I'm really having a hard time with US hotels these days. Do they think we're all trailer park morons with Beverly Hillbilly tastes?

In February I was visiting friends in Southern California and stayed at the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel. For $550 per night one would at least expect a neatly made bed with crisp sheets. There were wrinkles and a crease at the corners of the bed and the pillows were synthetic fill and rubbery.
The flowers in the front garden were tired looking and past bloom. Very few people made any effort to say hello to me. I felt like a stepchild walking around the place the way people acted toward me. And it's not that I'm hard to look at. I take very good care of myself and dress impeccably with classic southern taste.

I was in San Francisco last week and stayed at the Mandarin Oriental. The fruit in my welcoming basket was at least a day past prime, room service was slow to get me my morning coffee, my evening bath was unpleasant due to a crack in the bottom of the tub, and again, no one was friendly toward me or forthcoming.

How do these so-called luxury hotels define good service? It's beyond me. Where does one find good service these days? It's hardly worth travelling sometimes given all the shortcomings and disappointments at every turn. Thank you. I've vented now.

Go away...you bore me.
A very lame attempt at provocation.

They should make a bulletin board exclusively for the snobs and lame people like you.

Wrinkles on your cotton sheets! Oh my!

What a stuck up bitch.

Ginny: My, God, a crack in the bottom of your tub - how DID you get through the day???? How would you like to be living in a box under a freeway - get some perspective, you vile wench.

While you didn't say it very well, I understand what you are getting at. I just got back from PR, where I stayed in a very nice hotel that acted like I was an inconvenience to them. The light in our bathroom was so dim I thought something as wrong with it, but we were told it was "supposed to be like that." Huh? It was so dark I had to shower with the door open. The concierge NEVER answered his phone, the maids never took away the trash and never cleaned up the morning coffees. Be glad your sheets were cotton--I'm convinved our were some polyester blend. When you pay alot, you have a right to expect a level of service, and being ignored and brushed off isn't it.

Ginny, it's the way you carry yourself with your nose so high in the air that results in no one saying hello to you.

By the way, even trailer park morons are smart enough not to blow $550/night on a hotel that was obviously not worth it.

WOW...Are you for real!
You must have a ton of time on your hands, girl!
Just do us all a favor: start using your time in a more productive manner and stop embarrassing the entire human race with your lame, snobby, "waste of our time" nonsense. Get a REAL life!

Well thank you all for your honest replies.
While I can see past the juvenile ones likely written by latchkey kids now out of school, I must admit I'm a little surprised by the jaded tones.
I'm truly sorry that so many of you apparently have such tragic, unfulfilled lives that you fail to see beyond yourselves, what else is wrong with the world.
People are just plain rude these days.
Thank goodness we still teach manners, kindness and civility in the south.

Sorry but I agree with Ginny. When you are staying at such expensive places as the RC and Mandarin, you should expect top notch service. For $ 550/nt I might be dissatisfied with rotten fruit, foam pillows, wilted flowers, slow service and unfriendly staff.

It's one thing for $ 150/nt, but $ 550 is a lot of scratch. They should make it worth every penny.

I have to say though my last few stays at RC's found the service phenomenol. They always respond quickly and bend over backwards to keep the quest happy. I'm surprised by the poor service Ginny encountered.

Were people there using their knives and forks the wrong way, too?

The hotels should treat us well if we are "only" paying $150, in my opinion. But the idea of blowing $550 on a room? Frankly I kinda like the idea that someone ripped you off.

For those of you who can't afford luxury hotels...Ginny has a right to be upset. She did not pay for a "nice" hotel, she paid for an "exceptional" hotel. Ginny, I think you should complain. You are the type of discriminating guest they are supposed to be catering to. Complain to management, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

This is a troll, folks. No one is this annoying! "not hard to look at" and "classic southern taste" are definite clues that either this poster is an idiot or a troll. Since this is Fodors, I vote troll.

Yes, I'm a Southerner too and I'm praying this post was made up!!

I don't know that this is such a bad discussion, troll or not. My husband and I usually go on a big trip once per year for about 2 weeks. We spoil ourselves with a 5 star hotel for 3 to 4 nights at some point during the trip. Usually a hotel that has some of the country's authenticity or history to it. We stayed at Palace Schwartzenberg in Vienna. At close to $500 US dollars per night I didn't expect to wake up in a sweat. The duplex room had A/C downstairs, but nothing upstairs where we slept. I also didn't expect to run out of TP & wait an hour to get more, to be refused service on the outdoor patio for an 11PM dinner (they were empty) because my husband was wearing dressy walking shorts, or to have absolutely no where to put my clothing (2 drawers, 4 hangers), or to have a concierge that only worked part-time & was off on weekends. They should be stripped of a few stars & put in their place a bit.

While I would never consider spending $550/night on any hotel, someone who does would certainly have the right to expect top notch service and facilities. If you had a complaint, Ginny, you should have asked to speak to the manager on duty and expressed your frustrations to her/him. Venting here might make you feel a bit better but won't do anything to change the attitudes of the hotels.

I'm in a $200/night hotel right now on business and haven't been able to work because the hotel staff has been making so much noise with their walkie talkies on my floor. I complained once, but it didn't do any good. So much for getting any work done tonight.

I'm with you Ginny, and I think your post is a valid and legitimate one as well! The Ritz always supplies two types of pillows, so a down or feather pillow SHOULD have been available as well. If not, you should have called the concierge!

Ah, Marie-Antoinette, was it the wrong flavor cake?

Just a thought: a mortuary doesn't cost anywhere near $500/night, but you'll have a stay there someday, just like the chambermaid at the Ritz.

I suspect no one spoke to you because of the "classic southern taste" in your clothing. Daisy Dukes aren't appropriate at the Ritz.