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“Worst hotel room I’ve ever seen”

October 9, 2007

Where you book your hotel room matters. A lot. Buy directly from the property and pay the going rate, and you’ll probably end up with decent accommodations. Book online through an agent and pay a cut rate, and might find yourself in a not-so-decent quarters.

But it’s unusual to find such a textbook case of the variable law of hotel booking than Scott Hall, who recently complained to me about a hotel reservation made through Orbitz in Reno, Nev.

On September 1, 2007, I made a reservation to stay at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks, Nevada for three nights, September 27-30. $106 per night. I’m serious. Here’s a picture of the hotel from the Orbitz web site:

1.jpeg

When I checked in around midnight, the front desk clerk frowned and said “ Your reservation is at the Courtyard.”

“The Marriott Courtyard?”

“No, OUR Courtyard hotel. You go all the way down the hall, past the slot machines, past the concierge desk, past the valet counter, past the restrooms, past the elevators and then make a hard right. Proceed down a dimly-lit hallway to our delivery entrance. Once outside, drag your luggage over the 10-inch curb and into the street. Weave your way through the maze of cars across the parking lot. From there go under the freeway and look for the small unmarked building. It will have an awning. Ask a passerby to hold the standard door for you, drag your luggage inside and look for the front desk about 50 feet straight ahead.”

“But I stayed here last year, in this hotel. I thought ‘Courtyard’ meant the view.”

Then I remembered that I made the reservations directly with the Nugget and not Orbitz.

No dice. We finally found our way to the “Courtyard” hotel. Here’s a picture of it.

2.jpeg

Actually, that’s an OUTSTANDING picture of it. I tried to get some indoor shots, but my cell phone camera refused to operate in the lighting provided. I had no idea that one desk lamp could illuminate an entire hotel room. They had us down for only one bed but found a room with two beds on the smoking floor. We got up there and thought we were in Beirut. Worst hotel room I’ve ever seen. And I travel 150 nights a year on business.

Some highlights:

- The hotel conveniently has removed the drain plug from the bathroom tub leaving a hole that could swallow a coffee mug.

- While I do wear corrective lenses, I do think it’s a bit of a stretch to ask a guest to watch a 13-inch television from a distance of 15 feet.

- Fortunately, the bathroom tap worked. Thank God, considering I awoke at 4 a.m. with my eyes swollen, shot and watering. If not for that emergency eyewash, I still might be blindly scrambling on all fours looking for help.

- Funny thing – actually, it’s not all that funny — is that the sign says “ The Nugget.” So there IS an affiliation. Big deal. It wasn’t The Nugget they had a picture of on the Orbitz site. They could have taken a doghouse and slapped a neon sign on it and called it The Nugget – Mountain View.

Slept there one night because we had no choice. Coughed most of the night because of the smoke-embedded room. Eyes were on fire for a full 24 hours after checking out. Beautiful. Even the guy at the front desk thought it was horrible. I’d call that false advertising.

Hall canceled the room after one night and complained to Orbitz. I also contacted the online travel agency on his behalf.

Much to its credit, Orbitz responded almost immediately:

We were displeased to hear about his situation regarding his recent stay at the Nugget Hotel’s courtyard rooms in Sparks, Nevada. More so, we were upset that our attempts to provide superior customer service fell short in this circumstance.

A few things are important to note. The hotel properties provide Orbitz Worldwide with their images and room descriptions (this is standard in the travel agency business). Our hotel market managers across the globe do their best to verify this information when possible. Orbitz also offers hotel reviews so customers – who actually stayed at the hotel – can provide qualitative descriptions of their experiences at the property.

In this case, while within the hotel description, it did note that the Nugget Courtyard was another property on the site of this hotel location, the photo did not accurately represent the actual property. And the information noting the location of the property was not as visible as it should have been.

Here’s what we do when we discover inaccuracies in hotel descriptions…including steps we are taking in this circumstance:

1. The local hotel market manager, from our supplier services team, immediately investigates customer complaints about a property. Often, this will involve a site inspection on the premises.

2. If we feel a property description is misleading (e.g., there really isn’t a decent view of the ocean from any of the rooms), we will edit the site description ourselves.

3. If we feel the property is unsafe or a complete misrepresentation as described on site, we will disallow bookings to the property in question until a remedy is in place.

In this case, we have:

1. Alerted our hotel supplier team to investigate.

2. Disabled bookings to this property on our site.

3. Will make changes to the property description as necessary.

As for Mr. Hall, we have:

1. Most importantly, we apologized for this gaffe in service.

2. We’ve refunded him in full for the price of his stay at this property; crediting his credit card, appearing in 3-5 business days.

3. We also are offering this customer a credit on his next purchase on Orbitz.com.

Orbitz did the right thing. But the issue it didn’t address — probably because it couldn’t — is the perceived problems with the variable law of hotel booking. Why do people who buy cheap hotels online get the worst rooms? And is there anything online travel agencies can do to prevent this type of discrimination?

I’m sure the online agencies are as concerned about this as their customers. I think this issue is going to get worse as hotel occupancies remain tight and rates edge higher. I, for one, will be interested in seeing how the online agencies solve this one.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

12 comments

  • http://brianhprince.blogspot.com Brian Prince

    I see this all the time. If I make a reservation through a deep discounter, then when I check in I get gruff service, definitely not what you would normally expect at Hilton’s and Marriot’s. I usually get what I perceive to be one of the ‘lesser’ rooms. You can see their attitude change as soon as they look up your reservation in the system.

    If I book through a normal channel, lets say directly with Hilton, I get great service, and a completely different experience.

    Once in Orlando, I booked a discount room at a very nice hotel. I got all the five star treatment you would expect, until they pulled up my details. Then her face literally went into a frown, and she said “Oh, an internet rate.” She proceeded to readjust which room I was assigned to their other tower. Not as bad, but a similar experience to the traveller above. They even asked if I wanted to ‘upgrade’ to the better tower. If I did, the price would have been the same if I booked normally and not through a discounter.

    I have learned that what you pay for a room affects how you are serviced. This may or may not matter to you. If you just want a nice room, and don’t care about the other stuff, a discount like this can work. If you really want the star treatment, you are going to have to pay for it, even at the same property as that discounted traveller.

  • Chicky

    I have to question Orbitz’ hotel ratings anyway. My husband and I booked a room at a Days Inn in Morganton, N.C., through Orbitz. (This was in 2004). The site said the hotel rated three stars. Generally, this means clean rooms, basic amenities, etc. The place was NOT three stars. Hardly. The best one could say is the bathrooms were clean and so were the sheets. Otherwise, it looked like the furniture hadn’t been replaced in 20 years and the carpet was very worn. I wasn’t as travel savvy then as I am now, and just chalked it up to poor hotel choice. Nowadays, I’d have done what Mr. Hall did.

    I usually research hotels at places like Orbitz for deals and then go to the hotel’s Web site to see if I can beat the price there. This has worked pretty well for me. Also, on other sites, the reviews are usually candid and I’m able to get a better idea of what the hotel is really like.

    I’ve stayed at the Nugget in the towers and the rooms are pretty nice and service is good, too. The Courtyard is what USED to be the Nugget years ago, and is now the “budget” property. I knew it was a little “less than” when a friend stayed there about 4 years ago. Apparently, it has gone way downhill since then.

  • Sheri

    Not the worst, should try the Artisan in Phoenix … what a nightmare. Booked it on Skyauction and found that most of what they said the hotel featured they didn’t have … no wine tasting, no restaurant, no in room refrig or microwave … they didn’t even have a soda or snack machine anywhere in the hotel … had to take a 1 mile hike to get a soda. Maid service was none existent … even set the glasses and ice bucket in a particular formation to see if they were changed .. .nada. Then to top it all off when I checked out they charged a resort fee along with a peak rate. When I protested neither Skyauction or Artisian would respond.

  • jlawrence01

    I am very familiar with the Courtyard rooms at the John Ascuaga’s Nugget. Originally, they were small (10×12) rooms that were used to house gamblers. They represent one of the best values in Reno when the city is sold out. The rooms are small, generally lack windows and the like. They are very similar to the rooms at the Microtel.

    One of the difficulties in both Reno and Las Vegas is that in most casino properties, there are several classes of rooms available. However, very few disclose exactly which rooms you are getting until you show up. And that can create a lot of confusion for all concerned.

  • http://www.zengrrl.com Michelle

    Years ago, I booked a room at a Best Western in St. Paul, MN. Right away, nothing the hotel looked like its photo – it was dingier and more worn. I asked to see my room before paying, and I was appalled. It was dusty, obviously a smoker room, even though the hotel claimed it wasn’t, and even the towels were grey. The deciding factor not to stay was when, standing in the bathroom, the guest upstairs dropped something large on the floor, causing the vent grating in the ceiling to pop out. It barely missed my head as the metal crashed to the floor.

    I got out of there and never looked back.

  • Dick

    While I am sympathetic to Scott Hall’s ordeal, isn’t the old adage of getting what you pay for true? By booking through one of the cheap deal Internet site you shouldn’t expect 5-star rooms. Anything much beyond clean and safe should be considered a bonus. If you want a top flight room, book directly with the hotel and expect to pay the going rate.

  • Cynthia

    We had the opposite experience at Residenza del Duca in Amalfi, Italy. We booked directly with the hotel as they told us they saved the best rooms for those customers. Our room was as pictured online but others in the hotel got vastly superior larger rooms for less money than ours by booking through “booking.com”.
    But through priceline.com we got rooms at the 4 Points Sheraton in San Rafael, CA with dirty sheets! We settled on the third room given us which had no hairs on the sheets or suspicious stains . We were thankful we didn’t get exposed to “crabs”.

  • Juanita

    I work in the hospitality/lodging industry and I have for many years. I have managed apartment buildings and several small hotels. I know quite a bit about customer service on a small level. I LOVE going to these sites and reading some peoples horror stories and your attempts at getting freebies. I have some advice and my own horror story. If you want a good rate and good treatment at a hotel, be respectful and nice to the staff, thats all. Treat the staff like they are human beings and for the most part we will do anything to make you happy within reason. We are not stupid, I am working on my PhD but yet every day I get treated like I am some sort of country bumpkin fresh off the farm that dosent know the value of a dollar…good one buddy. So of course not people do not get free rooms out of me when they treat me like that. Legitimate complaints merit free rooms not a spotty coffee pot that you made coffee in anyway. If you make a reservation and forget to cancel it we hold that room for you, we do not rent it to someone else so we are going to charge you for that room because you didn’t cancel it before 6pm that night, most national chains have that same policy.

    So I go into it knowing all of this and we go to Las Vegas NV. I book a room at the Stratoshphere with my husband and several of his friends from Desert Strom, for a reunion. I did the usual thing and booked a room in the premier tower through the hotels website about 6 months in advance, a deposit was taken out and all was happy. We go and check into the hotel and get room keys get to the room through some back elevator and get some crappy room in the world tower that is nothing that we booked. So I called down stairs and asked if there was an error with out reservation. The person I spoke to said no since we were a late check in 7pm our room was no longer held we got whatever they had. I said excuse me, we had reservations, and reservations are made to be honored. Then this person said, WE HAVE 2900 ROOM WE CAN DO WHAT EVER WE WANT. I got her name her managers name and started speaking to him immediately, he said that he would require proof that we reserved what we said we reserved because their system only showed names…yeah right. So I took my whole laptop down stairs and showed him and his bright purple red face what we booked. He then offered to move us to our room that we had reserved (one just suddenly opened up) and I told him no thanks we were fine where we were at, but when we got home the travel agency that the people I worked for owned would here about this and they would lose about 300 to 450 rooms a year because of this and now they did because they no lonnger book rooms at the Stratohphere. They have 2900 rooms they can do what ever they want!!!!

  • http://hotels-index.blogspot.com Hotels

    I travel a lot for business internationally, I read online reviews of hotels I have visited and often find these right though evidently there are plenty of false reviews by hotels’ friends or fake visitors.
    I like to visit the hotel website as well and to speak directly with hotel by e-mail to ask for clarifications and description of the rooms, etc. so they offer the best room they have and sometimes I get it….

  • Paul Vanzyl

    Worst hotel in the world? Try Hosteria Pehoe in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. We stayed there for three nights. The room was very basic without even a wardrobe for clothes, only a few shelves. No reading lights. Day 1: No hot water. Menu has two (2!) main course items items and 2 beers, one of which was out of stock. We managed to get a warm shower at a campsite a few kilometers away. Day 2: No water! Not even cold, and that in a hotle on an island in the middle of a pristine lake. When they eventually managed to get water, the hand basin leaked and so did the toilet. The solution to these (not effective) was to apply more silicone gunk to the silicone already there. When the manager was confronted with these problems he was totally dismissive – how dare we complain! So what? Well, at US$220 per night I think this place must qaulify for a place on the 10 worst hotels in the world list!

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  • Fernandes

    Well friends, what you experianced wasnt so bad, lately been to Armenia visited a city called Dilijan. Stayed together with my family in Dili Villa B&B (www.dilitours.de) Beware! This hotel has got no service to speak of. Appalling cleanliness, horrific service in, broken TV, nasty bathrooms await you here. carpets was soiled beyond cleaning needs replaced, nasty order in hall and rooms,linin dirty on beds,towels horrible, had strange fealings after I had their breakfast, I wish I could post pictures here to warn you all.

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