Bad thing happened at Hawthorn Suites LBV

[SandrainNC]

First let me say that overall, Hawthorn Suites LBV was a good hotel. The free breakfast every morning (even though it got boring) saved us a good deal of money. Our room was clean and it was in a very good location. It was nice to have the full size refrigerator and sink in the kitchen.

However, we came home from being at Seaworld all day to find our door unlocked and slightly open (enough that my husband saw it was open before he got all the way to the door). Housekeeping had left it that way when they cleaned it. Long story short, we kept getting the excuse of how busy the cleaning staff is. We talked to the manager on Monday morning (we wanted to speak to him directly to make sure he was aware of what happened). The manager apologized but still made excuses and explained how the doors work and how it is supposed to lock when it shuts by itself (well duh). Then he looked straight at my husband and said "what do you want?" I butted in and told him I wanted his staff to check ours and other people's doors to make sure they are locked when they leave from now on. He said they were having a staff meeting that afternoon and that he would come in early the next day to talk to us before we left for a park and let us know what was said at the meeting. He never showed up like he said he would and we never talked to him again which I thought was very rude.

I just think the whole situation was handled badly. I put the do not disturb sign on the door a few days because I was worried it would happen again. We were very lucky that we were at the end of a hall a not a lot of people had to walk through that area. Anyway, I just thought the whole situation was handled very poorly. We will be staying on Disney property next trip.

Sandra

 

[kylara]

You might want to go to the following link and write to the customer service so they are aware that a hotel with their name is not being run up to par. If I were you, I would state you don't want anything but for them to be aware of the poor customer service from the manager of the hotel.

http://www.hawthorn.com/contactus.asp

 

[SandrainNC]

Thanks! I just e-mailed them to let them know what happened.

Sandra

 

[cinamin27]

Please keep us updated on any results of your email. Thanks!

 

[undertheradar]

This same thing can happen at your own house. What is it that you want the management to do? They can stress the importance of being detail oriented to the staff, but this will happen again. If nothing was missing and you brought it to the attention of the staff, what else would you do? I don't think that this is worth a complementary night or anything. The staff should confirm that a door has secured behind them, but the staff member could have been distracted by a guest with a request or any number of causes. This is why you should never travel with valuables and should always secure cameras, computers, etc. The management can promise that they will speak to the staff about the incident, but with the number of doors opened and closed everyday, there will be human error. I base my statements on my experience as a former loss prevention officer in the hotel industry.

 

[CarolA]

The thing to do is apologize and NOT make excuses. Sorry, but it sounds like the manger just wanted to make excuses. There is not a good excuse for this... it is an error.

Also, next time DO NOT go in to the room. You don't know who could be in there. Go get the manager and make HIM/HER or thier security check the room!

 

[FayeW]

We will be staying on Disney property next trip.

This comment would have me believe that Disney housekeeping is perfect in every respect, and never makes a mistake. I know from reading other posts this is not true. It seems a bit of an over-reaction to completely dismiss the entire off-site hotel industry because there was a problem at one hotel, one time.

 

[SandrainNC]

First of all to FamilyofFive I would like to say I expected nothing from them. We wanted to speak directly to the manager because we wanted to make sure he knew it happened. Yes, mistakes happen, but the excuses were ridiculous. An apology and that he would talk to the staff was what I wanted. Not a bunch of reasons why it would have happened and the mechanics of how a door works. And especially not to ask my husband "well what do you want". That was extremely rude. We did carry most of our valuables with us, but my son's nebulizer (which isn't cheap) would not fit in my backpack. His medications would not go well with us either and they are very expensive. Even though I did not leave money laying around or camera equipment, it is our stuff and our door should have been checked as everyone's door should be in all hotels.

To FayeW I would like to say I did not overreact. I was mad this happened. The door should have been check. It could be seen that it was open, so wasn't just a lock problem. I had already planned to stay on Disney property next trip and just ended my paragraph with that statement. It has nothing to do with what happened. However, I would not stay at that particular Hawthorn location again just because of how the manager acted. I would not refuse to stay in all Hawthorn Suites locations. That would be silly.

I did just e-mail and let them know what happened at the address that was given to me above and they said they talked to the manager. I didn't expect a free night or anything like that. I am fine with the fact that he was spoken to. My main problem with him was his attitude and the excuses. Just say I'm sorry and will look into it. Period.

And also, if this happened to any of you, I'm sure you would not be too happy about it either.

Sandra

 

[undertheradar]

Sandra,

This happens at every hotel. While the manager was giving you excuses, it sounds as if he "cut to the chase" and asked what is was that you and your husband were looking for. Many people are looking for complementary nights and discounts on room charges and will use any situation to try and get them. Not having been there, we do not know all of the facts. We returned to our cabin on the Disney Magic to find our door wide open and no staff in sight, maintenance was changing screws in the bathroom light fixtures and opened the doors in an entire hallway. The excuse from the Purser's Desk, "Sorry, we are short staffed this cruise!" Staying on Disney Property will not lessen your chances for this to occur. I think that I would give the manager the benefit of the doubt and allow that there may have been more pressing business to attend to. I'm not saying that what happened was right, nothing turned up missing and I would feel satisfaction that I had the opportunity to speak about this directly to the manager. You stated that you were just wanting the manager to speak to the staff concerning being more cautious when exiting guest rooms so I don't understand pursuing this with the corporate office. You were able to speak directly with the manager, so I would be satisfied at this time.

 

[SandrainNC]

I know that this could happen anywhere. And like I said, I understand mistakes can be made. I make them and so does everyone else. We weren't trying to get anything free out of it so I didn't like him asking that question the way he did. The only reason we went straight to him was to make sure he did know about it. We were afraid a note to the manager by staff would possibly never get to him. I know lots of people would try to get free stuff out of it, and I'm sure that is why he asked it that way, but it really offended both of us. At the point he said he would talk to staff, I was fine. He is the one who wanted to talk to us again the next morning at around 9:00 a.m. after the staff meeting. I told him I was going to the parks and wouldn't be there at 9:00. I figured the matter was closed. He was the one who said he would come in early to talk to us again. So we were like, ok. So, I really didn't want to talk to him again because he said he would talk to the staff. The only reason I was frustrated at his not showing up the next day was because he suggested it and then never showed. Anyway, we were just lucky everything was ok. We also pointed out to him (since we were talking to him anyway) that the security door at the back was locked and we needed our room key to get in, but the stairway door right beside it was always unlocked. He had the guy who was going to check our door lock check that as well and said it had probably been like that since the hurricanes for safety reasons and had never been locked back. I just remembered that a bit ago. That wasn't very good either. Anybody could have gotten into the hotel. I guess the combination of the door unlocked, lots of excuses, asking my husband what he wanted and the door just being unlocked was a lot of stuff all at once. And it was just last week so it is fresh in my memory. Sandra

 

[Mudd77]

SandrainNC,

You handled the situation properly and probably with a little more restraint than I would have. Having your hotel room door left open is a very big deal and it is unacceptable. Was it left open by accident? Probably, but it is our job, to make sure management is aware of the potential problem. Nothing valuable was missing? So what. Does something valuable have to get stolen before this becomes an important issue? No. As a paying customer on a family vacation I expect my room door to be shut once the cleaning is done. The manager would have known this and assured me that his staff will be properly trained on “How to shut a door” (maybe have a check-list). Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the manager to take all complaints seriously (not make excuses) and have them corrected. If you feel like the manager is incapable of handling the matter then go further up the food chain. Sorry this had to happen on your vacation.

 

[SandrainNC]

Thanks Mudd77! It definitely did not ruin my vacation. It just had me a little stressed about letting them in to clean again for a couple of days. Eventually I had to let them in though. We were there 9 nights and my son is in diapers! LOL. Sandra

 

[denisenh]

I know that this is kind of off topic but I am beginning to think that instead of a small locked safe in hotels rooms, there should be a locked closet. I have never had a problem with a room door left open or a theft while at a hotel, but the hotel takes no responsibility for a theft, even if the facts point to a hotel employee being the perpetrator or being responsible for the theft.
So what does this mean? That people have to take all of their belongings with them when they leave the room for the day or take the risk of leaving your things there and possibly coming back to find them gone?
Most times when a person posts that they have had items missing from their hotel room folks side with the management and/or accuse the poster of doing the "wrong thing."
I don't mean to start a debate on it, but maybe a locked closet would be something that hotels could think about providing. I would use it, even if it meant a deposit on the lock or whatever.

 

[SandrainNC]

I think that is a great idea denisenh. I would definitely use something like that to lock up medications or other things that would not fit in a safe but can't be carried around either. Some things you just have to leave in the room. Sandra

 

[c&m]

I just read about your unfortunate incident with the hotel room door left open. I don't think that I would have been as calm as you.

Bottom line is this: The hotel manager did not uphold his commitment to you, a valued customer, by coming back to see you the next morning to give you any reassurances that it wouldn't happen again. I believe that that is all you wanted from the hotel, just something that could make you believe that it wouldn't happen again. But he never gave that to you. He just assumed you wanted something of a monetary value, merely by his blunt question ("what do you want?"). This world is pretty cynical at times.

Sure, other people might have used an opportunity such as this to try to get a freebie from the hotel, but the fact that you didn't from the get-go should have made him treat you better than that.

SandrainNC, thanks for the heads up on this hotel. We'll never stay there, and I'll never recommend this hotel to anyone. With all the other on-site/off-site hotels in Orlando, who needs to be put in a potentially risky situation and then be treated in such an insulting way???

P.S. I'm glad your child's medication was not stolen.

 

[HappyLawyer]

i am so sorry that happened to you guys, the last thing you need to worry about are your belongings, try to comtact their corporate or home office also,

 

[disneymom3]

We will be staying on Disney property next trip

Well, you might want to read a couple of recent posts on the Resorts board before you make that decision. We have stayed offsite many times and never had this happen, but I could imagine I would be very upset too. And I agree that if that manager said he would check back in with you he certainly should have! Not good public relations at all. My point is just that I wouldn't write off all of the great offsite properties just because of this one manager.

 

[hercamore]

Sorry to hear of this incident. The Hawthorn Suites in general have a good rep for public relations. I definitely would contact their general offices.

Last week I stayed at Cypress Pointe, just a block north of Palm Parkways. Excellent experience. As one poster has said, don't write off offiste lodging because of one experience.

This could happen at Disney, too. This is why I like to rent villas or condos now with no housekeeping. Don't have to worry about people coming in when I'm gone.

herc.

 

[SandrainNC]

Oh no, I'm definitely not writing off all offsite hotels because of this. I definitely believe it could have happened at Disney too. I just won't stay at that particular hotel again because of the manager pretty much. We had already decided we would stay on Disney property next trip before we even made this trip. I guess I shouldn't have ended my paragraph that way. I should have just said I will not be staying at this hotel again. I have never stayed on Disney property before and just really want to.

Luckily everything turned out fine and nothing was taken. I am a bit cooler than I was when I first came back from vacation. Thanks everyone!

Sandra