I had to be in NH at 8 a.m. Sat., so I decided to stay in Mass. Fri. night to give myself an extra 90 minutes of sleep. I was awakened by alarms at 2:30 a.m. and walked to the parking lot nine stories below. After the fire trucks left, I returned to the room and tried to get back to sleep. The alarms went off again, so it was back down the stairs. I finally got to sleep around 4 a.m.

No one from the hotel ever explained what had happened or apologized. When I checked out at 7 a.m., I said nothing about the disturbances, hoping they would acknowledge the situation on their own, apologize, and offer some compensation. I had no time to summon the manager, but I'm preparing to write to him or her.

If you have been similarly disturbed at a hotel (say a 3-star or better hotel), what did the hotel do in the way of apologizing, and did you have to see or write to the manager to get it?

I have had this happen twice: Once at a convention hotel in DC, the management explained it was because of some construction, no compensation. Another time it was at an Embassy Suites, smoke from something minor set off the smoke detectors, It was at 1 AM and actually my kids thought it was great fun to see the fire trucks come. No compensation that time either. I was relieved to know the smoke alarms worked well.

Get over it. You should be thanking the hotel that their fire alarm system is up to snuff, otherwise we'd be pissing on your ashes with your crappy attitude.

malvado, there were no fires. I was pleased the alarms were in each room (rather than the hallways) so they could be heard. Everyone evacuated in an orderly manner, and it was not frightening. But it was a disturbance. All I wanted was for someone from the hotel to say that night or at checkout, "We're sorry for the disturbance. We had a problem with the wiring (or whatever caused the alarms)." This has never happened to me and I was curious as to others' experiences.

Next time you want something, ASK for it instead of just HOPING for it.

I should clarify my original note. By "compensation" I meant a gesture - such as a percentage off breakfast (which I would have declined as I had to leave) or better yet, another cookie! (Doubletree has awesome chocolate chip and walnut cookies.)

If you have a problem with the hotel's service, the time to speak up is immediately. Instead of humbly waiting for the hotel to *offer* an apology, explanation, or free breakfast, you should've asked for it.

Put yourself in the shoes of the front desk staff-- after listening to other guests complain all morning, they were probably very relieved that you didn't mention the ight's events, and certainly weren't going to bring them up voluntarily!

Hotels are certainly in the hospitality business, and need to keep their guests happy. But you have to meet them halfway by letting them know your issues. You can do this without being obnoxious or demanding-- you could've said, Wow that was some exciting night, did they figure out what set off the alarms.

And if you were feeling particaularly assertive, you could've just told them what you told us -- you stayed there so you could get 90 minutes more sleep and ironically the fire-alarm sleepless interval from 2:30 to 4 was that 90 minutes lost!

Hotel folks are accustomed to dealing with politely phrased comments or requests, they probably would've then apologized and asked you what they could do to compensate for it, and you could've mentioned breakfast!

I've had fire alarms force me to evacuate my hotel room with the kids twice. Both were middle of the night alarms, meaning I went down the stairs in my bathrobe and bare feet and the kids just went in their night clothes. In one case (the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh), management sent a note of apology to the guests the next day, but no particular compensation was offered. I didn't really expect any. I figure the alarms are there for my protection. I can't recall if the other hotel sent a note of apology or not. It was a nice hotel in Sacramento but not of the same quality as the Balmoral.

The last time I was awaken by the fire alarms, the hotel in Scotland was on fire...in the kitchen. Grabbed my passport, pocketbook, my raincoat and left the building.

The hotel had just installed new lobby carpeting the day before. Everything was water-soaked and filthy.

The hotel was nice enough to open the bar for free after the fire brigade left.

A few years ago we arrived in Montreal on a FREEZING cold evening, and walked up the street to a restaurant for dinner. As we made our teeth-chattering way back, we heard fire engines. We joked that hopefully our hotel wasn't on fire. When we got to the lobby we couldn't go in - the fire department had arrived and were checking things out on one of the upper floors. We stood in the freezing cold for about half an hour; apparently one of the alarms in the hotel had indicated a gas leak somewhere and they had to turn off all the heating and electricity until it was tested. Turned out to be a faulty alarm. Eventually we were allowed up to our rooms - we had to walk up because the elevators were still shut down, although we had the option of waiting a while until they were reactivated. I don't think it occurred to us to ask for any kind of compensation - the staff had enough to deal with and we were glad they took safety issues as seriously as they did. (Besides, our teeth were chattering too hard to talk!)

This has happended to me at a few hotels, including a 5 star hotel in Toronto. I chalk it up to "sh*t happens." While a pain, about the only thing I expect the hotel to do is offer an apology. I can't imagine that a hotel would offer compensation as it, in the big picture is a safety issue.

While working the 11pm to 7am shift at the front desk of a hotel I had one night when the fire alarms were pulled three times. Was that the hotel's fault, or my fault? No. In fact, I almost busted my butt running up there the third time trying to catch the culprit.

All I could do is announce that it appeared to be a prank, apologize to those who complained, and hope I didn't hear another.

Better to be inconvenienced by an alarm then to burn or suffocated had a real emergency occurred. Death can be such an inconvenience too, you know.

This happened to me several times (including 1 real fire). Also, returned to the Essex House in NY to find that there had just been a minor fire on one of the upper floors. They had an open bar till the elevators were running again - nice touch

That said, I never had it happen twice in 1 night - agree that if you didn't speak up, there was little chance of them spontaneously doing anything for you.

Andre

Anyone who's ever worked in a hotel (and probably most who've STAYED in a hotel) have had this happen to them. In the grand scheme of things, it's no big deal. Inconvenient, yes, but it usually shouldn't "ruin" your trip. If sluggo feels that strongly about it, though, I suggest a letter to the General Manager explaining why the hotel should give him a refund, a free meal, whatever...

Personally, I think it's the hotel's job to take reasonable steps ensuring guest safety. Fire alarms are one of those steps.

One other note: it's very possible that the morning desk clerk didn't even KNOW about the alarms going off. Sometimes, it's amazing at how little communication occurs between the night and day shifts!

While I think it would have been very nice if the front desk staff had apologized for the inconvenience of it all, I don't think you were owed any compensation, however small. Nope, not even a cookie. Personally, I wouldn't have expected an apology, as I can't see how the hotel could have prevented your alarming night.

Our 'episode' of alarm was during a business conference trip. It was shortly after the Marriott Desert Ridge Resort had opened last year. We have laughed about it now, however at the time I know several people weren't pleased.
Many people were first awakened by their alarm clock at the stroke of midnight, with it being a new hotel, alot of the room had never had occupants so right at midnight many of our party were awakened when the clock radio hit 12am. Then they had just fallen back asleep to be slammed out of bed at the fire alarm around 1:45. We have laughed alot about it now, but they were many weary travelers that next day. It was kind of funny, I mean what are you going to do. We did receive some notice the next day about the alarm, blah, blah, blah. They were very evasive about the "reason" for the alarm. No "due to etc." the alarms went off and we heard later they may have actually been a small fire.
All in all, I would rather have the alarm wake me than the grim alternative. It is one of those travel things, some are bothered more than others.

This has happened twice to me, both at hotels that I probably should have known better than to stay in based on first impression. At a Microtel in Missoula, MT, a four year old pulled the alarm at about 10 pm. When I went down to the lobby, the manager told me to go back to my room. Interestingly, she was busy getting a lecture from the firemen about having the fire alarm without a childproof cover at a four year old's reach (not that she had anything to do with its placement). It took about 2 hours for the firemen to figure out how to shut the alarm off. No compensation for this one, and we didn't ask.

Stayed at a Howard Johnson in Atlantic City on a busy winter weekend. The boiler broke, which apparently activated the fire alarm and the fire doors. This activation of the fire alarm and swinging of the fire doors right outside our room went on pretty much all night, and again we were told to stay in our rooms. There was no hot water because of the boiler. The next morning I asked for compensation (I'm not at my most forgiving after having been kept up all night and taking a cold shower in a room with no heat), and received half off my room rate and some free hot tea. Maybe I should have been grateful that the fire alarms worked for my safety, but that night was miserable!

This has been interesting. I realize I wasn't clear, as the alarms did not "ruin" my trip. There was no fire, no one was hurt and nothing was damaged -- well, except for my need to sleep! All I wanted was a simple explanation and acknowledgement -- probably because I am always apologizing, even for things I do not control (like the weather)! I also was frustrated driving around town (lots of one-way street, bridges, 5-way intersections), which had nothing to do with the hotel, of course, and that affected my usually upbeat spirit.

At checkout, I could have casually commented about the overnight adventure instead of expecting them to bring it up.

I have written to the manager, saying an apology would have been nice, and suggesting they have detailed maps at the front desk. I also complimented the hotel on the good parts of my visit (meal, friendly staff, view, room and cookie). I did not request anything.

You cannot expect the front desk person to read your mind. You should have stated the problem and asked for what you thought was fair compensation. Example "I paid for a place to sleep and was kept up all night by the fire alarms. I would like a refund".