I hate doing this because this is a really lovely property and it has so much potential, but out of 3 stays here, 2 have had major issues and this last issue is basically unforgivable. I have a previously passed review of this property that gives it quite a good rating, but since then, it’s very much changed..
I’d like to preface by saying I’ve waited for a full 5 days to be contacted and have someone attempt to make this right before posting this review; however, even with calling both the hotel and corporate MULTIPLE TIMES this week, no one has contacted me through phone or email. This is extremely long, but I want to include every detail so you see how many chances we’ve given them to make this right. With that, here’s what happened…
We arrived late Tuesday night after the UNC game. I requested a mobile key when I realized that we’d likely be late getting there, as it was a 7 pm game. I noticed, before ever getting to the property, that the mobile key had not been assigned and we’d also been assigned to a room that was not what we booked. We booked a club level king with balcony and were given two queens with no balcony. The rate was not adjusted for the cheaper room we had been assigned, but we figured we’d deal with that later. At that point, we were just hoping for the mobile key to be ready when we got in later, as we’d have just gone in and gone to bed. When we got to the property, far later, we noticed there was no one at the desk. There was a chef sitting in the waiting area and we figured we, and he, were waiting for someone to come back. We expected this to be momentary; however, after about 5 minutes, we noticed the chef started looking for someone to help us and started calling people from his cell. Upon 5 minutes turning to 15, we were getting slightly annoyed and asked the chef (Henry) if he knew what was going on. Let me pause to say that Henry was the bright moment in this buffoonery. He was doing all he could to help us, and was so kind, even though it wasn’t his job. This man was just waiting to turn in the restaurant deposit. He didn’t have to try to help. But he did! He let us know he’d called “the boss” and was waiting on a call back. He even went to a desk attendant’s room (off duty, but on property) and tried to get her to get up to help us. She refused, from what we understood because no one ever came and he just gave us a no head shake upon returning to us.
We then called the corporate line and were placed on hold with Marriott corporate for over 30 minutes. I explained calling the property would do no good, as no one was there, but we watched corporate dial the number repeatedly while leaving us on hold. Then, she returned and hung up on us. To be clear, because I know what I’d likely be thinking if I read this, we were not rude to this person. We were annoyed, but not out of the way to her in any capacity. We even told her our frustration was not with her and we’d be grateful if she could just get us in any room for the night and we’d deal with logistics later, which Henry can confirm. He heard this entire exchange.
To clarify, we could see an assigned room type, but no number. Henry was looking through keys, but had no idea which might be ours. We asked corporate ID she could help him find our number. This is when she disconnected, whether intentionally or accidentally.
Finally, after neither Henry or us getting an answer or call back for OVER AN HOUR, we left. We made a 2+ hour drive home. We spoke to corporate on the way and created a case and I will say the man we spoke to was great (Michael, if memory serves me). I gave the property 48 hours to call me before calling them. I was told by the desk attendant who answered that the attendant the night of our mishap had a “family emergency” and that’s why no one was there. She said she didn’t have details so, I needed to speak to a manager. I didn’t ask, but I was thinking, in the case of this emergency, shouldn’t a manager have come in? Or at least couldn’t the person on property come up to give us our room and key? Remember, I requested a mobile key so all this could’ve been avoided.
Anyway, I left a message for the manager. No answer. I waited a day. No call back. Called again and no call back. Called a third time and still no call back. But they did have time to email me a survey about my stay. The irony.
The change is still showing on my husband’s credit card and still no one has contacted us. We are easy going people. We booked a stay at this property again, even after they were unable to check us in for hours our first time staying there (due to a system issue) because we believe in second chances; however, I’m really very frustrated and not feeling too easy going at this point because no one is even attempting to make this right! That is insane to me when I’m positive they know what happened. Henry explained it as it happened. I left messages explaining it. There’s even a corporate case number assigned to it!
My point is, this Sheraton was great the one stay we had there with no issues, but with 2/3 stays going wonky is a telling ratio. This is especially true with the last “stay” going down as it did. Are the rooms and property lovely? Yes. Are the amenities nice? Yes. But with a ratio of not being checked in on arrival 2/3 times, I’m not sure I’d ever choose this property, or even Marriott, ever again. And that is not so much due to those issues as it is the way they have handled this.
Their response is subpar to other high end chains, at best. They are below Hilton in the extreme (had no issues at the Hiltons up the street), but even below the service we’ve had having to book a last minute stay at a Holiday Inn or Comfort Suites. The only word to describe this response with a $250 charge still on my card for a Tuesday night stay? Unacceptable. If they reach out, I’m willing to update this, but I don’t have high hopes since they haven’t reached out yet.
