Checked into the Ala Moana Hotel in Honolulu and the tv did not work. Called the front desk and they sent the maintenance man to "fix" the problem--he said he had to reprogram the tv. OK, tv worked for a while. About an hour later we rented the movie Hitch. 15 minutes into the movie, the tv went black on us again. Called front desk again and they sent the same guy back up. He took one look and said the tube was bad. (Why didn't he know that earlier?) He came back about 20 minutes later with a different tv. He had to switch the tvs, and reprogram it again. Finally turned the channel to watch the movie we rented, but it was already well into the first hour of the movie. I called front desk again to see if they could reset the movie. By this time the night manager got on the phone and told me to just keep watching and it will rerun all night for a single charge. I told her my kids couldn't stay up that late and to reset it anyway. She obliged by checking us out (on the computer only), then checked us back in again. By then it was too late, so we decided not to watch the movie at all. The next morning, I checked with front desk, to make sure we weren't charged for the movie--but they charged me anyway. I had to get the day manager to remove the movie charge. Should I have requested a different room immediately upon checking in and noticing the tv not working? Demanded a free movie? What would you have done? I didn't file a complaint or anything like that, but it sure ruined a fun family night with me and my kids our first night in Honolulu. I don't think I'll stay at that hotel again.

I'm afraid that's typical for three star hotels in that area. Really good service is hard to find anywhere anymore, including Waikiki.

You probably would have had to pitch a major fit to get what you deserved, which was at least a free rental for the hassle of it all. At LEAST.

Talk about a "Hitch"..

Next trip, consider buying a portable DVD player, and bring or rent whichever movies you want to see.

BTW I agree with the other response about service in Honolulu. It usually ranges from indifferent to awful, except at the Halekulani and other top-end hotels.

Well since you didn't suffer any financial loss you really don't have much of a complaint. When you're away from home, you have to expect some glitches. Believe me stuff happens, even in 5 star hotels. My advice is just roll with the punches and think about the great time you had on your Hawaiian vacation.

I can't see the idea of a whole family (I don't know how many there were of you) trying to gather around a portable DVD player to watch a movie, so I hardly think that is a solution to this kind of problem!
Others are right. Stuff happens! I'd have simply asked for the charge to be removed as it was.

I guess I'm different as I can't imagine a "fun evening" our first night in Hawaii being sitting in a hotel room watching a rented movie!! But to each his own.

I agree with Patrick. I sure wouldn't spend my first night in Hawaii watching a rented movie!
Further, if this little problem creates such a turmoil for you, how do you react to a serious problem?

offlady
Sorry you had a bad start on your vacation but it sounds as if the hotel did everything in a prompt way to accomodate you. Unfortunately, crap happens.

I'd say your kids got a nice lesson about living in the real world...sometimes things happen that mommy can't fix....you pick up and move on.

I have had stuff like this happen to me on trips. As long as I am not charged for the movie, then I just roll with it. It sucks, but things like this happen occasionally.

If the portable DVD player connects to the hotel TV, then you have the best of both worlds. You can reverse the film, pause, etc.

If the family's flight, etc. made their first night one of rest, not one of 100% energy, I could see watching a film on the first night in Hawaii.