Synonymous
I know all about it, see?
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2000
I've gotta share this outrageous story of what happened to us in our first-ever stay at a Universal Resort:
It began as a simple misunderstanding, which could happen to anyone, but then went down the rabbit-hole.
We arrived at the hotel at about 11:30 a.m. and were told that our room was not ready. We went to Islands of Adventure and later that afternoon a message was left on my cell phone telling me that we were assigned room 4139. We returned to the hotel and went to the room. My key card opened the lock. We called down to bell services to have our bags brought up and the person answering addressed me by name, I assume identifying me by the room number in the computer system. The bags were brought up and we unpacked. As my wife was showering, our room door opened and another family started to walk in. I spoke to them and they showed me that they had been assigned the same room.
Again, such misunderstandings are excusable. Annoying, of course, but understandable. I called down to the front desk to ask if I needed to have new keycards made up for security. Unfortunately, I did not write down the name of the person who answered the phone. She was a woman who identified herself as a supervisor. I explained the situation and asked if I needed to have new key cards issued. She told me that I was not assigned to room 4139 and told me that my family would have to leave. I explained that this was the room number given to me, that my key worked, and I considered it to be my room. She insisted. I told her there was no way we were packing up and moving to a new room and she threatened to have security come and throw us out.
At this point I could not believe this was happening to me. My family has stayed at many fine hotels, and several not-so-fine hotels, and never have I heard anything so outrageous from the staff. We are used to staying at Disney resorts when we are in Orlando and are used to the staff going out of their way to make our stay pleasant and enjoyable. Yet here I was, being treated like a criminal because the staff made a mistake.
After bolting the door to guard against security bursting in to drag me off, I told this woman I wanted to speak to her supervisor. She responded with incredulity, "You want to talk to my supervisor???" I was put on hold for about 10 minutes, which I spent pacing the room, my stomach in a knot, until finally someone who identified himself as Sam picked up and apologized. He said he would bring my new key cards up himself. Another 15 minutes later he came to the door, apologized for the inconvenience, and gave me new cards. He also gave me coupons for free breakfast.
I'm sure you can imagine that this incident did not leave us with a good opinion of the hotel. It took another hour for my stomach to settle back down. My wife and I couldn't wait to get out of HRH and get to Disney, where we knew such a thing could never happen.
While we enjoyed the Universal parks and would like to visit them again, we certainly will not be staying at the Hard Rock Hotel.
It began as a simple misunderstanding, which could happen to anyone, but then went down the rabbit-hole.
We arrived at the hotel at about 11:30 a.m. and were told that our room was not ready. We went to Islands of Adventure and later that afternoon a message was left on my cell phone telling me that we were assigned room 4139. We returned to the hotel and went to the room. My key card opened the lock. We called down to bell services to have our bags brought up and the person answering addressed me by name, I assume identifying me by the room number in the computer system. The bags were brought up and we unpacked. As my wife was showering, our room door opened and another family started to walk in. I spoke to them and they showed me that they had been assigned the same room.
Again, such misunderstandings are excusable. Annoying, of course, but understandable. I called down to the front desk to ask if I needed to have new keycards made up for security. Unfortunately, I did not write down the name of the person who answered the phone. She was a woman who identified herself as a supervisor. I explained the situation and asked if I needed to have new key cards issued. She told me that I was not assigned to room 4139 and told me that my family would have to leave. I explained that this was the room number given to me, that my key worked, and I considered it to be my room. She insisted. I told her there was no way we were packing up and moving to a new room and she threatened to have security come and throw us out.
At this point I could not believe this was happening to me. My family has stayed at many fine hotels, and several not-so-fine hotels, and never have I heard anything so outrageous from the staff. We are used to staying at Disney resorts when we are in Orlando and are used to the staff going out of their way to make our stay pleasant and enjoyable. Yet here I was, being treated like a criminal because the staff made a mistake.
After bolting the door to guard against security bursting in to drag me off, I told this woman I wanted to speak to her supervisor. She responded with incredulity, "You want to talk to my supervisor???" I was put on hold for about 10 minutes, which I spent pacing the room, my stomach in a knot, until finally someone who identified himself as Sam picked up and apologized. He said he would bring my new key cards up himself. Another 15 minutes later he came to the door, apologized for the inconvenience, and gave me new cards. He also gave me coupons for free breakfast.
I'm sure you can imagine that this incident did not leave us with a good opinion of the hotel. It took another hour for my stomach to settle back down. My wife and I couldn't wait to get out of HRH and get to Disney, where we knew such a thing could never happen.
While we enjoyed the Universal parks and would like to visit them again, we certainly will not be staying at the Hard Rock Hotel.
