I'm interested in the AFF collective people's thoughts on how to deal with this. We're in a room currently which has had constant noise all night from the wedding. I've been down to reception to query it and was told sorry, hotel is full, can't do anything. We'll ask them to be quiet. 30 minutes later (12.49am now) and the noise is still the same level, if not worse.
I'm a light sleeper so this topic is really fully understood by me and one of my big grumbles. I agree with others that there must be a way to keep all the function guests together somehow ... although having said that I guess at booking time the various guests won't necessarily show their hand as to why they are staying at the hotel and will also have various requests for different room types and whatnot.
Still, at the end of the day, most places have noise pollution laws which require quiet after certain times of day or night and I think that hotels should organise functions to take into account those laws (or guidelines). If the problem is one of the function being finished but guests 'partying on' in their rooms and generally moving noisily backwards and forwards between rooms and floors then surely this can be handled by hotel staff (or security if it comes to it) in the normal way that any noisy guests are handled.
I asked for the GM's details so I could make contact via that channel and was refused them.
Thats completely inexcusable. There shouldn't ever be a reason why a guest is denied a way to contact the 'boss'.
I've sent an email to the HH Diamond desk, so waiting to see what they come back with - but I'm not hopeful.
I've had pretty good results the various times I've contacted the HH desk - though I've never needed them to intervene in such a way, still, at the very least I'd expect them to have some power/weight to ensure you get to contact the hotel GM. Emails are usually returned pretty quickly, however, there is also normally a phone number for the various HH regions as well and I've called this before ... might be worth a shot if they don't respond via email pretty quickly.
We are still here for another night and they said perhaps we can change rooms tomorrow but cannot guarantee that it will be quiet.
I suggested perhaps we should move to another hotel to which they said maybe that is the solution.
Sounds like front line staff trying to find a least difficult way to deal with the situation (for themselves). Certainly its never going to be easy for them to have to deal with, but some difficulties simply come with the territory unfortunately. This is part of the reason why the GM and senior operations managers need to be available pretty much all the time - to deal with difficult situations that front line and certainly guests shouldn't have to deal with.
If the guests are spread all over the hotel then sure, I can understand why there wouldn't be any forthcoming 'guarantee' of quiet even given a room change - nevertheless, at a minimum, I'd have thought a room change is required and should be found for goodwill reasons if no other.
I'd be most interested if the GM or senior staff agree that you organising and moving to a different hotel is the best solution.
FWIW I am Diamond with Hilton. How would you approach this? It doesn't really bother me so much but Mrs Flashware is not very happy at all
If you make a mistake in hotel management or control then you (the GM) just have to suck it up sometimes, even if its costs you, and this goes doubly for trouble involving status guests. If they are unable or unwilling to control noise levels from other unruly guests then perhaps the best way forward, in the immediate term, it to place affected guests at other similar product hotels nearby at your own cost. Learn a lesson from this and move on (again, speaking from managements perspective).