been away from the blog for a little while because life interrupted as it does sometimes. so what has happened lately? well i stayed at that "wonderful" downtown hotel again that had the horrible customer service and not so great rooms. why? because when i stayed with them the two times before they had no idea who i was, who i worked for or what my connection was to them and that's just the way i like it. i want you to give me the same service you would give another patron, i want everything to be what it would be if i were jane blow coming in off the street and making a reservation, that way i can critique you honestly on your true behavior and customer service.
so, needless to say, once they figured out who i was and what my connection was to them they offered me a night's stay in one of their better rooms and initially i wasn't going to take it because two unpleasant experiences were enough for me. but later, as i thought about it and realized that i did need a night away, i accepted it. it was on one of the busier weekends because of the holiday and that's why i chose it. i wanted to see what would happen once they were swamped with independance day celebrations as well as their normal weekend crowds.
so here goes:
1. customer service overall was great, everyone was extremely pleasant and knowledgeable and if they didn't know they did not pretend to and had no problem saying let me double check that. they also waived a fee that i had totally forgotten about and was not prepared for. they answered the phone promptly and courteously everytime i called with a question.
the one problem i had, and it's ongoing until they make a permanent change, everytime i go i bring my pod to listen to my music of choice and they don't have pod docking stations. what they have are the radios that require an adapter cord, which is fine because the radio in my office is like that and i can work it just fine, however, i have the hardest time getting theirs to work so i have to call down for an engineer everytime and everytime they send me a new radio. this time they sent the radio and i explained to the housekeeper what i needed and asked for and he said you know call back down there and insist they send you what you asked for initially because a new radio isn't going to solve that problem. i told him he was absolutely correct and i appreciated him understanding that and acknowledging that there was nothing he could do to help.
2. the room was really nice, neat and clean and overall pleasant. i had a friend come to spend the day with me and they enjoyed the size of the room, the layout and all of the comforts just as much as i did. the bed felt awesome and i had a really hard time getting out of it the next morning. my only issues were because of my allergies i request a hypo room, so no down products, they realized it before i could call down because 15mins into my stay housekeeping was coming with a change in linens (another customer service kudo for that). the other thing was that the bathroom was so tiny that i felt claustrophic whenever i was in there with the door closed and the way it was situated with the dressing area was awkward. i could not have the door to the bathroom open and be in the dressing area at the same time, just too tight.
3. meals; i did not eat any of my meals there. i think the pricing for their food is insane and i understand why, the area and the chef. my friend that spent the day took me to dinner and we ended up only paying for one meal because a bug decided to land on one of them and once that happened we were done. the morning of check out i walked down the street and for the price of a granola and yogurt parfait at the hotel i got a breakfast sandwich with chicken sausage and organic eggs, a cup of fresh fruit and a muffin. i already had a bottle of water in my room, that i brought with me, so i went back to my room ate my breakfast and was so full off the sandwich and fruit that i ate the muffin for lunch.
4. fitness facility; i did not use it the two times prior but had decided to use it this time. it is a small space, not much bigger than the suite i was in however, i did not feel crowded at all. that may have been because there were only two people in there when i came in and after they left 3 more came in and as i was leaving 1 more came in but it still did not feel congested. they had some of the latest equipment and it was easy to use.
5. rooftop deck; i'd been on it before and i thought the same thing this time around as i had before, they need more shade umbrellas because the sun was brutal up there. i know it's a sun deck however, they should provide the option of not being in the sun as much. there were only two umbrellas when they could easily have 4 and neither of the the two were up. insult to injury, it was still a little dirty, grungy, sticky from the night before.
check out was smooth with no problems at all. so overall, as i said to them in my survey, i would recommend them because of my connection with them and i know they have the ability to be a better hotel however, that one good experience did not outweigh the too really bad experiences and if anyone asked me for details i would be inclined to give them my honest opinion.
so that's enough of that and if i could legally give the name of the hotel i would but contractually speaking i can not. more things have happened in my life and they were good but i'll get to those things later.
peace and blessings!
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