Wyndham never again!

[stacy6552]

Hey guys! We've just gooten back and I wanted to tell you all right away. Two (dozen) Thumbs way down on the Wyndham Palace!

We booked a package through them and they screwed up out flights. Then I spent the weeks leading up to our trip trying to get it fixed or find out if it was fixed. At a few points I was just trying to find my reservation, which people could never seem to find. IN the end we were promised an upgrade to the Presidential level.

What does the presidential level get you? Not concierge service, not a bigger room, not a better view. Nope the presidential level means you need a key to get to the room. Which means that you cannot split up your party and catch up if you only have one key. Then on Saturday night we had music thumping through our ceiling from the lounge over us.

The expensive buffet brunch was aweful. I needed a steak knife to cut the eggs benedict and fench toast.

The transportation was the worst ever! Long lines for infrequent busses. missing seats and benches.........

Please my friends, don't stay there. Enjoy yourelves and stay elsewhere.

[alde]

I feel your pain .. BUT WHICH WYHDHAM WAS IT??? There are about 1 gazzilion hotels in orlando with about 10% of them being "Wyndham" something or other. When people post either bad or good accounts they've experienced at hotels they should be explicit...

The Chain name - the specific one (location), etc.... I'm certain not all Wyndam Hotels in Orlando should suffer from the results of your bad experience, nor would I wish to choose a hotel mere;y based on it's name .. as in this case

[stacy6552]

Let me say it again. "Two (dozen) thumbs way down to the wyndham palace." That's the Wyndham Palace. This is the hotel near Downtown Disney. However, the problems were with the folks at wyndham.com and 1-800-wyndham...corporate folks, who effect every location, as much as with the hotel itself.

[bunnyfoo]

Originally posted by stacy6552
Let me say it again. "Two (dozen) thumbs way down to the wyndham palace." That's the Wyndham Palace. This is the hotel near Downtown Disney. However, the problems were with the folks at wyndham.com and 1-800-wyndham...corporate folks, who effect every location, as much as with the hotel itself.

Sorry to hear about your experience :( I had some problems with the Wyndham By Request program last year and the Wyndham Palace (DTD)... and it seems like the 1-800 folks don't talk with the actual hotel, so my requests weren't downloaded to the hotel. We eventually spoke with the manager who was able to sort everything out and gave us a bottle of wine and huge fruit and cheese platter as an apology.

[FLeisure]

I take it you didn't try Arthurs 21 at the top of the hotel. Quite simply the best restaurant in the area. Fantastic food and fantastic views.

[PammyK]

I'm sorry you had such an unsatisfying experience. I stayed there via priceline once and had a wonderful experience (best hotel beds I've ever slept in) but it sounds like things have gone downhill since then. :(

Because I had a rental car I never used their transportation but it is a shame that they are not doing a better job with it.

[momof2intx]

I am one of those people who work at the 1-800 Wyndham number! I've been taking reservations for the Palace for 3+ years now. I am very sorry to hear about your negative experience. Did you ever contact Corporate Guest Services at any point during your stay?
You say that you booked air through Wyndham. We do not "do" air, but there is a section on our website called Wyndham Vacations but it is linked up with Expedia for the air portion of your reservation. The people who are at the phone number listed for Wyndham Vacations -- I am not sure who they are, doing air inclusive reservations is something new for us.
At the 1-800 number no, we are not in Orlando. We are in Dallas. The Palace sales reps come twice a year to present their hotel to us via a presentation with pictures and paraphenilia. I have never been to the Palace, but I am so familiar with the property that I can sell it as if I live there. But, I do understand that not all of us at my office are like me. I will be going to Orlando myself in a week and my first 2 nights are at the Palace. I like to scope things out for myself. As for Wyndham ByRequest....we are required to put your number on your reservation when we book it. If you book through any other means...internet, convention etc....chances are you will have to call the hotel directly to get your number on the reservation. All requests are noted on the reservation and it is up to the hotel front desk to read the requests in the morning when the arrival report is pulled.
I really am sorry you had a bad experience, but there are others who have a great experience. It sounds bad to say this, but sometimes you just get it at a bad time. Unfortunately there are just people put into positions at hotels that are just not suited to be there! Believe me, I understand. Working for Wyndham as long as I have -- I have dealt with many a hotel person (I worked the complaint desk for a long time) and I will be the first to say that sometimes they need to make better choices when it comes to hiring and training. BUT -- you will find this to be true with any hotel chain. Just by reading reviews on this board and places like travelocity and fodors.com.....Hilton, Marriott -- they all have their problems from time to time.
My advice to you? GO TO THE MANAGER. If that does not work, call corporate guest services. We DO want you to stay again and truthfully we do want to make things right. I take pride in what I do personally and I do consider myself to be one heck of a reservations agent. Customer service is my number one priority and I love it. I have also been to many Wyndhams of course and know that we have a great product. There are some properties that do need some work but that's where the guests come in -- we need to know from you so that we can make it better.
Word of mouth is the best and worst advertising that a hotel can get. All I can say is keep an open mind when choosing where to book. The Palace is a four star property as rated by AAA. We wouldn't have won that award if the property was not up to standards. There is alot that goes into account when a hotel is rated -- from the service to the way the beds are made.
When I go next week I will give it my once-over...and I do not go there unbiased. I actually expect problems and then I figure out how I would deal with them personally. I am pleasantly surprised when everything goes smoothly and then I can leave proud that I work for the same company! :p
I tried to get discounted nights for the Palace for my entire 6 night stay but because of a convention in town beginning on 5/5, I could only get 2 nights there. My other 4 will be spent at the Radisson Resort Parkway because all of the other Wyndhams are booked. I'm actually looking forward to it because my kids will eat free and it looks like they have a beautiful pool. I also got a sweet deal through mousesavers.com so I cannot complain!!



About the Wyndham, I am so sorry about your experience....I really hope you would try us again. If not in Orlando maybe in some other city! :Pinkbounc :bounce: :smooth:

[momof2intx]

Stacy,
Who called it the "presidential level"? Nobody at the hotel or at the reservation office calls it the Presidential Level. It is the concierge floor. No, it is not bigger. The only thing is that yes, you do need a key to access the floor via the elevator and it has it's own lounge that has a continental breakfast in the mornings. We are a big convention hotel and many business people -- especially women travelling by themselves really like that security.

I am sure that if you had asked the front desk for an extra elevator key they would have been more than happy to get you one.

Did you actually book this reservation through the hotel directly? How did you make the reservation?

[CarolMN]

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

My DH & I stayed at the Wyndham Palace for 2 nights right after Thanksgiving last year. We had a wonderful experience. Received an upgraded room, and a coupon book that included complimentary drinks at the lounge next to Arthur's (awesome view from up there - especially at night). Hotel staff was pleasant and professional. I was especially impressed because I booked the hotel through the Wyndham website and received an awesome rate of $55.00 per night (plus tax and resort fee). Had to join Wyndham By Request first, but that just resulted in a few more perks for us at check in :D

We'd stay there again if we ever need off-site accomodations. The location (right across the street from DD) was wonderful!

[stacy6552]

Mom,

Anna Nester in Dallas and the staff at the palace called the floor "presidential" It is not the concierge level which offer service and snacks in the lounge, as the title implies. Obviously its the BS level where they stick unhappy people to BS them into thinking they are getting an upgrade, without actually giving them a thing.

Joe in Dallas screwed up our plans, in what I can only assume was a lie to get credit for booking my trip.

Jennifer in Dallas offered to fix the problem, only to not do a single thing and never once in weeks and weeks return my call.

Laura Ruby in Dallas sent my a bs-o-gram and then actually told me to call someone else about the problem, when part of the problem was the musical finger pointing and buck passing.

I am well aware of the seperate-ness of the phone number and the website and the hotel, NOW. However they all bare the wyndham name and should carry some kind of cross referencing. Because spending 3 weeks with the phone glued to my ear calling the resort, dallas, the website, expedia, wwte, united and usair just to find my reservation which noone could ever seem to find was not fun.

And to find out that someone got a real upgrade and coupons just because and that someone else got a refund for tardy housekeeping, is down right insulting.

[grlzmom]

Sorry you had such an awful experience. Seems like someone really screwed up and hope you get some satisfaction.

We just came back from a stay at Wyndham Palace booked through priceline for 61 a night. They treated us great. Upgraded us to a suite in the building out by recreation island with no charge. I agree with a previous poster, the beds were fantastic.

Did though think the pool area needed some upgrading and that the pool concierge guy was definately not kid friendly :)

But, for the price we got an awesome deal. And, when checking out I mentioned that doesnt seem fair to charge full resort fee when some of the facilities werent working (ladies jacuzzi in the spa down for servicing for two weeks). They waived the resort fee for half of our stay and I didnt even really ask.

We did great on bus transportation too. Was worried about it after reading so many negatives but we must have gotten lucky. We also got the coupons someone else mentioned.

Really hoping you get some satisfaction

Jeanne

[stacy6552]

OMG! Youre kidding me! Im spitting nails now!

[CarolA]

I have stayed there several times. I have always had a very nice room and and found the hotel to be very nice. I am pretty sure the Coupons that were spoken about were the DTD hotel coupons that the DTD hotels just give out every now and then. Stacy I am sorry you are upset, but I am very confused about what happened. Did you book the package through Wyndam? IT sounds to me like your actual problems were with Wyndam corporate and not with the actual hotel. So how was the room?

Apparently you felt the upgrade was not what you belived, but I am not sure where you got your belief from. Did you ask for a second key and get told no? I am a single traveler and I routinely get two keys (I tend to lose them in the hotel room!)

It is possible that the airline problems were not entirely the Wyndham's fault. A lot of us have experienced airline problems lately due to dramatic flight changes. Also, what I did not realize until I had a problem with an Amex package is that these place don't normally do their own packages. They outsource them to some travel agency. Even Delta has a TA doing it's packages. After the joy with Amex. (Hotel only in Spain) I decided never to book a package again. A decision I can say I am still happy with.

Based on what you have written, I would continue to recommend the Wyndam Palace. Maybe I would not recommend the Wyndam vacation packages.

[stacy6552]

yes we booked through wyndham. wyndham is wyndham, whether its the phone operators, the resort or the website.

yes we had a second key. the point is that requiring a key to get to a particular floor, does no in itself make it an upgrade.

I am outraged to hear that they screwed up, they knew they screwed up, the resort manager knew corporate screwed up. (the airline did not screw up) and while they dole out free suites and coupons, they BS'ed us about upgrading us to the presidential level, which is in reality no upgrade at all. concierge is upgrade, a suite is an upgrade. an additional place to insert your key and a location parked right under the lounge is not an upgrade

[CarolA]

Stacy,

You have never given anyone the details of their "screw up". So it is hard for people to give you suggestions. I don't know what you expect excpet for all of us to decide to boycott the Wyndam based on your post.

And yes, getting a secure floor is considered an upgrade by hotel standards. You may not have liked it, but it is an upgrade. As one poster said a lot of female travelers like that upgrade since it gives them a little more security.

Also, I am not sure what you are doing now but my recommendation would NOT be to call Wyndam and tell them that you read on the internet that someone else got something. I can tell you from experience, that won't help.

[momof2intx]

I am actually aware of your problem.....I can tell you with accuracy that you did not book air and hotel with us directly here in Dallas. We do not have any capability of doing that whatsoever. We have 1 supervisor here at the CRO whose name is Jennifer. She is NOT the Jennifer that you spoke with and did not return your calls. We get paid per reservation so there would be no reason for "Joe" to waste his time on the phone looking for flights that we do not even have in our system -- and making up a fake reservation.

I am really not sure what all happened here but I do recall hearing about your issue.

I am truly sorry about your experience and that you did not receive better servicing by corporate. You have my personal e-mail address in my disboards profile....I know personally the people at corporate that you spoke with. If you would like for me to see what I can do to make this better for you, let me know. I hate to see you coming out of this with such a bad taste in your mouth.

Thanks!

[CaptainKirk1963]

Hello to all my fellow Texans! Stayed at this hotel in November 2001. Excellent experience. Courtesy and upgrade. I misssed the breakfast on Presidential level.:confused:

[Gillian]

momof2intx, it sounds like you guys need to get fake names like the Disney folk! :)

Stacy, I'm sorry you had problems like this & I hope that you get everything resolved to your satisfaction.

[stacy6552]

no no, Im not calling for a boycott. Im sharing my experience, because I know that if I were planning and researching and saw someone else had this experience, Id want to know and it would effect my choice.

im just sharing my experience.

[momof2intx]

Stacey,

I received your e-mail before I left for work this evening. I didn't get a chance to respond until now. It sounds like things really got confused and screwed up for you and for that I do apologize. The one thing that I can say with 100% accuracy that the original phone number that you called was NOT 1-800 Wyndham. That number only comes to the office in which I work and we only do room-only reservations. No air. I have been working at the CRO since 2/2000 and I have done just about every job in the building. I am very knowledgeable about our hotels, policies and procedures. I also have many friends and aquaintances within management.
Stacy I thouroughly understand your frustration, however I am sure that you originally booked through the wyndham vacations line that is linked up with Expedia. Not that I am excusing what happened because like you said, Wyndham is Wyndham but it explains for the confused people you spoke with at the CRO. Jennifer Mergenthal and Victor Brock work with me, at one point or another during my 3 years at the CRO each was my supervisor and I see Victor nearly every day. Jennifer works during the day, and I at night so I do not see her very often. We do not have a Jennifer Rosenthal at the 1-800 number. I have no idea who Joe is who could not find your flights. I do know that he is probably at the number of 1-888-724-4617. That is the number provided on the wyndham vacations part of our website, but that number does not come to this office. Wyndham Vacations is still pretty new and I am not sure where that goes or what office anwsers that line.
Like I said, I am not trying to excuse poor service, but maybe this can explain why noone seemed to understand what was going on. I do not think that anyone was deliberately putting you or your problem off. I know Anna and Laura is actually a friend of mine. The only thing that I can think of is that because it was not booked through CRO, that we could not access it and that is why noone at CRO could help you. We would have had to steer you towards speaking to the 1-888 Wyndham vacations line, Expedia or the hotel directly.
I am at work right now and cannot go back and re-read your e-mail. I probably have not shed light on your entire problem, but at least it is a start. I will re-read it when I get home and see if this might be something I can help with through personal channels.

Take care Stacy,

momof2intx

[stacy6552]

Mom I can appreciate your emotional investment in your friends and job. But business is business and this was bad business. Too bad I never came across you in all of this, since you seem genuinely interested in good customer relations and service.

[momof2intx]

Stacy,
Sometimes I do handle the CRO Resolutin (AKA "complaint") line but unfortunately I was not there to help you out when you called! I do really take an interest in my guests and I never want anyone to experience bad service.
Let me ask you, did you get any other compensation other than the room on the "presidential" floor? No matter who ever was wrong or right, you were stressed during your vacation and that is just not how it shoud've been. Regardless of what happened, I think you should've been pampered and catered to once you set foot through the doors at the Palace.
Again, I am so sorry about what happened.

[stacy6552]

mom, nope, the presidential level was it. as i discribed before, it was not a concierge floor. The first night maintenance called after midnight and asked if we had a leak in the room (which we did not), without so much as a "sorry for the inconvenience." And our last night there we had music thumping through the ceiling from the lounge above us. We called twice, the second time security said that the floor was quiet and it was from the lounge and they couldnt do anything about it. The music finally subsided after 11pm. We even got a bill for "resort fees" totalling over $50.

Mom, based on my experience they need to put you in charge of customer service.

[CarolA]

Well, if the music did subside at 11 PM I don't really think the Wyndam was out of line in telling you there was nothing they can do. When I am at hotels and there is noise from other rooms I normally don't even start calling until 10:30 or 11. I know from past experience that most hotels won't do anything until then. It is just kind of the way things work, not that I always like it.....

[Queeni512]

We just stayed at the Wyndham Palace (at DTD) on 4/12/03 and absolutely loved it! Although our room was located close to the elevators, we didn't have any problems with noise. The beds and pillows provided the best night of sleep we have ever had--even better than at home. We are going to WDW again this coming weekend (5/2/03) and were given a room at the Hilton (at DTD) via Priceline.com and are really wishing we had just gone ahead and booked a room at the Wyndham--even with paying the regular rate. I went ahead and joined Wyndham By Request just in case we really don't like our room at the Hilton!!

I'm sorry you had a bad experience there. It sounds like momof2intx has given you some good suggestions if you decide to try Wyndham again. Did you ask to be moved to a different room when you heard all the lounge noise? The front desk staff was really great and very helpful and ready to please during our stay. If we ever have any problems on a future stay, we will contact the on-site manager immediately if Guest Services is unable to help us!!

Good luck!
Kim

[CarolA]

I stayed at the Hilton and it was very nice. I think you will like it. The room decor is a little more modern is style then the Wyndam, but I found it a great deal for the priceline rate!

[stacy6552]

For everyone following this thread, here is what I have learned after mom generously put in time trying to find me a resolution....


You can contact Wyndham through the internet of by phone, and be put in touch with someone who identifies themself as being with Wyndham, most probably with Wyndham's knowledge and permission, and not be speaking with someone whom Wyndham will take responsibility for. Aparently when someone answers the phone, "thank you for calling Wyndham." They are speaking very literally...you did call Wyndham. However, you may have reached someone else, in my case WWTE or Expedia (each points to the other). And when that person who thanked you for calling Wyndham screws up, Wyndham Int'l says oops to bad, not our problem. And when someone who actually works for Wyndham puts up a smokescreen and sends you in circles wasting your time and money, Wyndham doesn't care either, because the problem originated with someone else....who identified themselves as a Wyndham rep.

I also learned that Mom is the only one at Wyndham with any kind of sense of customer service at all. Thanks for the attempt, Mom.

So this brings me back to the original reason I posted. Book with or at the Wyndham Palace, at your own risk.

[newmousecateer2]

Well, I have been watching this thread very closely, as my family and I are staying at the Wyndham Palms in September. I was totally excited when I got the great rate, and even more excited when I previously read about other's experience with staying there, I was even more excited.

I will be honest, and say that I am a little worried now. First, this is my son, DIL, grandson and granddaughters first trip to WDW. I am so disappointed that the hotel I chose will have a "trailer" for check'in! You may ask "well, what's the difference", but I feel checking in in a trailer pretty much takes away from the whole vacation experience. Does anyone know what is up with that?

And I also want the assurance that if I do have a problem, that there are people working there that care about my problem, and will try everything within their power to fix it.

Towels, well, as long as they are clean and not shabby or threadbare, I am not going to worry about that too much (knowing my grandkids I'll be hearing "well we just got out of the pool, why to we have to take bath? LOL",. I will definately ask that my room not be under the lounge.

Would you be nervous if you were in my shoes?

Thanks for listening.

[dtauer]

I wouldn't let this negative thread impact your decision to stay at the Wyndham Palms. Because of the flights being messed up and not resolved to their satisfaction, the original poster has condemned corporate Wyndham and all of their hotels.

The original poster was upgraded because of the problems but then had problems with the upgrade. This won't affect your stay at the Palms.

The original poster hated the breakfast buffet, again won't affect your stay.

The transportation was bad, this won't be an issue because the Palms doesn't have transportation that I know of.

I feel bad for the original poster, I know how frustrating it can be to expect good customer service and not get it. However, I don't see how these very specific problems with the Wyndham travel company (or whoever it is) and their upgrade at the Wyndham Palace should cause you concern at the Wyndham Palms.

In this thread you'll read many opinions contrary to the original poster, people who greatly enjoyed their stay. There are also a couple of threads detailing peoples stay at the Wyndham Palms, again most were very favorable.

Since I have no relationship to Wyndham Palms or the Wyndham company, it won't affect me directly one way or another if people stop staying there because of the post. However, I would feel bad if people miss out on this hotel at a great price. We loved it there, and would recommend it to anyone.

[newmousecateer2]

dtauer

Thanks so much for the input. It really helped put my mind at ease.

Breakfast buffet won't be a problem, we'll probably grab something quick in our own kitchen before heading out in the morning.

Not worried about transportation because we have rented a mini-van.

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to answer.

[cinamin27]

newmousecateer2,
also to help keep your mind at ease, keep in mind you are not staying at a "hotel" at the Wyndham Palms Resort. They are a time share resort and the buildings are set up more like apartments. The Wyndham Palace is a high rise hotel. Completely differenty styles of properties. I live in an upscale apartment complex in a new area of Jacksonville & would even consider this resort to be higher than where I live. The villa is actually even bigger than my apartment!