.

Think about this before you swallow this hook, line and sinker. This person allegedly has had <b>6</b> jobs in <b>10</b> years, ranging from front desk clerk, entry level 1st hotel job, through accounting, right on up to general manager. Either he is on a very very fast track, or he's moving backwards and being demoted as his attitude gets him in worse and worse trouble. LOL

Further, some very low end chains are &quot;big name hotel groups&quot;. Big means lots of things--it does not necessarily mean high end!

Maybe he is that guy that says they will &quot;leave the light on&quot; LOL
I wondered how a man that was a clerk and an auditor, got to be a manager.

The worst treatment and the worst room I had when I reserved calling the hotel directly once. Only once, not all the time. But it was a very late arrival. Otherwise I didn't see any difference.

I couldn't know if anything was removed just because I got the room through, let's say, Expedia. Upon check-in I was asked if I want smoking or not, 1 bed or 2. Maybe they ran ahead to remove something? I doubt it. I still got my shampoo and maid service. The TV worked. Once even a balcony in Las Vegas! I always got what others paid full price for.

Sorry, but I have a couple comments to make on this comment made above:

&quot;I guess my thought is, airlines don't treat certain customers differently based on the amount they paid for their airfare, and restaurants offer the same food and service even if a customer is using a buy 1, get 1 free coupon.&quot;

Regarding restaurants, as I had mentioned just above, it is a common opinion (right or wrong) among many restaurant workers that the people who come in asking for the early bird specials or waving their 2 for 1 coupons are &quot;probably&quot; not the best tippers. Nor are they likely to order the high priced wine or extras. Anybody who thinks that those customers OFTEN don't get the same service is being naive -- it's that simple.

Regarding the comparison with varying discount tickets on airlines compared to the hotel industry, there is a major difference. Your seat is usually already assigned on the plane and the attendants could care less what price you paid for that ticket, nor are they likely to look at your ticket to have a clue, so there is little &quot;opportunity&quot; for service to vary. But with the hotel check-in, the clerk is genrally totally aware what price you are paying, and he or she holds the trump card of being able to put you wherever he or she wants. Again I'll state, it is naive of someone to think that IF the hotel is fully booked, that the clerk isn't MORE LIKELY to give the bad room to a person who paid a low price than a person who paid full price and booked direct. No, I'm not saying that is always true, but it is common sense to think they won't choose the full paying customer to stick in the bad room when the choice is right in front of them and must be made. Common sense -- like it or not.

I can't comment on the original post, but if you are interested in the way hotels run, I highly recommend the book, Hotel Babylon. It is written anonymously by someone who has worked in 5 star hotels in London. I believe he currenly runs a 5 star now, but they do not tell you which one.

The stories about how poorly behaved guests are, the over-charging, etc. are interesting - this would make a great airplane book!

Yes, of course someone has to get the worst room, but why not the last person to check in that evening? I understand &quot;common sense,&quot; but I much prefer service and treatment that is fair and kind, not punitive.

&quot;At some websites, you put in a price and stay at whatever hotel comes up. You can’t tell me that these people care about service! Can’t! The way we look at it, these folks are solely concerned about price, and they probably can’t differentiate good service from bad.&quot;

Well, if the writer's idea of service consists of cheese cnd careackers, you can keep me on the list of happy Priceline customers. I've had plenty of bad hotel experiences at all sorts of hotels -- but never when I've booked through Priceline. I don't doubt that it happens, but it hasn't happened to me, despite traveling in major cities (NYC, CD) and during busy times.

This is the last time I ever post about this subject, because I believe it's something that repeatedly gets introduced- and it seems to me that the posters like to justify what they want/desire, exactly where/why/how they want it to be, and you would not convince them otherwise regardless.

The fact is that I have used Priceline, Hotwire, quikbook, hoteldiscount.com and I think only 1 time Expedia. All told I have used between 40-50 times over a period of 10 years. That's quite a bit. The rooms I have gotten have always been at least 4 star, have all been in big cities: Las Vegas, Chicago (many, many times), NYC, San Diego, SF,
KC, Fort Lauderdale, St Louis, Boston, and only 1 time in Orlando.

And I have never, ever gotten the &quot;worst room&quot;- and in fact the only time I got &quot;the worst room&quot; was at Animal Kingdom Lodge in WDW when I paid top dollar. It was booked and they &quot;ooped&quot; big time in several categories. Did I lambast them. No. It happens.

Well, I do know where to use Priceline and/or Hotwire and I do study the areas for which I bid, heavily. And I have really, really gotten some good deals.
My all time best was Cuples Station, St.Louis for three nights over a baseball weedkend, looking right into Cards Stadium (Busch)as I sipped my wine- for under 25% (just 25%) of what the rack rate for that room was. It does not always work that way.

I wouldn't even bid for a $2 difference and if it goes to my frugal limit (almost never pay more than $90 for a hotel room anywhere). I will go to Hotwire or other or direct.

An old work acquaintance has left my field to run a hotel/motel near Midway in Chicago. She says that the time of arrival by her is what grabs the &quot;worse room&quot; and it has nothing to do with who booked it for the guest.

I will be naive all the way to the bank.

And when I read of getting of all places, LAS VEGAS, rooms for over $500 a night that I have stayed in on weekends for $65 (I actually really do wonder who is naive).

I think one should also consider whether the stay at the hotel was for a business trip or for pleasure. On a business trip, most people don't really care about the cheese and crackers, and mints. They just need a clean place to sleep. However, if you are traveling for vacation, it's a different story. You want to enjoy your stay, and little extras can make your stay more pleasurable.

I don't believe it. The worst service and room I've ever had was at a High End Resort that was booked directly. I got stuck in a conference wing and didn't get the wake up call I asked for. My two Priceline experiences resulted in rooms with upgraded views and upper-floor locations. I think it has to do with the desk clerk's mood at the moment more than anything else.

&quot;You can’t tell me that these people care about service! Can’t! The way we look at it, these folks are solely concerned about price, and they probably can’t differentiate good service from bad. &quot;
That's interesting, because more and more hotel web sites make a point of saying that booking through them is the best deal, that they will match internet prices, etc. Also, I've frequently read advice more and more--to check the hotel's web stie directly, as it may charges less than the booking sites like Expedia. Booking directly with hotels in Paris and Rome for this summer, or for a Marriott Hotel in NY in June, or a hotel in New Orleans last month, this was indeed true, based on comparisons with the interent hotel booking sites. So is this hotel manager going to discriminate against folks that booked directly through the hotel because it was cheaper than hotels.com, orbitz, expedia, etc?
That said, neither the hotel nor Expedia, etc. can beat a great deal on Priceline. I'm about to use its hotel bookings for the first time--$80 /night in London. I'm not expecting a great room,l but if O suspect it'd of lesser quality than another basic room, I'll ask to speak to a manager. After all--these hotels would not be participating in Priceline i(or the other &quot;engines&quot;)f they did not want/need the customers.

Apologies for typos. Blame it on late hour (3 a.m. &quot;Cali&quot; time) in the beautiful SF Bay Area.

The way I see it, the order of precedence in how staff affect one's experience is as follows:

1. The developer who picked the location of the hotel. Top locations manage to blend both serenity and convenience so that room location within the hotel isn't such a big deal.

2. The architects, engineers, and contractors who designed and built the hotel. If the elevator block was poorly located, designed, or equipped such that it is unduly noisy, say, or if the windows leak, I'm not going to be appeased by cheese and crackers.

3. Upper hotel management that sets the basic policies of the hotel. What mattresses are bought for the hotel, the quality of bathroom fixtures, the frequency of renovations, the training programs available to staff - such things are not the province of the hotel manager.

In short, I care more about the basic quality of the product than I do about things left to the whim of the front desk staff. As for the notion that third-party consolidator customers are treated poorly, all I can say is that if the hotel service is so great, why can't they market their product effectively without the help of such agents? Meanwhile, if I get 80 per cent of my expectations satisfied for the price I paid, I'm satisfied. As it is, most times I do book directly, mainly because the hotel is too small to use consolidators.

I don't think most casual travelers know the difference between what is a standard room and a superior/deluxe room. In most newer 4 or 5 star hotels it has nothing to do with location/high floor or even views. The architects/hotel designers and finally the hotel managers/owners realized some time back that it is in their best interest to at least give the feel that even the low rate will not get you stuck in the corner of a first floor in the broom closet, right next to an all night disco with a parking lot view. Does that room exist? It may, but it's usually used only as a last resort.

Let's take a 10 floor beach front hotel with a mountain views in the back (parking lot included) as an example here. The hotel may have anywhere from 10 to as many as 20 different room designations:

Standard
Superior
Deluxe
Jr.Suite
Suite

Each category may be broken down further with the following:

Beach view with balcony
Beach view
Mountain view
Breakfast included
Lounge access with breakfast and free drinks in the evening.
Free parking

etc.etc.

The point is that it's not the location or the view that matters with this particular property, but it's what you get, depending on the rate you are paying.

There may be a standard room(s) with a balcony with a beach view on the 7th floor. Also, right next door there may be a deluxe room with the same outside amenities that it's a much higher rate. Why?

becuse, the room may have more luxurious bathroom, maybe a seperate shower with a jacuzzi bath. It may have a wet bar. It may include luxury robes/slippers. It may have a very expensive mattresses and luxury sheets. It may have a flat screen TV and a CD player. It may include twice daily room service with nightly turndown. Breakfast, lounge access, free high speed access, etc. etc.
The standard room may not have any of the above amenities, still it does have a nice view and a balcony.

So, to the many that believe they got the same treatment on a low rate/Priceline type rate or something similar just because they are up on a high floor with a view are in most cases clueless as to what's next door.

I'm not debating whether the amenities are worth it or not, that's not the discussion here. I'm just pointing out the mistaken belief of many guests.

Also, it is possible that for whatever reason you may end up in a suite on a Priceline rate, but again these are very rare occurances, so the individual stories here and there does not constitute a normal practice. If you consider that Priceline sells tens of thousands of rooms DAILY, a few lucky stories are just that, LUCKY!

The comparison of airline ticket to hotel room is like comparing apples and oranges, except in one small similiarity. The Priceline hotel rate is non-refundable. It's no big deal if eveything works out, but if for some reason you can't travel, you just paid money for NOTHING! The lowest fares are usually non-refundable as well, but in most cases the airlines will allow you to change the ticket for a fee. That's were the similarity ends.

Buying a coach ticket to get from point A to point B is still just a coach ticket with the same service regardless if you paid $200 or $400. The difference is that the $400 ticket has flexibility, and or is fully refundable. That is a very important factor to many people and that's why they are willing to pay more for what appears to be the same ticket. Come to think about it, the regular hotel rate also gives you flexibility/cancellation possibility, in most cases up to 6pm of the arrival date without any penalties. Priceline? no show, money gone.

The above analysis is true for most newer 4 star and just about all luxury 5 star hotels. It really does not apply to 3 star and below, especially the so called &quot;cookie cutter&quot; hotels, such as Hampton Inns, Holiday Inn Express and similar chains, where the majority of the rooms are identical.

AA, I just read your reply and I think we might be on the same wavelength. The price of a hotel room has, as you have indicated, been researched diligently by upper management: significantly varying room quality comes with a significantly varying room type description. The customer, as a rule, receives what they contracted for, regardless of who handled the booking of the contract. Thus, if Expedia offers me the choice of a standard or a deluxe room and I book the latter at the quoted rate, that's the room I'm going to get. Priceline, on the other hand, only sells rooms designated 'standard'.

I simply don't believe that upper management gives front desk staff that much discrimination in room allocation, if for no other reason than to prevent what would amount to employee theft of services (as would be the case if hotel managers could give their friends and relatives 2 room suites, say, for the price of a standard room.)

I forgot to mention my own experience very recently in Sydney.

I was succesful with a Priceline bid for a 5* Marriott Sydney Harbour. I was very happy with the $100US per night rate I got for 5 nights plus about $50 in taxes and fees. Upon check in I inquired about a room with a view and the front desk clerk recited 3 options. The extra upgrade rates quoted were exactly the same rates I've read about in reviews on some sites including BFT and possibly here.

I'm pretty sure these were &quot;official&quot; managment designed upgrade rates for Priceline guests. The succesful bids ranged from $90 to about $115US and yet everybody reported the same upgrade fees if they so desired. They were NOT made up by the front desk clerk.

So, I believe this hotel has a very strict, yet very nice and fair policy for Priceline guests. No pay - no view, view with lounge access or suite with no lounge access, as these were the 3 options given to me and others.

BTW, I went for the lowest upgrade at $30AUS per day and received a beautiful corner room on a high floor with a great view of the Sydney bridge. A fabulous property all around. A great stay. Highly recommended. Maybe not a true luxury 5*, but a very solid 5* IMHO.

Some may disagree, and that's ok, we have all had different experiences, but I have found that being in the travel industry, and sending clients to hotels, room placement depends many times on luck of the draw, availability, and quite frankly, the attitude of the person assigning rooms...it's a powerful position to some and many of you have had experieneces when you have been nice and get a nice person behind the desk, they may upgrade you, switch you to a better room, etc. I have dealt with alot of mean people working at hotels and they get a reputation for not helping you move people around etc even if they &quot;could&quot;. I think it has less to do with the cost, as I have had free rooms I have cashed in, and I got excellent accommodations, but they didn't know who I was, etc....maybe things have changed with all the low fare internet companies available now..

Of course, all of us can relate only our own experiences, and that's what I'll do here.

A few months ago through quikbook I booked a room at the Michelangelo (a nice hotel) in NYC. Got a price that was 10-20% below what I could find elsewhere.

When we got to the hotel, I mentioned at the desk that it was our anniversary, and they immediately upgraded us to a suite.

So I guess if that manager's &quot;confession&quot; is true, he never worked at the Michelangelo.

And as for the view that bargain hunters don't make good customers, I disagree. After our experience at the Michelangelo, I'll probably stay there again, even of they're a few bucks more than a comparable hotel.

So much for &quot;common sense.&quot;

If I'm paying a fraction of the rack rate via Priceline, why would I care if I end up with the worst room in the hotel? All I'm &quot;guaranteed&quot; is a room that sleeps two. Nothing else.

Now, I HAVE received great service, apecial requests, upgrades etc. and that may be due to a desk clerk in a good mood or the frequent hotel stay card I show when I present my cc for incidentals (and I usually am given points for parking, meals, and other incidentals) or just the luck of the draw.

I'm astonished when someone complains that the Priceline room doesn't have room for 4 - when they acknowleged and agreed to the terms of Priceline before they finalized their bid.

Yes, it's nice to have the bottled water and cookies and personalized letter waiting on me in my room when I'm there on full fare and reserved via the hotel online reservation system. But, I can take my own $2 in snacks to the room when I'm going thanks to Priceline!

We have a favorite hotel we stay in in Austin, TX but it showed to be booked up on their website.

I went to Travelocity and was able to get it.

I called directly to the hotel to confirm that I really did have the room, and I did.

HI starrsville--we recently received a letter from either the Hilton Honors or Starwood program--don't remember which--that they will no longer offer &quot;points&quot; on any stay booked thru a service--Priceline, etc-- and not thru them directly.

Did anyone see Travelocity's new ad? It says that if you get to your hotel and the room you receive doesn't match the room you reserved on Travelocity, just call Travelocity and they will &quot;straighten it out&quot; with the hotel management.

DH and I had to laugh at that one, since the only time we ever had trouble with an on-line booking service, it was with Travelocity. (we also use hotwire, orbitz, expedia,hotels.com &amp; quikbook with no problems at all).

We arrived at our destination late and the only person on duty was a security guard. We showed him our printed out Travelocity confirmation. His reply &quot;Where'd you get this, off some kind of computer or something?&quot; Yikes! After contacting the Mgr., we learned that they had no record of our reservation. Luckily there were rooms available, but we have never used Travelocity again.

I booked a trip through Preview Travel (which has since been bought by Travelocity) and we requested a king but got there are were told there were none so we'd have to take a double for the first night and switch rooms. Very annoying. The said since we didn't book it directly the king room had only been requested and not guaranteed.

We book a room another time using our entertainment book discount and I'm quite sure we had the smallest room in the hotel, but I bet we were paying the least $$ for it as well.

I'm not sure if it was coincidence or not. I was surprised to get the best rate at my hotel of choice for New Orleans via the hotel itself - hopefully that means I'll be getting a free upgrade and top notch service since I booked it through them directly!!

There was a newspaper story a few weeks ago about how the big booking agents when dealing with some of the independent hotels are not able to enter reservations directly into the destination hotels' computers, and often fax the reservation ... with no guarantee the fax is actually read and acted upon, and no followup (my comment: until the unlucky guest is told they have no reservation for him).

So always verify reservations not made directly thru a chain's system.

Back to the topic: I worked years ago in hospitality (including as Asst Mgr) and just started desk-clerking again parttime last year. Believe me, you will NOT get the BEST rooms if you are getting a cut rate. No, you will not automatically get the worse rooms either. We don't want to hear complaints, so we put you into what we think should be a satisfactory room. Of course, if we're booked solid, we're gonna juggle things around. If we know who those last few people to arrive are (they're good repeat customers), we're gonna hold a better room for them. If we don't know them, we're gonna keep giving out rooms as people check in ... after all, you often have no-shows, and a no-show never complains about the quality of a room!

When I worked fulltime in this field, we didn't have internet, but I'm sure we would have cut back on delux amenities (wine, flowers, etc) in those rooms if we were going to give them out to discounted rates ... but in all likelihood, it would have been our own customers paying full price for a &quot;regular&quot; room that would be upgraded to a premium room ... not some shopper who only stayed with us for todays' bargain. The hotel I'm working at now has no such premium rooms.

There's been a number of comments about the clerks' mood. True, but also is the customer's mood. When a clerk feels you are genuinely friendly, we're more likely to do something nice (as nice as we can anyway), whereas if we feel you're a phoney, or if you are a royal p.i.a. you're not going to get far. Again, we're not going to put ANYONE in those worse rooms if we can help it, but when you've a full house, SOMEONE is going to get that room, and it's NOT going to be our BEST customer.

It happens. Made reservation in London through one of the discount websites, I even called the hotel from the US and requested an early check in. Got person's name I spoke to and told me to look for him on arrival. Well here we are in London , tired after an overnight, get to hotel and no one by that name. We told front desk clerk the whole story and when he looked our rate, said our room was in the basement. We went to look at room, by then i was so upset and went back to front desk, told him is either you or a pig sleeping in that room, i was upset. I was very straight forward, told him AMEX will reimburse me for reservation money and hotel will loose. When he heard that, there were rooms available on higher floors and that have been recently renovated..
I was so upset I told him face to face, you are an as..hole.