This week the Compensation Clinic comes from a reader’s stay at a Hyatt Place hotel in Washington DC that didn’t go too well and promised points never posted.
Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook, or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover a Compensation Clinic case here regularly.
You can access Hyatt Place Washington DC/US Capitol here.
READ MORE: World of Hyatt Rate & Bonus Points Offers
Reader’s Email:
Wrote this about a recent stay at a Hyatt in DC I paid 393.63 for with taxes.TLDR? Bad. The manager offered me points and then ghosted me. So I called Globalist and they compensated me 15,000 points.
Also here’s the video of the sound the AC made. (And which the security guard had me replay for him)
https://youtube.com/shorts/qKnVNa17Oo4?feature=share
Reader’s Review:
I honestly thought when I was reading the reviews on this one that maybe this place just gets a larger than normal share of Karens. I’m a Hyatt globalist and stay 100 nights a year for work and it’s never THAT bad. I mean it’s a Hyatt Place so it has to have the basics right? Well it does have the basics, but apparently no one cares about them, from the manager to the night clerk.
Checked in and went up to my room and worked. When it was time to go to sleep at 11:30, I turned on the AC. I’ve stood next to electric leaf blowers that were quieter. Clearly a shot compressor. Which there’s no way that the last guest didn’t mention. And if they did, it clearly went to an indifferent repair staff because here I am dealing with it near midnight.
So I call down about it. No one picked up. Not in 10 minutes of calling. Eventually that means I have to go downstairs. I go down. The indifferent night clerk asks what the problem is. I play the video. It’s loud and weird enough – even on iphone speaker mode – to make the security guard say “what was THAT? Dude play that AGAIN.”
To the clerk? It meant nothing. Literally. No sorry this happened to you. No apologies that the engineer went home already. Just shrugged. Asked what I wanted to do. I said I can’t sleep like this and she sighed and gave me another room two floors down. Which meant I had to go back up, pack up and then move everything. So I did. And then brought the original keys back down. STILL nothing from her. But props to the security guard who saw me tired and angry and walking back to the elevator. HE came over and said, “Hey man, sorry you’re dealing with this. This can’t be easy.” Which was appreciated. It wasn’t. But a little kindness like that is kind of the least you can do about it. At least he got that even if she didn’t.
I went back up, plugged my phone into the nightstand clock and went to bed.
And I missed my wakeup alarm because the phone died. Why? The nightstand clock had no plug. The display worked and it showed the time because there was a battery in it. Which is a pretty dumb way to make a clock but an even dumber way to put one out for your guests.
I go down and tell the clerk this and also ask her to put a note in my room. As a globalist I get a 4PM checkout and because I didn’t sleep much the night before, I plan on coming back after my morning appointments to rest up before the flight. I also put a do not disturb sign on the door. She says she doesn’t need to put a note on room because it moves when I do and that my 4PM checkout and DND would be honored no matter what. I ask if she’s sure. She says absolutely.
I’m sure you know where this going.
I come back to my room to rest. I go in the bathroom and when I go to wash my hands the soaps are gone. Then I look out in the bed area and the sheets are all stripped and my stuff is moved around. And now I notice it, my do not disturb is nowhere to be found.
So that’s it. Now I go down and check out. The same clerk is on duty – the one who told me that there was no need for a note because housekeeping wouldn’t go in there. I list out everything and she cuts me off: “would you like to speak to the manager?” I say sure.
Then she goes to get him. And he comes back 15 minutes later. Which seems like a pretty long time when you’ve got a clearly angry guest up front. I tell him everything and I have to say, his face isn’t exactly saying “oh this is terrible, I’m going to make this right and take responsibility for making sure this doesn’t happen again.” And when I was finished, neither did his mouth. He said “I’m sorry you had this happen to you.”
I’m like “Seriously? No make good? No take responsibility? No at least I’ll throw you some points for your inconvenience?” He says “Sure, we can give you some points. I’ll do that today.” So I get my stuff, get an uber and go sleep it off at the airport.
Two weeks go by: no points. I call Hyatt Globalist and ask if there’s any requests or actions on my account that maybe I’m not seeing. They say no and ask what happened. I relay the entire story. They put me on hold and, when it’s done, provide the points the Hyatt Place Washington DC/US Capitol manager promised and then forgot about ten minutes after I left his hotel.
But let me say something good: again, the night security guard was compassionate and has the CSR skills that even a manager there doesn’t. And also the hotel is well located. But otherwise, avoid it. A hotel isn’t just about doing all the big things right – which Hyatt usually does – but about caring enough to notice the little things and take ownership of them. Which THIS specific Hyatt does not.
On the way out I saw a handmade Do Not Disturb on a doorknob, because, as the occupant wrote, “the other one seems to be gone.” The fact that someone has to take the time to make one of these in a hotel charging 400 DOLLARS a night, means you should probably stay elsewhere.
Conclusion
I am starting to feel that the “Hyatt Touch” that the chain has had due to its smaller size and previously tighter brand standards is beginning to crumble down.
Some of these properties, especially select service, are not adequately maintained and are staffed with personnel not fit to work in the hospitality sector, and here we are.
I understand where the reader is coming from. It is of utmost importance to me that there are no noises when I sleep, especially from the AC.
If I am in a suite, I tend to turn the AC off in the bedroom but leave it on in the living room and keep the door between the two open. This tends to ensure that the noise level is at an acceptable level.
I also loathe when hotel management promises to do something, and then they don’t, like the reader’s case. However, I am glad they could resolve it with the help of the Globalist helpline.