So long Marriott - first, and last stay ever

[thewinchester]

Well, I decided to give Marriott Circular Quay a go as I've never stayed in one of their properties before. Decision was also aided by proximity to Circular Quay as I was set to join a 10:30 cruise to Fort Denison and wouldn't have to go far.

I've stayed in a few properties in my time across the chains, and in all my years I have never been so turned off of one by this visit.

Its to the point where I dumped the express checkout form & room key with Conceirge as I couldn't be bothered hanging around, let alone waiting for the prehistorically slow Front Desk staff.

Firstly, their standard check out time is 11am. So can you explain why you'd expire all room keys at 10am? And I do mean all room keys, as I observed no less than three fellow guests on my floor get caught by this.

And waiting for the service line to send someone up took long enough, to the point where a Housekeeping supervisor who just happened to be on out floor (and knew that this issue was SOP for the property) verified my details & ID and let me into the room to get my belongings.

Of course I was already in a rush, after being stuck 10min trying to get to my floor. In a property with five lift shafts, you would hope that anything less than 2min would be the longest you'd wait for a lift. Try five, followed by another 5 to get to my floor as the lift was packed to the rafters with fellow guests.

Stepping backwards through the visit, we get to breakfast. Scrambled eggs are standard hotel breakfast faire - and should be very hard to get wrong. Tasteless, congeiled rubber is the best description I can offer. They also looked as if they'd been sitting there since the start of the service, and not cooked in smaller quantities more often.

I was excited when seeing the french toast, but again looks were deceptive. They were inconsistent, and some were so hard and dry that not only did you need a chainsaw to eat them, but once acquired you could have created a usable boomarang or chinese styled throwing star.

And the bathroom, eek. I'd been told on check-in that my room had been upgraded. If this was an upgraded room, I dare not think what the bathrooms on lower floors looked like. It was pokey, no room to move whatsoever without closing the door, and the ventelation was so poor that all the glass surfaces in the entire suite, including windows, steamed up.

Worst of all, housekeeping and maintenance standards were sub par. Fittings and fixtures were showing their age, bent, scratched, and poorly cleaned. Mould and soap scum was readily noticable across the bathroom tiles.

And seriously, how many pillows does a bed need. There were seven of them, and I'd also requested foam pillows on arrival so that made nine. I could have build up some form of duck and foam fortress that would have given a 5yr old with a nerf gun or sword a serious challenge.

I could go on about the whole sorry story, but I'm on the mobile enjoying a lovely view of Circular Quay having bolted from the place.

There is at least one good thing to come from this - as I had signed up with their program on a whim & with a referral. So at least a FT'er out there is set to score a bonus 1k in points from this sorry affair.




Sent from my Nokia phone using Tapatalk.

 

[straitman]

thewinchester,

I trust you completed the appropriate feedback form on departure :!:

As you know a good/great hotel will respond appropriately. We all saw that on the weekend at the Adelaide Hilton where nothing was too hard for them and they went right out of their way to help us with anything and everything.

 

[anat0l]

Firstly, their standard check out time is 11am. So can you explain why you'd expire all room keys at 10am? And I do mean all room keys, as I observed no less than three fellow guests on my floor get caught by this.

This is odd. Last time I was at the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf, there seemed to be an incident where a number of room keys were "zapped". I wasn't beyond checkout time, either. At least it took a mere few minutes for my key to be reset, although the line for check-in was about five deep.

Of course I was already in a rush, after being stuck 10min trying to get to my floor. In a property with five lift shafts, you would hope that anything less than 2min would be the longest you'd wait for a lift. Try five, followed by another 5 to get to my floor as the lift was packed to the rafters with fellow guests.

Sometimes if you just pick the wrong time it will get that bad. No idea why it would take so long with five lift shafts, but I have been to conferences before where everyone stayed at the hotel. You can imagine how chaotic it was to move between floors and to checkout (this is where express checkout is a Godsend so as long as the folio is correct).

I was excited when seeing the french toast, but again looks were deceptive. They were inconsistent, and some were so hard and dry that not only did you need a chainsaw to eat them, but once acquired you could have created a usable boomarang or chinese styled throwing star.

To be honest I haven't had excellent French toast on a breakfast buffet in Australia before, except when they have been refreshed. Mostly in my experience they have been a bit soggy for liking, sometimes rubbery, but not hard and dry in your experience, and certainly not hard enough to be carved and used as a weapon (thinking of "Chinese fighting muffin" in Charlie's Angels movie now).

And seriously, how many pillows does a bed need. There were seven of them, and I'd also requested foam pillows on arrival so that made nine. I could have build up some form of duck and foam fortress that would have given a 5yr old with a nerf gun or sword a serious challenge.

Hilton usually deliver about 2-6 pillows per bed. Most IHG properties I know of give about 2-4 depending on type, the more rudimentary chains (e.g. Constellation Group or Quest) give 2 and the Citigate Group give about 4-6 as well (although one is more a cushion than a pillow). Then it's not only a case of how many pillows are given but also the size of those (e.g. some places I've been to give you only 2 pillows but they are humongous in size).

You would be surprised that some people really do want that many pillows. Of course, you could argue then just supply say 2 pillows and if someone wants to build a fort then they can get more if they want. Additional pillows on the bed give the illusion that the bed is comfy and soft IMO. Moreover, if you got 9 pillows all of the same shape, that would be just stupid (unless they are all of different makes), because the idea is that there are lots of pillows on the bed but they are usually an array of shapes for different purposes. Finally, extra pillows can come in handy, especially if you're blagging an extra guest in the room without ordering the costly roll-a-bed

Just do what most people do: pick out the pillows you want and discard the rest on the floor. All is good.



In the end, I hope (but I doubt it) you took some photos of the property / room, if only to satisfy yourself why you won't be going back, or to support a stern report to the hotel as to why they were less than satisfactory.

 

[kamchatsky]

thewinchester,

I trust you completed the appropriate feedback form on departure :!:

As you know a good/great hotel will respond appropriately. We all saw that on the weekend at the Adelaide Hilton where nothing was too hard for them and they went right out of their way to help us with anything and everything.

I would say Hilton Adelaide was an exception rather than the rule. There were A LOT of FT/AFFers in there who most of them were probably Diamond or Gold VIPs. We practically took over the exec lounges. But it was still good to see Hilton Adelaide really look after us.

 

[thewinchester]

This is odd. Last time I was at the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf, there seemed to be an incident where a number of room keys were "zapped". I wasn't beyond checkout time, either. At least it took a mere few minutes for my key to be reset, although the line for check-in was about five deep.

Once off I can understand, glitch in the system or some accidental misprogramming and that's not too bad.

What puzzles me is that this is Standard Operating Procedure for the property in question. When a Housekeeping Supervisor knows what's going on, sounds like she has a standard line for guests, and knows the exact proper procedure for letting people back into the room as if read from a script... words fail me.

And while I have some photos, there wasn't a feedback form to be seen in the room or guest 'handbook'. I've already summarised my poor feedback in a few messages to their Global tweetmaster at Corp. HQ. I'll leave it there because its just not deserving any more of my time or energy on it.

 

[markis10]

Memo to Marriott, daylight saving has finished

 

[JeniSkunk]

I was excited when seeing the french toast, but again looks were deceptive. They were inconsistent, and some were so hard and dry that not only did you need a chainsaw to eat them, but once acquired you could have created a usable boomarang or chinese styled throwing star.

To be honest I haven't had excellent French toast on a breakfast buffet in Australia before, except when they have been refreshed. Mostly in my experience they have been a bit soggy for liking, sometimes rubbery, but not hard and dry in your experience, and certainly not hard enough to be carved and used as a weapon (thinking of "Chinese fighting muffin" in Charlie's Angels movie now).

From the description of the french toast, it seems to me more as though the cooks were attempting to replicate the dwarven baked weaponry as described in Nanny Ogg's Cookbook, from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.

Jenifur Charne

 

[Fantic125]

Not all Marriotts' should be included in the same bucket though - I spent 4 days in the Marriott in Goa during March this year and was very happy! :!:

 

[Reggie]

Moreover, if you got 9 pillows all of the same shape, that would be just stupid (unless they are all of different makes), because the idea is that there are lots of pillows on the bed but they are usually an array of shapes for different purposes.

eeewh:shock:, note to self, take my own pillow(s)

 

[anat0l]

eeewh:shock:, note to self, take my own pillow(s)

Oh grow up

 

[medhead]

Memo to Marriott, daylight saving has finished

Exactly :lol

 

[HW]

Not all Marriotts' should be included in the same bucket though - I spent 4 days in the Marriott in Goa during March this year and was very happy! :!:

Agree - some are very average, most seem 'cookie-cutter', an occassional one is exceptional.

 

[marksmiles]

Perhaps you might try some of the high rated Marriotts elsewhere before completely dismissing the chain, BKK has some excellent properties. Personally I like the chain.

 

[Boris spatsky]

Agreed. JW Marriotts in the US have always met my expectations if 5 star.