Triangle Trip

Tag: hotel

Westin’s minibar and snack sensors cause inconvenience

by on Apr.06, 2009, under Hotels

The Westin snack and minibar sensors are way too sensitive. I was recently at Westin and accidentally knocked over a can of peanuts on the snack tray. I picked up and placed the peanuts back on the tray but apparently did not do it fast enough. The next day I noticed charges for peanuts and cookies on my hotel bill – apparently I also knocked the cookies off its place on the sensored tray.

I had to talk to the front desk to  straighten out my bill before I left the hotel. Due to the long line, I  wasted 15 minutes of my valuable time – luckily I didn’t have an urgent meeting or catch a flight. The front desk agent was very nice and removed the charges without question. However, this inconvenience gave me the feeling of Westin trying to tack on extra charges to my bill. Had I not reviewed the bill before leaving the hotel, I would have been charged $20 for the peanuts and cookies.

Westin could have prevented this inconvenience had they done the following:

1.  Had the front desk warn me about the minibar and snack sensors. The front desk should have to told me I had x seconds to put the snack or drink back or I will be charged for removing the item off its place. What if I only want to see the packaging or read the ingredients?

2.  Have a very large sign on top of the snacks and on the minibar door clearly stating that their is a sensor tied to the drinks and snacks. The tray holding the snacks had a sign on the edge of the tray which was way below eye level. The sign on the door was so small I couldn’t even read it with a magnified glass.

1 Comment :, , , , , , , , , , , more...

Starwood values Platinum members by offering unparallel benefits

by on Mar.19, 2009, under Hotels

If you are a Starwood Platinum member you have one of the best free tools out there at your disposal: The Platinum Concierge.

  • Need tickets to a Broadway show?
  • Need the name of a restaurant in South Beach Miami and have someone book it for you?
  • Forgot to cancel a Starwood reservation and got charged a penalty?
  • Need to get a room when the hotel is sold out?
  • Need to escalate an issue you have with a hotel like bad service or being charged for goods inside the room?

I’ve used the Starwood Platinum Concierge service to find resolutions to all of these. The Platinum Concierge number is: 888-625-4991. Starwood’s excellent and responsive customer service makes them my favorite hotel loyalty program.

1 Comment :, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , more...

How to use your hotel as an ATM when traveling

by on Mar.17, 2009, under Business Travel, Hotels

If you are traveling and have any kind of hotel status, your nearest ATM should be your hotel’s front desk. Almost all hotel loyalty programs let you cash checks for free, up to a couple hundred dollars, if you have some kind of hotel status. You just need to carry a check or two when you travel. This way you don’t have to worry about ATM fees and/or driving around looking for an ATM.

2 Comments :, , , , , , , , , , , more...

Looking for something?

Use the form below to search the site:

Still not finding what you're looking for? Drop a comment on a post or contact us so we can take care of it!

Visit our friends!

A few highly recommended friends...