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In December I had a stay booked at the recently rebranded Metropolis Suites, Tapestry Collection in Bangkok from 24-25th. I was arriving from the airport exhausted and very late, almost midnight. On checking in, I realised the room was absolutely filthy and broken.
Pics hereI asked to switch to another room but it was exactly the same and that building had people partying so was incredibly loud. I went to reception and was told the manager isn’t there so I can’t have a refund. I then had to quickly book a Hotel on short notice on what was now christmas, at 1am. Which wasted a lot of Marriott points as nothing was cheap anymore.
A few days later they refunded me but I was very angry about the experience so tried to make a complaint to Hilton but they’ve fobbed me off. First by sending the complaint to the hotel. I waited a month and never got a reply. Then I emailed them again and was told I was refunded the points and that is all. Am I being unreasonable in expecting some extra points as compensation? And if so, how do you actually complain to Hilton where they take you seriously as customer services don’t seem to be lodging an actual complaint and just reply themselves.
Hilton has Make it Right policy. Ask for a Be my Guest certificate which will give you once night for free in any hotel in the world.
You have to spell out the compensation. No one is going to hand it to you on a silver platter.
True. Nothing less than a free night certificate.
100% this is BMG territory. I got 3 BMG certs for something that wasn’t as bad as this.
Not sure if you hold status. But if you do email diamond@hilton.com
Whilst there is no longer a dedicated Diamond desk, it does help in my experience.
But equally you also need to push back if you feel things are not being dealt with properly.
Hilton has Make it Right policy. Ask for a Be my Guest certificate which will give you once night for free in any hotel in the world.
You have to spell out the compensation. No one is going to hand it to you on a silver platter.
Do you have sight of this policy? Can you share / post a link. Quick google and I can’t find it…
Hilton has Make it Right policy. Ask for a Be my Guest certificate which will give you once night for free in any hotel in the world.
You have to spell out the compensation. No one is going to hand it to you on a silver platter.
Do you have sight of this policy? Can you share / post a link. Quick google and I can’t find it…
I don’t think they actually have a published policy save for a couple of brands. I think the concept of ‘make it right’ is something that is taken from the company’s corporate values rather than being a published customer policy like say a Best Rate Guarantee. I think it gets all the more tenuous when seeking to apply it to the fringe brands like Tapestry that live slightly outside the mainstream Hilton portfolio.
The OP should absolutely complain because what they experienced was totally unacceptable but one has to be careful (if one wants a good solution) to frame the complaint appropriately. If you make it on the basis of a policy that may not apply, it’s all too easy for them to reply saying just that. Do it right and you might get one or more of these BMG certificates although I thought they were usually tied to brands so you can’t get one say from a Doubletree and redeem it at a Waldorf.
The wording is on almost every key card, literature. I can’t seem to find official policy although T&C refer to BMG certificate.
Here’s 30 page long thread on Flyertalk https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilton-hilton-honors/332479-our-guest-my-guest-certificates-definitive-thread-30.html
@JDB It will depend, there are BMG certificates tied to a brand and some for any brand (excluding SLH).
The best is to resolve problems/compensation while still at the property rather than after. You need to say to manager/ associate something along the lines I think you follow Make it Right policy, so please resolve it or provide me with a compensation in form of BMG certificate as this was a serious issue bla bla that you cannot resolve. If needed, I’d also call Hilton CS on the spot and let them contact the hotel directly.
There have been “make it right” business-type cards in the rooms on my last few Hilton stays (last 3 were Hilton and DT). IIRC, it requires lodging a complaint with Hilton CS.
Ok. I’m turning to turn my room upside down tonight to see if there’s one of those cards lurking. Just out of interest. Hilton. Nothing (obvious) in the Curio I stayed in last night.
Ok. I’m turning to turn my room upside down tonight to see if there’s one of those cards lurking. Just out of interest. Hilton. Nothing (obvious) in the Curio I stayed in last night.
Curio, like the Tapestry originally complained of, is a ‘brand’ that’s allowed to operate without brand standards, so maybe you won’t find one of these MIR cards??
I think that these random hotels are still supposed to live up to the wonderful HILTON corporate aspiration – Hospitality, Integrity, Leadership, Teamwork, Ownership and Now that more cynical friends in the industry refer to as WALOB.
Maybe. Anyway as we all know things aren’t what they used to be. In Porto tonight – Gaia technically. Staying at Hilton Porto Gaia tonight. Especially re-booked as I stayed here a little over a year ago. Amazing lounge. Then…. Now it’s worse than average – food dumbed down from effectively a two course banquet to the bare minimum. And they’ve even closed off the one part of the lounge which, if you got here early enough, had natural light & a view. If you like cheap wine & spirits though this is the place to be. Unimpressed!
Might have to revert to the IC. But not until all the metro works right outside are finished. Hoping not to be dead by then… 🤷
So…. Nothing in my room that talks about Make It Right. Nothing on the key card, nothing in my welcome letter, nothing in any of the signs / leaflets left in the room, nothing mentioned at check-in, nothing on the website when (as requested) I click through using a QR code provided, nothing via the TV. Not a policy they’re keen to promote, clearly…
Hi,
Thanks for all the help everyone, it’s really helpful to know i’m not being a Karen and am right to be annoyed. I have sent off another email mentioning the make it right policy, asking for a certificate and once again sending the pics of the rooms. Wish me luck!
Thanks
I did a Trip Advisor review whilst still staying at a Hilton. Very quick response from management with an email to get in touch.upshot was take review down and get half of our many points returned. I agreed but redid my review to indicate that all had not been well but management quickly ‘made it right’ . Well, we were happy enough!
Had a reply already, it’s a ridiculous response frankly because it’s not actually saying anything.
“We apologize for the experienced you had. Please be assured that we take your comments seriously and are committed to making improvements based on your issue. We value your patronage and hope to have the opportunity to provide you with a much better experience in the future.
Thanks for your understanding and ongoing loyalty.
Specialist, Guest Assistance
Hilton Reservations and Customer Care”That really is a pathetic response with a Hilton flavour. I would write a charming email to Alan Watts, President of Hilton Asia Pacific. Alan dot Watts at hilton dot com
He should address both the unacceptability of the room and the subsequent failure of the hotel or Hilton to address your concerns, particularly as the nature of the issues you encountered and the lack of remorse by the hotel is likely to mean many guests will ultimately be affected.
It’s all very well having certain brands that sit slightly outside the overall brand umbrella or specific brand standards, but there are minimum acceptable levels of hospitality provision and a Hilton Honors member or indeed any prospective guest is entitled to expect that any hotel in the family will not only be clean and not damaged but also have proper processes in place to deal with genuine customer complaints.
The subsequent responses from Hilton corporate simply compound the problem. It’s all the more surprising that when a guest complains about a hotel in Bangkok, a city very well provided for with excellent hotels, the Hilton head office appears completely indifferent.
Metropolis Suites, Tapestry Collection in Bangkok
Thanks JDB, I have already sent a reply firmly asking for them to actually respond properly to my previous email.I have now also sent an email to Alan as I have zero faith the usual customer service will actually do anything. I’ve noticed they are somehow getting all negative reviews removed from google as mine and others I saw at the time of posting my own seem to be gone. Yet still they have an abysmal rating. I think most of us on here are very aware that being loyal to the big hotel brands means often paying a premium whether in cash, or points accumulated from spending, however I could justify that knowing that there were some minimum standards a hotel should be expected to perform to. I was really shocked by the state of the rooms and how little Hilton seems to care.
Perhaps they’re taking the Bangkok Hilton thing to heart?!
Seriously though, I hope you get a better response this time 🤞
@anuj – I hope you told Mr Watts about the removal of reviews, a sure sign of a deeper malaise.
Unfortunately Hilton doesn’t care much, IHG cares even less, Marriott a fair bit more, Hyatt quite a lot, Accor forget it/Gallic shrug. Chains have become too big, too commoditised and lack the will or the power to enforce any sort of standards. They will continue to get away with it because they each have 100m plus members on their treadmill expensively pursuing points or status and thus ignoring anything qualitative.
On the positive side, plenty of smart and good hoteliers or individual property owners have spotted this and offer far better quality for less money for anyone willing to break free of their chains. So many report the delight of unshackling themselves from BA. Why not do the same from these substandard hotels?
It seems Mr. Watts doesn’t care either as the exec team seem to have just forwarded the email to back to the hotel. Also that’s a completely incorrect name. Not really sure where to go from here.
Good morning K.Anju,
We have received and acknowledge your valuable comments, first and foremost we would like sincerely to apologize for all inconveniences that you have encountered at Metropolis Suites.
I personally would like to thank you for escalating your experience to our attention and also I would like to reassure you that we have taken serious measures to rectify all the issues that you have mentioned on the product.
At Hilton, our loyalty members’ comfort is our first priority and allow us to redeem this shortfall incident with a commercial gesture of 20,000 Hilton honors points
Thank you once again for your loyalty and please advise if I can credit the points to your Hilton members account
Yours Sincerely
Ramesh
RAMESH BAPPOO
Executive Vice President – Hospitality Operations
Metropolis Suites, Tapestry Collection by Hilton
Hilton Garden Inn Bangkok Silom
566 Ploenchit Road, Lumpini, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330, Thailand
T. +66 2 305 6000
http://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/bkkbaup I http://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/bkksigi
@anuj – well they have offered you 20,000 as a gesture of goodwill on top of refunding you, so that’s improvement. I’m not sure what you were asking for or hoped for. Unfortunately it’s a very chainy response…
To be honest, any time there is a serious issue at a hotel, chain or not, it is best dealing with the issue and being explicit about what you believe within the edge of reason is the correct recompense for your slight.
@JDB may or may not agree with me on that point, however if they come to something close, then you should receive a reasonable outcome to you, and also for the hotel.Speaking to your hotel before the stay will usually help as they begin to get to know you prior to arrival which can be even more helpful if issues occur as they will be able to understand your thoughts from your prior contact. Also, being courteous and to the point during your communication when something goes wrong is of benefit as it means you are being detailed rather than emotional about the problem.
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