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My wife and I are in Madrid for the weekend (Thursday to Sunday). Last night when we returned to the hotel (midnight) we are unable to access our “deluxe” room (key card reader turned green but door wouldn’t open).
The kid on reception (~20 years old) tried several methods to access our room, he contacted an off-site manager who was unable to help.
By 2AM we were offered another “standard” room and some complimentary toiletries.
We are staying in a small chain, pleasant, city centre hotel. Our rate was prepaid.
I feel losing two hours to trying to access the room and the effective downgrade warrants a rebate on the room rate but I am trying to determine in my head what is reasonable to ask for. Part of me thinks that one night should be comp’d but then I feel the staff did do their utmost to sort things. The “kid” on reception was genuinely grateful we stayed calm, inferring others who had experienced the same in past hadn’t been so calm.
I’m interested what the hive mind thinks would be a reasonable rebate to ask for?
Not sure what the receptionist’s age has to do with it, I presume the off-site manager was older and he or she couldn’t resolve the problem either.
Two hour loss personally, I would have declared tiredness at midnight, asked for a different room immediately, and worked it out at a later stage.
Compensation – difference between standard and deluxe perhaps.
I’d definitely ask for the night to be comped. Impressed you managed to stay calm.
“Others who had experienced the same…”
Seriously? It’s a known issue and nothing has been done to rectify! I’d be livid. I’d also be worried about gaining access in the morning.
Not sure what the receptionist’s age has to do with it, I presume the off-site manager was older and he or she couldn’t resolve the problem either.
Two hour loss personally, I would have declared tiredness at midnight, asked for a different room immediately, and worked it out at a later stage.
Compensation – difference between standard and deluxe perhaps.
The age reference was actually compliment, I wouldn’t expect someone so young to deal with the situation so well. The reason we were calm was his diligence.
The reason we didn’t request another room sooner was that I take heart meds at 8AM. We wanted a full night sleep and have my meds.
“Others who had experienced the same…”
Seriously? It’s a known issue and nothing has been done to rectify! I’d be livid. I’d also be worried about gaining access in the morning.
It did seem to be a known issue following “software updates”. Thankfully it was sorted by 10AM.
I’d definitely ask for the night to be comped. Impressed you managed to stay calm.
We’d had a lovely night and the “kid” was fantastic with how he dealt with the situation. I could see he desperately wanted to fix it and at the end he thanked us for not getting angry. His vibes helped… It was a masterclass in dealing with adversity in the workplace.
I would ask for a 1 night refund. Not to be able to access your room is unacceptable. What would have happened if there had been an emergency and you had to open the door? Can they really have locked doors that nobody can open mechanically?
I dunno. The fact that you haven’t been offered anything in terms of service recovery doesn’t bode well.
We have managed to get locked out of our room/apartment two holidays in a row now. Because that is how I roll.
The first time, the maintenance man got us in pretty quickly by disassembling the door lock while we waited. No biggy.
The second time, apparently the little computer controlling the card reader had committed seppuku and the receptionist could not manually override it. The third party vendor had to be called in. We were told 1-2 hours but it took 2.5. I decided I would not be a d1ck about it as life is too short and the receptionist was nice. We were somewhat randomly offered a free airport transfer as compensation which I was happy to accept. The value of that was around £50. This was on a £600 a night serviced apartment.
The key difference being this happened after lunch, not at midnight. We had the use of a residents’ lounge and an adjacent mall. And a vending machine with fizzy drinks. I think if you are deprived of sleep for two hours and then go to bed in your sweaty nicknacks with the uncertainty of when you will get access to your medication then they need to make it right. Especially given that they did not seem surprised it happened.
So I would concur with those who think that the hotel should comp the night. However if it happened to me I would be unlikely to push this point as I just hate unpleasantness and tend to be fairly passive. Granny Froggee is Jedi at this sort of stuff. She would ask to speak to the manager and explain how concerned she is about all future guests and keep pointing out the issue nicely until the manager gets it. And then graciously accept the free night, dinner at a local restaurant, chocolates, free laundry and flowers while calming saying these are not the droids you are looking for.
It’s not about a free night. It’s about doing the right thing. And the right thing is for the hotel not to ask you to pay for the night – as a bare minimum I’d say. I’m principled that way, so would be pretty adamant about it. Not wanting all along anything for free but just what I paid for – recognising simultaneously things go wrong and they aren’t necessarily anyone’s fault. I think we can hold all those things in ours minds at the same time?!
I would definitely ask for a one night refund. A couple of years ago we flew to Riga. Flight delayed so didn’t arrive at hotel until around 1am (had contacted them to say we would be late arriving). Receptionist gave us the run around and eventually got into room more than 2 hours later – we fell asleep in reception whilst waiting! No manager was available just overnight receptionist. Next morning we asked to see the Manager who was anything but helpful. We asked for refund/discount and were offered nothing. Hotel was part of large chain and on returning to UK we made a complaint. Our first night was eventually discounted by about 50% and I think we were offered points as well.
Thank you all.
Had similar in a UK Holiday Inn. Check in staff reprogrammed a new key card 3 times and the door just wouldn’t open. The after hours technician came by with a master key card which did open the lock. He then spent the next hour outside trying to rebuild the lock, but failed.
My son was 3yo and it was getting past his bedtime so, since we were already settled in the room they decided to give us the master key that opens every door in the hotel, saying to please not abuse it and not lose it!
It was just a regular card that looked exactly the same as any other key.
Normally we just walk out when leaving a hotel, but this time I had to make a special trip to the front desk to give them back this special key 🙂
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