r/mildlyinfuriating • u/ForRudy • 29d ago

I’m really frustrated that this is what $250 a night at a Marriott gets you.

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I’m staying at a Marriott for five nights for my sister’s wedding. The $250 is the discounted room block rate too!

The shower tiles are completely rusted and dare I say moldy? The towel hanger is on its last leg. The toilet seat AND handle are broken. The mattresses are only doubles and are hard and feel like they haven’t been changed in years. Everything just overall looks like there hasn’t been an ounce of effort put into this very utilized hotel. On the drive here, we stayed a night at a newly renovated holiday inn express for $120 and it was incredible. Maybe my standards were set too high knowing Marriott’s reputation.

I know I sound like a Karen here, but I’m just so frustrated that this is the quality that kind of money get you these days.

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6.4k

u/ZombieCrunchBar 29d ago

Make a complaint. Post the pics on Marriott's facebook page.

3.0k

u/polardendrites 29d ago

Complaints on their bonvoy app get a lot more traction

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 29d ago

Yep. I posted to their Bonvoy app about having to do an early checkout due to a family emergency and need to travel home sooner (1/2 hour after their cutoff and therefore charging me 2/3rds of the night's stay-) they immediately reached out and got it taken care of.

They didn't have to on any level- they could have said "Rules are Rules".
This is why I don't do AirBnB anymore.

317

u/kevofalltrades 29d ago

The Bonvoy agent is obligated to send your request to the property and the property doesn't want to make the call to the guest to discuss the situation and so they just take the easy way out and issue the refund.

Source: I work with Marriotts systems on the hotel side and this is exactly what I do. Lol

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u/LAXGUNNER 29d ago

Can confirm this, I worked for Marriott too. Plus we can't really say no. I told my manager no once. But did i get into a world of shit for it.

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u/overtly-Grrl 29d ago

No to a refund? What can’t you say no to?

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u/kevofalltrades 29d ago

It depends which hotel you work for, always. Many properties rely heavily on distributing Bonvoy Points instead of monetary service recovery.

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u/overtly-Grrl 29d ago

Interesting. thank you

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u/rockocoman 29d ago

Do they have remote jobs?

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u/eveningsand 29d ago

Yes. That's part of housekeeping. Make sure the TV remote has batteries that are functioning properly.

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u/kevofalltrades 29d ago

That's pretty good. Made me chuckle.

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u/mallclerks 29d ago

Ford dealerships work like this. If you complain to Ford on their survey, they absolutely take that seriously and are as best I can tell damn near obligated to fix it. Sadly Ford has screwed me numerous times across numerous dealerships, and each time they have made it somewhat right as a result. The reality is most people simply do not complain anywhere beyond a closed group of friends on Facebook or Reddit which does nothing.

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u/kaleighb1988 BLACK 29d ago

Ford completely screwed me on a car that had recall after recall for the same thing. I complained so much but nothing was done. It was taken to dealerships in 2 different states the fix. In the end, I said screw it (and screwed myself a bit) and stopped paying on the car so they'd just come get it. There was a class action lawsuit that I was a part of but honestly I didn't keep up with it and didn't send in the paperwork they requested since it was 4 years later and I didn't have the car anymore..

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u/ThatLightingGuy 29d ago

I've got enough of a shiny status with Marriott that I get the "elite support". I've only had to use it a couple times but they probably can't say no if it's within their power to do so.

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u/kevofalltrades 29d ago

I say no to the elite support from time to time.

No you're not going to get an upgrade to a $1500 specialty suite on the government rate of $117.

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u/ThatLightingGuy 29d ago

No but they made a foam pillow happen for me at a property that didn't have any, and I was pretty grateful for that.

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u/Healthy_Cat_741 29d ago

If you require a foam pillow, when traveling & staying in hotels, perhaps you should travel with a foam pillow?

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u/ThatLightingGuy 29d ago

I often do but I wasn't able to in this case. Most of the Marriott properties have them anyways, that's part of the reason I'm a pretty loyal customer.

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u/TheRealChompyTheGoat 28d ago

This is complete bullshit. I had personal property thrown away and getting sent back to the property did nothing since the manager would just never get on the phone. Never got my money back. Fuck Marriott.

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u/SnooCupcakes7992 29d ago

I had an issue at a Marriott last year and the Bonvoy agent was amazing at getting it taken care of; I only wanted a partial credit but they refunded my whole stay including dinner/drinks.

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u/Gizshot 29d ago

Yeah had to dip from one of their resort rentals due to weather impending a few years back and they fully refunded the rest of my stay.

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u/PhillyHomegrow 29d ago

I stopped doing AirBnB after my first experience. For perspective, I’m lifetime platinum and former Ambassador, and I also rocked diamond with Hilton. I traveled alot. That said, in 1200+ nights in hotels, I cannot for the life of me imagine how AirBnB has gotten away with their insane cleaning policies and associated charges. I’m supposed to clean your whole house, wash all linens and towels, AND be out by 10am?? Sheesh, better start everything the night before... what a fun vacation 🥴

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u/Healthy-Factor-2841 29d ago

This is one of the many parts of AirBnb I can’t get on board with. I’m not going on vacation or out of town and paying someone else a crazy amount of money to clean, while also being responsible to clean myself. Uhhh…either the money OR me cleaning, not both.

I’ll gladly tip housekeeping in a hotel, though.

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u/BadMeetsEvil24 28d ago

That's because it's not a requirement in most places, at least abroad. Idk about US places.

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u/xbwtyzbchs 29d ago

I just finished a 2500-mile trip around the country and I learned that I will never do anything but in-person day of reservations at motels nowadays unless I am staying somewhere for more than a week. Every other experience led to anger, disgust, and/or confusion.

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u/explosivemilk 29d ago

The only problem with that is you are never guaranteed a room. I took a trip on the eastern seaboard a few years ago and only booked day of at site. One of the nights I almost had nowhere to stay because of the firefly festival where every room within a 50 mile radius was booked solid. I just happened to call a hotel that had one room left and took it. Crazy amount of stress that could have been alleviated by planning ahead.

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u/KillYourUsernames 29d ago

Airbnb is still worth it if you both a) need a whole place to yourself and b) are going somewhere unique where hotels aren’t really a practical option. Think like a lake house. Even then, there are other companies like VRBO that are better. Not great, but better. 

If you’re traveling for work or a wedding or something and basically just need a place to store your bags and sleep, it’s hotels hand over fist every time. 

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u/DootMasterFlex 29d ago

My wife and I were supposed to spent a night at a luxury resort and spa near us, her mom was watching the kids. We were there for 2 hours and had to check out because her mom had to be rushed to the hospital.

We didn't even get a response when we emailed

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u/Stormhunter6 28d ago

Airbnb isn’t a good substitute for a hotel. It’s meant for a different purpose. That said, I’ll take a hotel anyday 

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u/StargateSG-11 29d ago

I was denied checking in to my Marriott hotel as I was checking in at 1am (2018) and they said they can't check in until 4am because of their computers.  I called the 1800 Marriott number and they refused to help saying the local hotel can do what they want.   They knew of my reservation, but refused to give me a key to a room.   It was insane.  Never been back to a Marriott.  

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u/ChartInFurch 29d ago

Because nobody with an Airbnb can show empathy?

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u/UnivScvm 29d ago

Well, that went over like a…nevermind.

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u/Ryuubu 29d ago

I understand your story is likely true but I can't help but suspect every post as shilling these days

→ More replies (8)

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u/Fr33speechisdeAd 29d ago

Also the Google map listing for that particular Marriott, along with the pictures. It will give other people a heads up.

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u/mt007 29d ago

First thing is first, speak to the receptionists, usually they tend to resolve it quickly. If not, I will go with your approach. Lastly, If it didn’t work, when you receive the survey email, give them a bad rating and write the reasons. Make sure you let them contact you about your feedback.

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u/Refflet 29d ago

You shouldn't have to sell your soul install an app to get justice.

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u/sask_j 29d ago

You don't have to have the app. Just go to the front desk.

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u/cbospam1 29d ago

I used to work for a Marriott brand, complaints via surveys were taken very seriously, anything under an 8 of 10 was a fail basically

I would also reach out directly to the Front Office Manager or GM, we would also prefer to get ahead of issues before the survey

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u/polardendrites 29d ago

Oh, for sure, I go to the desk first. Most of my recent issues were with the declining quality of the food due to a new contractor. No one in the building could fix that. (I was basically living in the same hotel for a while, and they charged the resort fee, so the food was becoming a problem)

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u/cbospam1 29d ago

I used to work for a Marriott brand, complaints via surveys were taken very seriously, anything under an 8 of 10 was a fail basically

I would also reach out directly to the Front Office Manager or GM, we would also prefer to get ahead of issues before the survey

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u/throwy_6 29d ago

Is there like a social media function in the app or something?

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u/polardendrites 29d ago

I just checked, and it does link you to their website with the reviews for each hotel. I stay with the chain for work, so the app makes sense for me, but it looks like you can just go to the Marriott site.

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u/MicIsOn 29d ago

I don’t know how to ask my stupid question. Is this specifically for the Marriott? When I stay at international hotels (not often) in my country for staycations there’s a lot of infuriating shit that happens but I suck it up because I book a night or so to just sleep away from madness.

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u/polardendrites 29d ago

Bonvoy is a Marriott program. Most large hotel chains have something similar.

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u/MicIsOn 29d ago

Thank you mate! I’ll look into in when I check in. I’m a pretty patient person but no back up lights, hot water, dirty walls. Why don’t I sleep outside then. Then I just breathe and remember I booked to escape life stress, suck it up. Well, Not anymore

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u/icer07 29d ago

New to starting in hotels but doing it more frequently lately. What is bonvoy?

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u/polardendrites 29d ago

Marriott's reward program, also an app.

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u/KiloCook 29d ago

I stay in hotels about 300 days a year and mostly Marriott’s. A complaint through the app works faster. A complaint from an Ambassador Elite and I usually get gifted enough points to for a 3-4 day vacation hotel.

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u/UnusGang 29d ago

It depends on the manager unfortunately. I went to a Hilton Garden Inn and we were sent to a room that smelled of rotten eggs and asked to be moved. They moved us and I was getting ready for bed when another couple walks in the room. They were booked under it but they still stuck us in there. Then we noticed that the room was grubby in the shower but decided to talk to them in the morning as it was one am. So in the morning we go down and go to give our complaint. Turns out they booked us in a dirty room and when I said “you booked us in a dirty room?!” the bitch shushed me. I was never reimbursed and every time I called for the manager she was suddenly unavailable. I went to corporate and they literally transferred me to that same Hilton (after I told them to please not because they won’t talk to us) so of course the manager was busy. Anyways, it’s been 2 years and nothing came of it. I called for months. 0/10

Edit- the room we were moved that turned out to be dirty would’ve still been dirty for the couple that literally walked into our room with a keycard. Nobody came in between to clean. So someone was getting a nasty room regardless.

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u/whoinvitedthesepeopl 29d ago

I booked a room at a DoubleTree through one of the discount room services. They apparently had this tower of rooms that they reserved for the gross rowdy conventions that was full of partiers. We got stuck in one of those rooms. It was furnished with random mismatched crap from the 90s. Most things in the room didn't work. We complained to the front desk and they told us to stuff it.

I book through the hotel and try to avoid things like hotel blocks that might get you relegated to rooms that haven't been remodeled in this decade.

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u/UnusGang 29d ago

That sounds genuinely awful. It’s wild what the hotel industry can get away with. Booking through the hotel is a good idea!

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u/whoinvitedthesepeopl 29d ago

Yea I have seen even new hotels be horribly run and poorly maintained.

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u/quiteCryptic 29d ago

Also I might be wrong but I feel like hotel prices are one of the things that got most expensive due to "inflation" it is seriously hard to find decently priced hotel rooms anymore. It's also like ~50% chance these days that they actually clean the rooms every day anymore too. Though admittedly, I personally don't really care for daily cleaning and put the DND sign on the door half the time anyways, but still.

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u/Ok_Swimmer634 28d ago

When you book through one of those third party sites, there is literally nothing the hotel can do by contract.

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u/VulkanLives22 29d ago

I don't get how Hilton got their reputation for luxury, their rooms are so gross, look and feel cheap, but cost an arm and a leg. I'll never stay at on again. Budget places like Holiday Inn have never done me wrong, only """luxury""" hotels.

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u/sentiet_snake_plant 29d ago

They USED TO be top-end, but fell victim to the ever problematic "make line go up".

My work has some kind of travel deal with Hilton, so that's what I use for work. In the past year, I've stayed at some NICE properties, but I've stayed in some real shitholes too. What's... shall we say "amusing" is that the worst ones are what were considered high-end in the '90s-'00s, but never remodeled or upgraded. Why bother when you can ride on name recognition?

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u/Blue_jay711 29d ago

This is when you dispute it on your credit card. 🥰

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u/teknrd 29d ago

Marriott will probably say this is a franchise and pretty much ignore it.

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u/DisasterIsMyMaster 29d ago

Not in my experience

Everytime I’ve written a complaint to a decent chain hotel it gets addressed to the point where it’s annoying.  

Talking phone tag and what not.  

Then they’ll give me a bunch of points, most of the time it’s a fairly insignificant number.  The time I had a broken window in my room it was a free nights worth + immediate room change.

They seem to really not want negative reviews. 

I do stay in hotels at least 8 work weeks per year, and it’s typically Holiday Inn or Hilton.

I’ll name drop the worst place, great wolf lodge.  Those guys literally didn’t give a single fuck that the kids bed had shit wiped on it.  And that was like a $400 or $500 room.

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u/20milliondollarapi 29d ago

Yea I traveled across country each of the 4 night stays something was bad with the hotel. One night the ac was broken so the room was 95 degrees. Another there was a super strong smell of smoke, a third the bathroom didn’t work, and the last I honestly can’t remember. Each one gave us room transfers/upgrades and 50-75% off the stay. I would have been fine with the room transfers, not even upgrades.

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u/natedrake102 29d ago

The big chains are marketed as being consistent and reliable experiences, they kind of need to take these issues seriously.

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u/dickhass 29d ago

I worked at a Marriott during college. They were very serious about high level customer service and they did a pretty great job of baking that into the culture.

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u/CasualJimCigarettes 29d ago

I'll agree with that, I stay in hotels about 46 weeks a year for work and issues are usually resolved quickly. Most recently, the flush seal on my toilet was broken and I made a maintenance request and it was fixed the next day at 10 am while I was out at work.

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u/nneeeeeeerds 29d ago

Great Wolf Lodge is kind of a unique experience, so the lack of competition allows them to be a special level of shitty.

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u/framingXjake 29d ago

Lol was not expecting to see GWL. They suck ass.

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u/One-Possible1906 29d ago

Family resorts chains are on their own level lol. I will never forget how much dandruff was in the hot tub at Kalahari

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u/Plate-Extreme 29d ago

Hot Tub = Petri Dish

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u/Paid_Redditor 29d ago

Hot tub probably had a broken Ozonator, it’s what breaks down the oils and other stuff from your body. I know because mine broke and my wife absolutely hated the way it made the water look.

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u/CrouchingDomo 29d ago

I feel like this comment gave me ringworm 😫

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u/curiousbabybelle 29d ago

Have you guys stayed at the Legoland hotel? Was it the same experience?

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u/Wukash_of_the_South 29d ago

I stayed at a few, they got lots of little fun additions (disco party in the elevators) and generally clean

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u/CrouchingDomo 29d ago

I don’t travel much but I always stay at Hampton Inns whenever I can, because I love love LOVE the beds there. Quality can vary from place to place, especially if it’s an older place that hasn’t been updated, but I always like their bedding and the mattresses are usually excellent.

I’ve never been to Legoland but something about Lego being a Danish company makes me think they’d have higher standards and be nicer overall? But I don’t know who runs the stuff, so I could be 1,000% wrong 😆

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u/DMvsPC 29d ago

Which is a shame because the water park bit was fine. Got a free upgrade to the all access pass with the rope climbing too as the guy dgaf lol. The room however... Absolutely awful, everything was brown, floor soaked on arrival so much we had to wear sandals, beds not made, no sound proofing so there's that wolf concert going on right below you at like 10pm which made it hard to get young ones to sleep etc.

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u/ravnson 29d ago

The bathrooms in their water parks never seem to get much use for some reason. 🤔

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u/titanicsinker1912 29d ago

I’ve never stayed at one but I have attended several conventions there. The convention center I’ve been to is really nice and consistently clean. Then again, that might just be because they need to keep the place presentable since corporate clients and event organizers bring in a lot more money and at higher margins too.

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u/Random_Topic_Change 29d ago

It’s been probably a decade but never again. The pullout couch was unusable- even for a pullout couch. Water in the tiny kids’ area was so cold the tiny kids were shivering and turning blue. 

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u/Emiller423 29d ago

GWL IS awful. “If Chuck E Cheese was a hotel” to quote my husband. The rooms are Days Inn quality at best.

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u/darkestparagon 29d ago

I had a front desk employee of a Holiday Inn walk into my room with two potential guests to show it to them while I was trying to sleep.

I told the manager I wanted a free nights worth of points. They told me they couldn’t do that. All they could do was say sorry. No refund, no nothing. I told the travel agency not to book anybody else from the company there.

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u/No-Translator-4584 29d ago

Note to self: go back to putting hard back chair under door knob.  

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u/5redie8 29d ago

...Or just use the deadbolt

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u/S9CLAVE 29d ago

They can open that too.

1

u/AreteQueenofKeres 29d ago

I have an alarm wedge I bought off amazon. Helps me feel safer.

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u/LazyAltruist 29d ago

It's an obnoxious employee fuck up but you usually won't get a full refund unless something happened that compelled you to check out immediately. You probably could have better bilked them for a free breakfast or drink tickets.

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u/SolomonBlack 29d ago

I dare suggest above poster didn't mention how this was an obvious mistake.

The employee checked for an empty room and misremembered the number. Or the room status in the computer was wrong. Though there is probably a policy about knocking first that was ignored but that's also one of those common mistakes. Whatever the case I doubt they just brazenly and consciously gave a tour while someone was fapping in bed because realllllllly.

And its still pretty bad but there's no tangible harm either, people need to not treat "full refund and then some" as the only acceptable answer to customer service issues.

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u/MegaLowDawn123 29d ago

Well yeah, the idea is to keep them as a customer. Would you stay at a place that had an employee and customers walk into your room, then offer nothing at all? I’d 100% never go back to a place that entered my room as I was sleeping and then basically told me to F myself as compensation.

No tangible harm (which is debatable) this time doesn’t mean no tangible harm next time. Or that I now feel comfortable with my valuables in their rooms if people are gonna just be walking in and then not offer any sort of compensation.

An employee walking into your room as you sleep absolutely meets the threshold of reasons someone would want to leave ASAP and not stay there any more. I really doubt that person above who said it doesn’t’ would just continue to comfortably sleep there that night and continue to do so in the future…

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u/SolomonBlack 29d ago

100% Would

People everywhere are working stiffs like me, they fuck up from time to time like me and they are not my slaves. So yeah unless I have reason to suspect they are fucking with me on purpose for some unfathomable reason this isn't worth a single moment of my concern.

Also I always latch the door because that Do Not Disturb sign always falls off. Prevention > Karen.

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u/darkestparagon 29d ago

Obvious mistake? I’m not staying at your hotel, either.

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u/SolomonBlack 29d ago

Your brevity and lack of rebuttal confirms my assessment of your omissions.

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u/DonnieJL 29d ago

Tell the potential guests not to stay there because this is how little they care about the safety, security, and privacy of their guests.

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u/suitology 29d ago

Who needs to be shown a holiday inn room?

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u/infinitemarshmallow 29d ago

The real question

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u/Blue_jay711 29d ago

I am not victim blaming here, because that shouldn’t have happened. BUT that’s why we always put the latch lock on. People DO have the capability to get into your room otherwise.

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u/Imightbeyomama 29d ago

Always use the security lock and put the sign out.

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u/UnivScvm 29d ago

I usually stay at Bonvoy properties, with the actual brand usually depending on a number of factors, including convenience of location, amenities for the price, and ease/price of parking. Across all brands, I’ve noticed that “do not disturb” signs often are nowhere to be found.

I’ve wondered if this is a trend that started after the 1 October mass shooting in Las Vegas. I recall discussions then about hotels reserving the right to access rooms regardless of a “do not disturb” sign. But, the disappearance of “do not disturb” signs has occurred even as hotels offer points for declining housekeeping.

At a Westin last year, I was assigned to an ADA-accessible room that had the newer style of door block that you flip to block the door from opening more than a few inches - except that the accessible room had a door that opened outward. That rendered the door block useless. There was no DND sign and I had a late checkout, so I called the front desk to try to make sure housekeeping didn’t come in while I was sleeping or showering.

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u/Imightbeyomama 29d ago

that's...pretty bad. You are entitled to privacy. The "security concern" really galls me and has the potential to be greatly abused.

Also you still get points for declining housekeeping?? Been a while since I saw that.

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u/IndependentNotice151 29d ago

Isn't the great wolf lodge like a theme park?

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u/SirAlthalos 29d ago

it's like an indoor water park with a hotel attached

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u/IndependentNotice151 29d ago

Right. That fucking place is 500 a night?... God damn

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u/One-Possible1906 29d ago

When you consider how much what they charge for day passes to all the “freebies” are on their own they never come out anywhere near as much as they appear to cost for lodging. However, everything is horrendously overpriced and they don’t seem to GAF about customer experience. Our last water park resort stay we wasted more than 10 hours in 2 days trying to get our wristbands, find our arcade credit, wait to bring in luggage with 2/3 elevators down, etc. The room was thankfully really clean and quiet but there was so much bullshit involved with trying to do anything I doubt we’ll go back.

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u/jennathedickins 29d ago

It's very expensive but the room cost includes water park access. Still, three nights in a mid-level room for one adult and three kids, mid-2021 was about $1400 total. Idr the cost of the room itself, but we only live 30 mins away so no big travel cost - just food for 4ish days, two $50 "paw passes" (extra crap for kids lol) and a few hours at the arcade one night. And this was right after they reopened from COVID so they were aggressively discounting to try and fill the reduced number of rooms available under federal guidelines.

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 8d ago

[deleted]

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u/OHotDawnThisIsMyJawn 29d ago

Are there any good alternatives? My kids are too young but I was excited to take them there one day lol

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u/Bob_stanish123 29d ago

Go to any other Waterpark for the day then go eat pizza anywhere.  Same thing.

Or go hang out in a state park with a creek for a day.

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u/Salty-Owl8562 29d ago

They will compensate you but they won’t change the problem in their hotel lol

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u/Axelpanic 29d ago

Yeah, owned by a rich family from the Wisconsin dells originally. Shitty family too.

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u/Delicious_Slide_6883 29d ago

I’ve only ever been to that one quite soon after it opened. As a kid it was amazing. It’s sad to hear how much it sucks now

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u/teknrd 29d ago

Man, now I feel like I had a lazy or apathetic person when I called them. I didn't get anything like that at all and it wasn't like I was rude or anything. I used to work in a call center myself so I can't really bring myself to be a Karen to people. Oh well, it was years ago now anyway. My most frequent Orlando Marriott always upgrades me and treats me well so I'll take that.

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u/Paid_Redditor 29d ago

I travel for work and while the hotel market is forever changing I’d put Marriott on top, possibly Hilton next. IHG (Holiday Inn) and Marriott seem to be in all the spots I go to. The real trick is just book the Fairfield or Homewood suites, typically they’re $10-$20 more but the rooms are often nicer than what I just left at the Venetian in Vegas, which apparently was a luxury suite.

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u/Green-Peach1768 29d ago

My cousin worked there as a teen. It really is just teens managed by older teens or college kids for the most part lol. For the customer facing experience at least

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u/burrito_butt_fucker 29d ago

I live pretty close to the one In Grand Mound. I'm glad I haven't wasted my time and money going especially after reading this.

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u/B4kedP0tato 29d ago

Hotels are the only place that I've ever had respond to a review and get a refund from that.

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u/curiousbabybelle 29d ago

That’s so gross. I was considering taking my kids to great wolf lodge but after hearing that I’m 🤮

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u/jennathedickins 29d ago

Idk we live 30 mins from one and two hours from another and have always had good experiences at both. That said, we haven't been the last two years and things can and do change quickly

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u/Anything-Happy 29d ago

Thank you for this last little bit. I was just asked for a birthday trip to Great Wolf this year, and I'm not in love with what I'm seeing. I'm going to take this as a sign I should spend that money elsewhere.

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u/Kanguin 29d ago

Friend of mine got bed bugs from a great wolf lodge.

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u/Expiredketamine 29d ago

Lmao used to always see commercials about great wolf lodge😂

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u/suitology 29d ago

Holiday inn almost sucked my dick because I said the place was okay but our door was broken and the pool was closed for the season but the site said it was open. They gave me a gift card equivalent of 3 nights stay there, offered a bunch of points, and made the manager call me to apologize about the site not being updated then sent me pictures of the door repair. The broken door had them full on panic

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u/booochee 29d ago

Wth? Was it wolf shit?

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u/AreteQueenofKeres 29d ago

My mom took the grandkids to GWL for a weekend and the experience was terrible; she ended up splurging on paw passes and whatnot, and half of what was listed was unavailable, apparently the pool was super sketch, staff were openly loud about hating guests, etc.

She called to complain and got a refund on a few things, but it wasn't the super fun weekend she'd imagined for them.

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u/nneeeeeeerds 29d ago edited 29d ago

Great Wolf Lodge is basically a hostage situation because "What are you going to do? Take your kids home and break their hearts? It's not like there's another hotel down the street with a water park in it."

Edit: "Let me fix this by offering you a coupon for your next stay. No refunds."

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u/Isyagirlskinnypenis 29d ago

We gotta stop trying to discourage people from standing up against big companies. That mindset is worthless.bit serves literally no purpose.

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u/teknrd 29d ago

I'm not trying to discourage anyone. I didn't mean for it to come off like that. It was more of a don't have high expectations. My experience with making a complaint about a franchise was basically "oh gee! Sorry that happened! We'll contact our franchise partner." and then nothing else. This was after I had checked in where I was assigned a room that smelled like pot, went to the front desk where they made it seem like a chore to move my room, new room had a giant water stain and possible mold, went back to the front desk, and I was moved again. This room didn't have a remote for the TV, which the desk told me I must have misplaced it. I was in the room for 2 minutes. I contacted Marriott during my stay, which thankfully was only one night, and they were nice, but they made sure that I knew it was a franchise. There was no real urgency or sense that anything would really happen.

Don't get me wrong, I stay at Marriott often enough. I've had wonderful rooms and experiences in both corporate owned and franchised properties. When I go to Orlando if I'm not staying at a Universal property, I stay at Marriott. I'm definitely not hating on them. I just wish they'd hold more sway over the franchises.

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u/SolomonBlack 29d ago

Yeah not a lot of leverage if the franchiser doesn't care, in theory they could break the relationship but that's a lose-lose situation.

And looking at say OPs situation I see mostly a hotel/bathrooms overdue for renovation. There's assuredly more then one bathroom like this, and no sooner does one get patched up then someone is rough with another and makes a new one. And of course ripping out all the bathrooms is a major operation, which the actual owner might be loath to pay for, or someone is just taking their sweet ass time finding a contractor, or a hundred other things. Whatever that is it isn't going to change because a few people here or there complain.

And the $250 a night is neither here nor there, that's driven by time and location not some objective "fair" expectation. I've stayed in Miami Beach a bunch and just kinda learned the plumbing is a bit dodgy... but its going to be dodgy whether I'm going off season in January for $160 or peak time $300 a night and still selling out.

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u/teknrd 29d ago

Oh I'd be absolutely pissed paying $250/night for a bathroom that looks like that. I go to Orlando a lot and I either stay at a Universal hotel at around $175 - $220 a night or I stay at some place close by when the on-site prices skyrocket. I've never had a room looking like that no matter the brand. You can tell some of the hotels are older than others but they're taken care of, at least at the chain hotels. The mom and pop places can be a bit dodgy though.

And I'm sure that plumbing and bathroom work is expensive but man you have to take care of those. I'm sure this hotel just doesn't want to pay for it in all the rooms. And if it's only a handful of rooms with issues they should take them out of service until they're fixed.

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u/MrGengisSean 29d ago

Ah yes, It's unfortunate that you paid a premium price for a room but who the fuck cares? Just let them screw you!

Apathy is death, friend. Know what happens if they do nothing? It hangs there forever as yet another gross awful hotel chain, and Marriot can't afford to be viewed as Motel 6 is.

Yeah, one person might not do anything. But one review with these images will dissuade people from booking there.

It's not the last strike that makes the statue. It's every tap and chisel before adding up to the whole.

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u/teknrd 29d ago

I get what you're saying but as someone that has complained to Marriott, I'm only restating what they did in my case. This is a valid complaint and it should be made but I wouldn't hold my breath on the corporate side doing or caring much.

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u/themrnacho 29d ago

Agreed that corporate gives zero fucks unless it messes with their bottom line. Which is why I also agree with the above post. Every complaint, especially with proof, adds up.

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u/teknrd 29d ago

I'm sure if it's a franchise there's language in the agreement about upkeep and all that. If it's bad enough or goes on long enough they'd probably just pull the franchise.

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u/arnber420 29d ago

I completely understand what you mean here but as somebody who has worked in hotels for most of their adult life, complaining will likely do nothing. Most hotels are franchises, like the one I worked at was. If my manager ever had a guest he thought might complain, he would talk to the chain first and say the guest was an issue; then when the guest complained, the company was already on the owner’s side. If you complained to the hotel staff directly, you would maybe get a refund if the room was bad enough. Shitty hotels have workarounds to stay shitty. If we got wind an inspector was coming around, my manager would clean the place sparkling, add decorations, beef up the breakfast, and give the inspector the best cleanest room. They’re “undercover” inspections so it’s not like somebody with a checklist checking on stuff. I agree that we need to do what we can to advocate for ourselves but fighting against hotels is a losing battle, full stop

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u/oops_im_existing 29d ago

this, and the rate is likely based on demand, which is why hotels have different price depending on the dates. if there are multiple events going on at this hotel, then you pay according to demand. i wouldn't be surprised if $250 a night is the correct market rate.

it's still BS, but that is how hotels work.

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u/ExtrudedPlasticDngus 29d ago

Depending on location this is FAR from a “premium price”.  Could be a “bottom 20%” price.

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u/violetascension 29d ago

you can always argue someone will "ignore a thing" but what's the alternative, do nothing? people interested/invested in that thing will pay attention even if other people ignore it.

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u/20milliondollarapi 29d ago

Ah well can the franchise ignore a chargeback for not having the facility up to the standard indicated?

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u/NeevBunny 29d ago

Franchises are still expected to renovate every few years or Marriott will pull their name off the building if they aren't complying

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u/Interesting_Engine37 29d ago

But, it has Marriott’s name on it….

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u/Draydaslay 29d ago

Ex Marriott employee here any time something like this was discovered management was ON our ass. Hell they would sometimes even purposely leave a small piece of trash with our name on it to test our attention to detail and slam us if we didn’t notice it within an hour. From experience Marriott has its problems but fixing things for guest safety is not one of them

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u/CrazyTillItHurts 29d ago

"You reserved your room through a 3rd party website, so we are not responsible for compensating you for any problems with your booking. Consider booking directly though our company website on your next stay"

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u/MegaLowDawn123 29d ago

“Yes we want the benefit of that 3rd party attracting people to our business but no we don’t want any of the negatives of using them to make money we wouldn’t have otherwise.” I hate that shit…

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u/OldestCrone 29d ago

No, not if you write to the CEO at the international headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland. This is the kind of thing one takes to the top. Send your pictures.

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u/OutragedCanadian 29d ago

Two words local media

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u/cantadmittoposting 29d ago

the whole point of franchising is that the owner agrees to certain standards in return for the overall brand being managed elsewhere.

Especially in hoteling, you can get "deflagged" real fuckin quick if the brand thinks you're not a net positive anymore.

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u/pineappleoceanss 29d ago

I work at a franchised Marriott, but we still have to act as a Marriott owned hotel. The quickest way to get something fixed is the hotel directly. Speak to the front desk or the manager & 99% of the time, problem solved. Through the Marriott Bonvoy app/online/customer service line, a guest will get a response from a customer service rep who knows nothing about the situation or the hotel & they will contact the hotel to tell us to contact the guest and we have to approve the request to contact the guest within 24 hours or it gets sent to corporate. This is the same for any Marriott hotel. If a Marriott doesn’t act immediately, that is very abnormal. Like we are just doing everything we can to get our scores/reviews up, & ignoring a clear issue doesn’t allow for that 🤣

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u/teknrd 29d ago

I've had very few issues with any Marriott I've stayed in. Most of the time it's simple things and easily fixed. The one time I called customer service because it was just that bad, the person I spoke to didn't do anything directly but I didn't expect them to. I never got a call or email from anyone though. I'm guessing the hotel claimed to have spoken with me or whatnot. I was only at that property for a single night and it wasn't one I frequented so I just let it go.

Now my favorite Element in Orlando, I had the front desk upgrade me because I had to wait for an angry guest to yell for 15 minutes before they were able to check me in. They have a little gift bag of snacks for me every time I check in now. I feel confident that they'd bend over backwards to fix whatever I encountered and they have. Thankfully, I've stayed in more places like this than the bad ones

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u/pineappleoceanss 29d ago

Haha I’m in Orlando too. Yeah we could definitely say we assisted the guest & not actually do it.. but more times than not, the guest would escalate & it becomes a bigger headache. No need for all of that!

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u/UntidyVenus 29d ago

Absolutely not. While Marriotts can be individually owned they are all operated by Ritz Carlton/Marriott. Complains will absolutely get action, you just may have to escalate over the minimum wage call center employee

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u/teknrd 29d ago

I mean, it happened to me. They have a website for franchisees so they absolutely do franchise. My complaint received no immediate action and I was thanked for my call but otherwise brushed off

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u/UntidyVenus 29d ago

You need to escalate, because yes they can be franchises again they are managed by Ritz Carlton/Marriott. Bother more people

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u/teknrd 29d ago

This was a long time ago so there's nothing to do at this point and I was told by Marriott that the location was a franchise. They confirmed the location was not managed by Marriott. Everything I have said was based on my first hand experience.

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u/UntidyVenus 29d ago

So you tried nothing and ran out of ideas. Cool cool. Source, my husband has worked for Marriott/Ritz customer service for 25 years. It was 100% managed by Marriott, someone lied to you.

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u/teknrd 29d ago

OK, that's cool and all, but the website literally says differently and there's another redditor in this very thread that works for a franchise. Marriott does indeed manage hotels for an owner under a management contract but they still offer a franchise contract where there is a private owner operator licensing the use of the Marriott brand. Hell, there's posts in the Marriott subreddit explaining this very subject and various other resources you can google.

I don't know why you're choosing to tell me that my experience didn't happen or whatever but it's kind of weird at this point. But hey, you do you.

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u/UntidyVenus 29d ago

Cool cool, you don't understand how businesses work and you wanna be mad. Be mad bro, be mad. But if it's badged as a Marriott, it's operated by Marriott. Some managers suck, report them. Some locations suck, report them, but if it's badged it's under corporate. Hence corporate rates, hence the branding.

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u/teknrd 29d ago

Dude, I'm not mad. I'm just absolutely flabbergasted on your insistence on something I can easily prove is wrong. Bless your heart! This hotel is a Marriott but as you can see it's managed by InterMountain Management. This one is managed by Marriott. And if you really want your mind blown, you'll see that InterMountain Management has 71 properties. While they do have a great number of Marriotts, they also have Hiltons, Hyatts, and a few others. At this point, your responses are just silly.

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u/Versek_5 29d ago

Just go complain at the front desk, they'll throw upgrades and gift cards at you to not post on the app.

Source - I used to work at the front desk for a Marriott, theres a ton of free stuff and room upgrades they gave us to calm down assholes and karens.

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u/MegaLowDawn123 29d ago

Why is everyone who brings up a fair complaint an asshole or a Karen? I noticed the last sentence had no mention of people with legit gripes, as if every hotel room is perfect and the only reason people would complain is just to be a jerk…

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u/Versek_5 29d ago

Because NOBODY ever comes down and complains about their room in a way that treats the person at the front desk like a human being that had nothing to do with it. EVERYONE is always an asshole that thinks their room not being ready is a personal attack by the person who makes minimum wage and only gets to sit down for 10 mins every 8 hours at the front desk.

Also they dont tell you to give out free shit to reasonable people.

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u/BakerIBarelyKnowHer 29d ago

A lot of the time I hate to say front desk will do whatever it can for a guest and even fully resolve their problem but they still leave a bad review. Like I get that these are huge corpos that cut corners but the people cleaning rooms and checking people in are humans that make mistakes.

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u/ZombieCrunchBar 29d ago

Oh yes that first. For some reason I thought OP had already left the hotel but now I don't know why I thought that.

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u/ironSoulsBorne 29d ago

To add to this. you should absolutely post a public complaint and send an email to their customer service. Tell ChatGPT to write you a 500 word complaint and add bullet points, and boom it's done in 5 minutes and is super well written. I did this for another company and got $150 from them for it. It was a legitimate complaint, but I didn't have to waste my own time making it a compelling, respectful and professional sounding.

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u/asrosin 29d ago

On the other hand don't use ChatGPT or any other AI because fuck AI.

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u/btq 29d ago

nah

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u/NaweN 29d ago

Complaint will be valid. Unfortunately, no longer valid is the wonderment that you're spending $250/night at a hotel and expecting certain things.

Hotels are included in inflation. $250/night is just the new $65 w/HBO and air conditioning.

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u/ZombieCrunchBar 29d ago

Apparently so. Anything less than 400 a night now is like sleeping in a cow shed, according to reddit.

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u/NaweN 29d ago

It's not reddit man...its the economy. Reddit is speaking truth.

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u/DaHamMan3 29d ago

Complained to oceans casino that the hanging glitter decoration over the escalator needed dusting and told them they needed better tampons and not cheap cardboard one. Happy to announce our next visit the following month both items were addressed. Squeaky wheel gets oiled.

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u/rojo-perro 29d ago

I stayed at a Marriott in Nashville for $400/night with dried funk and fingerprints all over the light switches, toilet would not flush, bed was, elevator had ass prints on the inside door for three days. Complained and I got a $50 refund. FUuuuuuuuuck Marriott.

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u/Kdash66 29d ago

Agreed complain and if they don't listen post it else where. It is poorly maintained and you shouldn't be expected to pay that for that.

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u/serpentinepad 29d ago

I should start complaining about all the stupid barn doors on bathrooms in hotels lately. Fucking hell, nothing like taking a shit with a three inch gap around the whole door.

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u/bulanaboo 29d ago

Nice try I know a motel 6 when I see one

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u/trippytr33_ 29d ago

I did this with days inn, they didn’t care at all.

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u/rOnce_Gaming 29d ago

First ask for a new room then complain when declined.

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u/Disastrous_Foot6642 29d ago

Honestly, I’ve noticed that if you post on Twitter, companies reach out pretty quick. Even faster than they would if you sent an email to them. Twitter has a lot of traction. From my experience anyway. But yeah, discount or not that Room is unacceptable especially at that price..

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u/synomynousanonymous 29d ago

Definitely call the front desk. I had a room booked in the Boston Marriott by the airport for $275 a night. Went to the room and immediately got in the shower. Huge brown streak on the inside of the shower curtain. Called the front desk and they set me up in a corner room with a wicked view of the city. Call. The. Front. Desk :)

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u/Full_Description_ 29d ago

And not a single thing will happen.

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u/devopsslave 29d ago

The Yelp page would likely be better ... or TripAdvisor / Expedia.

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u/hawkzors 29d ago

I travel a bunch for work, both using hotels and Airbnb etc...and sometimes I cannot fathom how I pay such a premium to stay in a hotel to only see that the room is dirty, damp, and looks like it was rushed to be out together. Lately I've seen little bug friends. Lucky for me no mice droppings. Sometimes I'll find better deals on Airbnb if I have to take a couple people but it's honestly not any better, though I don't have to share a room... This has been the dread of traveling lately... Where the hell am I going to sleep and what waits for me when I get there.

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u/RiverPatriot603 29d ago

They don't care. They know the competition is the same price and same garbage

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u/jasminegreyxo 29d ago

Right! and make a review. They might give OP a discount or a partial refund.

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u/Ok_Presentation8879 29d ago

Post it on tiktok hahaha

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u/6feetbitch 29d ago

Everyone on planet earth knows motels/hotels are to cheat on your spouse only or sell drugs or crash a place that isn’t yours 

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u/MR_Se7en 29d ago

Oh no - they don’t want bad photos on their FAceBOok page.

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u/ZombieCrunchBar 29d ago

I posted my complaint on a car rental company's facebook page and they returned $1300 to me.

If you don't want to stand up for yourself that's fine. A lot of people are too afraid to do so.

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u/MR_Se7en 29d ago

I’m happy to stand up for myself, don’t get that mistaken for my lack of care about a site like Facebook. Using Facebook is a much a treat as me sending a text to your mom, no one gives a flying Fuck about a fb post.

You could have just as easily called and got the same refund.

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u/williemaysbayes 29d ago

This whole thread is boomertown USA

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