Hilton Rant
TO: Frank Phear, General Manager
Embassy Suites Hotel St. Louis-Downtown
901 North 1st Street
Saint Louis, MO 63102
Deb Benhoff, General Manager
Hampton Inn St. Louis Downtown (Gateway Arch)
333 Washington Avenue
Saint Louis, MO 63102
Stephen F. Bollenbach, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Hilton Hotels Corporation
755 Crossover Lane
AW-A2
Memphis, TN 38117
CC: Michelle Koch, Assistant General Manager, Hampton Inn St. Louis Downtown
Thomas L. Keltner, Executive Vice President
Hilton Hotels Corporation
9336 Civic Center Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission
701 Convention Plaza
Suite 300
Saint Louis, MO 63101
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I’m writing to inform you how greatly disappointed I was in how a recent situation was mishandled. Let me start at the beginning…
On 4/18/2006, almost an entire year in advance, I made a reservation for the above mentioned Embassy Suites Hotel in St. Louis for a 2 night stay in April of 2007. That confirmation number is xxxxxxx. Since my family decided to accompany me, on 6/4/2006 I extended the stay to 4 nights. Let’s fast forward 7 months…
On 1/30/2007 I received a voice mail from Jennifer at the Embassy asking me to return the call. Shortly afterwards I returned her call and she informed me that the Embassy will be closing down for renovation at the beginning of April and that my reservation would be cancelled. I asked her what my options were. I was told that I would have to make a reservation somewhere else. I was greatly disappointed that the Embassy didn’t already have a list of possible options and great rates for my trouble. The Embassy Suites wasn’t willing to do the work to find me and apparently every other displaced traveler an acceptable alternate hotel. That is unacceptable!
After looking at a map of St. Louis and finding that the Hampton Inn would be an adequate alternate hotel location wise, I looked on their website to see how much the rates were. VERY much to my surprise, their rates were actually MORE than the Embassy, which I found very strange because the Embassy traditionally has many more amenities than a Hampton Inn. I specifically picked the Embassy because I’d be getting a 2 room Suite, the Manager’s Reception in the evening & a full cooked to order breakfast in the morning.
I called the Hampton Inn and spoke with Michelle, the Assistant GM. I explained to her my situation with the Embassy closing, the fact that I’d be getting a standard hotel room, no manager’s reception, and a breakfast that’s not as elaborate and hoped that she would be able to help me. Fully expecting her to say something like “Yes, we heard about the closure of the Embassy, Thanks for picking our hotel as your alternate, here’s a great rate for your trouble.”
Sadly, that’s not what was said…. Though she did say she would contact her boss Deb and they would speak to Frank at the Embassy and see what could be worked out. I had hope that this would be worked out fairly and to my satisfaction.
I called the Embassy back and spoke with Frank the GM to give him the details and to let him know to expect a call from the Hampton Inn. I clearly explained to him that I was disappointed that the Embassy didn’t already have a list of possible alternate stay options and great rates for my trouble. He said he’d get back to me after talking with the Hampton Inn.
The next day I received a call from Frank informing me that Hampton Inn was not willing to budge on their room rate. I then called Michelle at the Hampton and she confirmed that they were not willing to budge on the rate. They only had 7 rooms left that weekend and the only way they would drop the rate is for the Embassy to pay the rate difference and the Embassy apparently chose not to.
Wow, certainly not the outcome I would have predicted as a loyal Hilton customer for the past several years.
Irritated, I decided to cut my trip short by a day and I bit the bullet by making a 3 night reservation at the Hampton Inn at the higher than Embassy rate. Confirmation Number: xxxxxxx.
I don’t travel as much as I used to but when I do it’s almost always a Hilton Family property. It’s disappointing when Hilton doesn’t try to make things right.
Thank you,
Craig
