Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Unforgivable greed at the Sheraton

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That donation was tax deductible. Far better they should have opened their arms to the people walking through their doors. Is it this kind of abuse of "capitalism" that loses us friends around the world? There are good corporate citizens and beasts. How will we know the difference?

Shame on Sheraton if the gouging occurred. This morning, checking on hotels close to the Atlanta Airport, we found that Sheraton actually had the lowest rate of all in that vicinity. Perhaps this thing in NY was an individual owner or manager thing. Ciao

People: if you see any "gas-gouging" or "hotel-gouging" PLEASE CONTACT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. I saw with my own eyes $5.00/gal, $3.85/gal and $4.17/gal. Within days, the attorney general (Jennifer Granholm in MI; don't know if it's different for every state)had cited these stations for $25,000 fines and the prices came down immediately! I think Sheraton DID try to charge outrageous rates until the publicity. Then, all of a sudden, they became very generous......

Good point, no spam. Our attorney general threatened investigations into any gasoline price gouging. Seems the public was willing and able to provide details.

To Chagrined: So what if the donation was tax deductible? If they hadn't made the donation, and forgone the tax deduction, they'd have a lot more money in their pocket than they have now. And yes, the money donated is being put to better use than opening their arms to people walking through the door.

Same thing here in Tennessee. All reports of gas price gouging would be investigated. We've been able to get gas for $1.35 since before the attacks and now.

I live in a suburb in DC. Wednesday after the attack I found myself low on gas, drove up to the gas station and got gas. No lines, no higher prices; hadn't occurred to me that there might be a gas shortage. However, teh price that popped up was for premium, even though I was pumping regular. When I complained, the guy told me the indicator was broken and reassured me that I was paying the correct price $ 1.69 (instead of 1.88). He was right, I checked it.

We just got back from San Fran - had three free nights at the San Fran Hilton using honor points - we checked out last Thursday thinking we were going to fly home - flights cancelled and the hotel welcomed us back "with open arms" and gave us a wonderful room for $129 a night - hardly gouging - in fact I thought it was very fair of them. They were going to charge us $169 (which was still reduced for this room) but when I explained we were stranded and didn't know how long we were staying (and they had just waived us off to the airport a few hours ago) they immediately reduced the rate to $129. Everyone at the hotel was above and beyond - the housekeeper hugged us and wished us a safe flight when we left for good on Sunday. Also - we had parked at Manchester NH airport when we left and early this morning when we got to our car and were checking out they attendent told us the parking facility was discounting everyone 4 days due to the delays etc. They had no idea whether or not we had originally planned to pick up our car then or were delayed but just decided to give everyone a break - bravo to them ! !

Ok I know this does sound terrible but did you ever consider that some low level manager who has since been fired made the decision to do this? I just got the best rates with Sheraton this summer it does not make cents to me.

Just to remind everyone that the news media is not always correct in what they report. Living here in Manhattan, I've seen the media (including CNN) jump the gun a couple of times and report things that were not correct. They are all so quick to get the story out that they don't get the facts straight. It's a shame that you don't know who to trust with stories like this.

This is a false report. Notice we've not heard from anyone who "actually" had this happen to them. It's just like a lot of the supposed "true" events that get posted on the net. It's always a friend or friend of a relative that was the party involved. I really enjoy the one's where they say they know "an attorney".... Yeah, we really can't imagine an attorney not telling the truth (sorry any legal folks)!

Yes, let's not believe this unless we hear from someone to whom it happend. If there are such people, I believe they can pursue some kind of legal thng with the Sheraton, as Mayor Giuliani said in one of his first TV speeches that anyone who engaged in price-gouging would be arrested.

This is not true. Read the press release on the SPG website regarding this report.

Idsant, could you help us find the press release? I went to the SPG site but couldn't find the press release.

From their press release: http://www.starwood.com In addition to Starwood's donations to The September 11th Fund, Starwood hotels and associates in New York City and Washington, D.C. aided in relief efforts on the ground in the hours and days following the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The W New York-Union Square was the company's first hotel to come into contact with victims of the World Trade Center attacks who had escaped the devastating scene, and arrived at the hotel less than an hour after the initial attacks. The hotel immediately opened its ballroom as a shelter to the crowds of dust covered people walking out of the downtown chaos, providing complimentary food and beverage; arranging a complimentary phone bank of 20 phones so victims could contact their families; and setting up a giant screen TV. The Westin Fairfax, Washington D.C. and The Westin Grand, Washington D.C. set aside a portion of their room inventory to provide complimentary accommodations to the Pentagon Disaster Relief Team, and The Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers has provided complimentary rooms to 400 firefighters from around the country. "I am moved not only by our employees' actions and outreach during this tragedy, but by our customers as well," added Sternlicht. "Starwood will continue wholeheartedly to support the relief efforts and victims of this tragedy in any way we can."

Here's Sheraton's reply to my message on the subject; they admit that there was a problem at the JFK Hotel but say that it's been rectified and that it was an isolated incident and does not represent the chain's response as a whole. I accept that. Thank you for contacting Starwoood regarding recent news reports on the Sheraton Hotel at John F. Kennedy Airport. We have been extremely troubled by erroneous reports made by several media sources that Starwood participated in "price gouging" activities at its hotels in the immediate aftermath of last Tuesday's tragic attack in America. When the nation's airports were shut down, Starwood immediately instructed hotels to honor whatever rate structure was in place prior to the tragedy, no matter how high the demand, and forbade any pricing activity that would derive economic benefit from these tragic events. To ascertain what happened, Starwood's management conducted an exhaustive, system-wide review of last week's individual pricing at Starwood's 464 hotels in North America (149,333 rooms). Of the 464, just seven hotels may have had rate-related issues. The Starwood property leadership at each of these hotels immediately responded and lowered rates. Of the seven, the only hotel system that moved to previously published Tuesday rates was the Sheraton JFK. Please be assured that all guests affected by this oversight have been issued credit and discounted pricing remains in effect. While we do not believe any of these actions were ill-intended, we deeply regret any such activity and assure the public that these isolated situations have been remedied. We sincerely hope that exaggerated reports by the media have not overshadowed the admirable and tireless acts on the part of our associates and our hotels that continue to reach out to aid rescue workers and families of the victims of this tragedy. Starwood has housed over 400 fire fighters at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers, and all eight of its Manhattan hotels continue their aggressive community outreach programs which include additional housing for families of victims, donations of bedding, food, ice and cots for those affected. In addition, Starwood announced on Monday a donation of at least $1 million to the September 11th Fund and the formation of its own Starwood Supports America Fund to enable associates from around the world to financially support the rescue effort. We hope we have adequately responded to your concerns and thank you for contacting Starwood. Sincerely Rich Palombo Manager, Consumer Affairs Executive Division

Thanks Rich Keep on spinning...

Why anyone puts credability into CNN is far beyond my grasp. Dick