This spring I stayed at the Four Seasons Maui while writing a book. It was pure heaven in every respect. Because of my good fortune, I wanted to share the "Four Seasons" experience with my husband as he has to stay at Marriott's for business. This trip was for my business, but we had planned a little romantic escape. It is Vegas, after all.
When we checked in, the valets came running and the check in went smoothly. We were told we were upgraded. I had purchased a three night stay through Hotels.com because they had a buy two nights get one free offer that was too good to pass up.
When we got to the room, it seemed small and we weren't sure what the upgrade was. But, what kept my attention was the bathroom. I kept looking at spots on the floor -- especially around the commode. We were tired from travel and went to the Charlie Palmer Steakhouse, which was very nice.
The hotel was very relaxed and very clean in the public areas. It is, indeed, an oasis from the Las Vegas casino atmosphere. The next morning as we got dressed to go to some meetings, the spots in the bathroom kept bothering me, so I wiped at them and it was evident there had been a male guest with poor aim that housekeeping failed to clean up after. I left some spots for a manager to look at, too, as there were plenty. My husband went to the front desk to tell them about the dirty bathroom and was told they'd send a note to housekeeping.
Mind you, we did not say that there were no towels. We told them that there was urine from the previous guest on the bathroom floor.
So, I started looking around and found nuts and crumbs on the carpet. I moved an ottoman and there was a peanut. It became clear that the room had been changed but not cleaned. We just hoped that the sheets had been changed.
We called the front desk again and asked for a manager to come and look at what we were looking at. A manager did come and was very responsive and said we'd be moved, which we were to a slightly nicer, but much cleaner, room. We also were sent a small dessert and a note from the housekeeping manager.
Frankly, we should have been moved immediately when my husband went to the desk and not after a second call so that the manager could come view the debris of the previous guest.
On leaving, I was asked about my stay and I replied that it was OK. Then, a manager was called to give her apologies. This is what really left a sour note. I told her I was disappointed by the initial reaction that the bathroom had not been cleaned.
She asked me why I waited a day to call and report it. I told her that I kept thinking there was no way that would be urine on the floor -- this was the Four Seasons, after all, surely that can't be. I didn't mention that I was extremely tired because I had been in the emergency room the night before with my parents who were in a car accident.
So, instead of apologizing and letting me go on my way, she put the responsibility for my unclean room back on me. That's when I became angry at this situation. I just spent a lot of money to have a "Four Seasons Experience" and had to walk on the urine and crumbs of the previous guest -- and maybe sleep on their sheets. Ugh. And somehow this was my fault -- because I didn't point out their inadequacies sooner?
Instead of filling out a comment card, I wrote the manager of the Four Seasons Worldwide. I got a response within an hour of my email and my stay was refunded. I was asked if I wanted to stay again at the Las Vegas Four Seasons, which I didn't because I won't be traveling there again. I would have preferred a stay at another Four Seasons location, but was told that the offer was non-transferrable.
So, in the end...the very end... I was repaid with money. But what 's more valuable is my time. I would have preferred another stay at another Four Seasons because I am 1 and 1 with the Four Seasons. One stay was great, one was nasty.



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