Edit 2: (copied this edit to the top) this is Homewood Suites in London, Ontario.

I want to share an experience I had at Homewood Suites, a Hilton-branded hotel, this past summer, because I'm still stunned at how a simple complaint turned into months-long ordeal involving gas-lighting, dishonesty, and a $2,800 charge for a TV I did not break. As someone with AuDHD, I don't excel in confrontational or ambiguous situations. I try to follow the rules, trust systems, and assume good faith, but this experience made me feel completely powerless, confused, and frankly, bullied.

In mid-July, my family and friends stayed at a Hilton property that was filled with children's baseball teams. When we checked in, the room we were assigned smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. It wasn't subtle, it hit us immediately. When I went to the front desk, they moved our friends to another room but told my family they couldn't move us. So we had to sleep in a smoky room.

The next morning, I spoke with a manager who said she couldn't do anything and that the General Manager (GM) would call me the following day. She offered a late checkout, which was already included in our Hilton Gold as a perk. The following day (Monday) I heard nothing from anyone at the hotel, so by the afternoon I contacted Hilton corporate, explained everything, and opened a case.

Only later that evening did the GM call. The conversation was unpleasant. She tried to deny smelling anything and felt like she was gaslighting me at one point. I explained that I simply wanted a refund for the smoky room. She refused and tried offering loyalty points instead and brought up the late checkout as a form of payment, which I mentioned was already included as a perk of my Hilton Gold membership.

Over a week later, completely out of nowhere, I received an email from the hotel claiming that during a "routine inspection" they discovered the TV in my room was broken. There was no other explanation, just an email telling me that the TV was broken and I'm getting charged $2,800 for it.

I want to be absolutely clear: **I did not break any TV. None of us did. The accusation is false. It is dishonest. It is retaliation for pushing for a full refund for the smoky room. There is no other explanation that makes sense.**

Naturally, I disputed the charge with American Express after an agent at Hilton corporate suggested it.

For almost two months, the investigation dragged on. Finally, Amex sided with the hotel, not because the hotel provided a compelling explanation, but because they sent one single photo of a broken TV, with no context, no timestamp, no connection to my room, nothing that would tie it to me in any way. Just a picture, that was my first time seeing that picture.

Nearly 3 months later, only after Amex sided with the hotel, did I reach out to Hilton's so-called "executive office ambassador", which is supposed to be the highest level of assistance. To my shock, they completely accepted the hotel's version of events, saying the hotel claimed they replaced the TV immediately because the room type is "popular".

I didn't break anything. I didn't lie. I didn't cause trouble. I simply spoke up about a smoky room, and the hotel responded by inventing a charge and stealing my money.

How much stolen money is keeping their stock price afloat. Victims always lose and bullies always win.

Edit 1: this is Homewood Suites in London, Ontario.

I checked into a hotel a few days ago (leaving out name for obvious reasons) this was not a cheap hotel stay its over 250 a night. As I do whenever I get into a hotel I pulled back the sheets to check for any surprises, and unfortunately I found faint but noticeable stains in a few places plus some random strands of hair.

I went to the front desk and had to return 3 times before someone actually swapped the sheets. Even worse was the lady at the front desk was straight up gaslighting me saying someone was in there 35 min ago and changed them, I told her I was just in there for the past 3 hours snoozing on the couch because after only having slept 1 hour the night before due to my flight I was desperate, and noone came to change them. To which she snapped that the "big boss" was going to take a look.

The question is are these faint stains normal for hotels? I guess they can't get them out but its washed? Was i being an annoying customer complaining?

Edit: For everyone sorry if I mislead you guys I'm a man not a woman.

What's with these hotels with no service? Is that normal in Germany now?

I had 2 cases recently where the hotel I was staying at had no room service. Not "we don't change towels every day", but just - nothing. They don't clean. They don't empty the trash. One had a water kettle, but not even a single tea bag. I was there for 5 days and had to go out to buy coffee and tea and request a clean-up after 3 days.

Next time I'll just stay at a small "Pension" or a B&B again. Those tend to have a fridge in the room, a coffee/tea station and often times you have a whole kitchen to use.

What's even the argument for a hotel like this? These were not small dingy hotels, or cheap. One was a large local hotel, the other one a big chain. The rooms were large and comfortable, but that's all.

I work on the supplier and project coordination side, and phased room renovations often become messy for a very ordinary reason: different teams use different room references. Operations may work by room number, purchasing by room type, and delivery records by package or revision. The physical work can be correct, but the handover still stalls because nobody can quickly confirm what belongs where, what has arrived, or who owns the final check.

A shared room map, revision label, staging zone and named sign-off owner can prevent a lot of confusion. For anyone who has worked through a live hotel renovation, where did the handover break down first?

Most travelers know that Expedia or Booking.com are third-party booking sites. The harder ones to spot are sites that can look a lot like the hotel’s own website.

The U.S. Sun covered this recently, including how travelers can search for a hotel by name, click what looks like the right result, and only later realize they booked through a third party.

For hotels, that’s an interesting part of the booking journey to pay attention to. The guest already chose your property... the confusion happened while they were trying to find where to book it after a Google search.

The article includes some useful examples of what travelers are seeing and what to look for when trying to identify the hotel’s actual website.

Full article from The U.S. Sun: https://www.the-sun.com/travel/16925909/ai-hotel-booking-scam-third-party-overcharge/

I was just in thailand, vietnam, malaysia, japan, hong kong and all the hotels i stayed at were around 4 stars, and they were all so much better then the comparable hotels in the us, europe, and just about anywhere else i can think of.

price - much better in most places except japan. i chalk it up to lower labor costs

service - immaculate

food - 10/10 in most places, especially the breakfasts

How is this?

Need hotel suggestion in ctg. For unmarried couple will stay for 2 nights. Any suggestion on hotel Grand sunshine in agrabad?

Help me!! Any suggestion for a budget inn / motel in Dasma Near governors drive. We need it for a family of 4

I was charged a $591 smoking fee by a hotel, but I did not smoke or vape in the room. I disputed the charge with American Express, but the hotel submitted a large evidence package and Amex ultimately sided with the hotel.
The hotel provided the folio, guest log, non-smoking policy, booking information, and a smoking/indoor-air-quality detection report. From what I can tell, there is no photo, cigarette, ash, physical damage, or employee who actually witnessed me smoking. Their main evidence seems to be that their detection system supposedly detected something.
I’m now trying to figure out what I can do directly with the hotel since the Amex dispute was unsuccessful.
I’m not trying to avoid a legitimate fee, I genuinely did not smoke in the room. Has anyone successfully challenged a hotel smoking fee after their credit-card dispute was denied?

What are convenient hotels , Air B&B near Music Academy, Chennai for stay during the month of Margazhi (dec-jan) I would like comments from previous experiences of amenities and services at the place. Thank you.

I usually check the bathroom and bed first 😂If the shower satisfies me,I'll be very happy.

Sometimes everything looks great in the photos, but you know within 2 minutes of walking into the room whether the hotel is actually good.

What’s your first check?Maybe it depends on your personal habits, or maybe there are safety considerations?

Hiya everyone. I have been seeing a lot of content on tiktok and instagram where people stay in hotels and order in room service. I am a huge fan of a good staycation! the idea of checking into a nice hotel, taking a nice shower, going down to the bar for a couple of drinks - not to get too drunk, but just the right amount, then heading back to the room, tv is on with some comfort trash tv like cartoons or some chick flick comedy, and then I order in some nice food - maybe a lobster alfredo pasta with some chicken wings, caesar salad and some fries and a crisp diet coke. a cigarette to end the night, if im not too stuffed maybe a cheeky dessert? and a nice fat nap. morning would be a nice breakfast and head back to my house - well rested and rejuvenated!

the only problem with this fantasy is that im having a hard time finding a decent hotel. feels like if i want decent room service i need to book myself into four seasons or the likes? surely there are 3 star hotels or boutique hotels that doesnt cost a kidney for a night’s stay? i don’t mind spending a little more for the food itself, but the stay alone costing £500-£700 is too much!

I searched online - on tiktok, on ig, on google and none of the places i’ve come across fulfil the requirements though?

I was wondering if you know any decent stays in and around London/Manchester/Liverpool that serves or has a really nice in-house room service menu? per night cost amounting to somewhere between £100-200 pounds is doable for me for the stay.

thankyou xx

Hi. Planning a trip to Amsterdam. Looking for a hotel that is centrally located (allowing me to explore during the day) and has some nightlife (restaurants, cafe, bars, live music). I like staying at Marriott hotels. Any experience with the W Amsterdam, Renaissance Amsterdam or Amsterdam Marriott? TIA

Hey,

Is there anyone willing trade with a Boeing employee for an huge rental car disc? our disc maxes us out on 120 weekly ONLY for standard rentals, WITH insurance included. I can share with you my linkedin profile, etc - please message me

I’ll preface by saying I don’t do a whole ton of travel, and I’ve never had any issues with my rooms before. How do I go about dealing with this?

This is at a 5-star hotel in Asia, part of IHG/booked through the Edit program via Chase.

BLUF version: water leak from the ceiling at 1am, changed to new room after 30-40min, hotels offer of compensation: same quality room, same view, and: 2 drink vouchers.

Background:

It was 1am and I got out of bed to use the loo and slipped on a puddle. Turned the lights on and saw a leak from the ceiling, dripping through a light fixture and also running down the wall, damaging a large piece of artwork.

Immediately called front desk, expecting to get sorted ASAP into a new room. Front desk apologizes and says someone will be up shortly.

Few minutes later, a maintenance worker shows up, enters, quickly assesses, and says he’ll be right back. I assumed he was heading back to discuss with front desk.

He shows back up a few minutes later with a ladder. I think he was expecting to begin maintenance then and there. I said I’d rather he contact front desk and explain the situation and that having us sit around and wait, now around 1:15am, while he tinkers, is unacceptable.

Phones the front desk, puts me on with them, they apologize again and say they’ll sort out a new room, just hold tight and they’ll call back when ready.

Few minutes later, they ring. I misunderstood what they said and thought they’d be sending someone up to walk us to the new room. Instead, they said the person was already there and to open the door for them — I learned later that this was what was said.

Few minutes go by and we call down again, growing impatient. Apparently the staff member had been outside (miscommunication), he rang the bell but we had it on Do No Disturb so we didn’t hear anything. I ran to open the door and he greeted me. He said he didn’t want to knock on the door for fear of bothering us.

About 40min has gone by at this point. We’ve packed a small bag of essentials for overnight and we walk to our new room. Guy said we’d get this sorted all out tomorrow morning.

Morning comes, we’d made plans already in a nearby city so we were ready to head off asap. Front desk fumbles about in letting us know what’s happening: asks if it’s okay for them to go into the original room while we’re gone, asks for the new room back because it’s technically booked out for another guest, and that we’d get sorted a different room once we got back, says nevermind we can keep both rooms as to avoid having to pack and move again, and that we’d still get a new “better” room once we return. We say okay but we just want to get on as to not waste more time.

Return around 7pm expecting some good news.

Offer: change to an equal room plus 2 drink vouchers at their bar/restaurant.

We said this was not acceptable. They asked what we would like. At this point, we are very tired and want to rest up before heading to dinner. We take the card to our new room. Said we’d think about it and come back to discuss after we’ve got the energy. Did not take the drink vouchers.

Am I bugging? Are 2 drink vouchers at all what anyone would expect? I’m really surprised they didn’t show more urgency once they heard of the leak, sending a maintenance worker instead of having someone from the night desk come sort us out. And at the end, 2 drink vouchers to compensate us for the trouble of having to switch rooms at 1/2am, having to go back and forth between 3 rooms now to sort our things.

​

Hi,

I have a question regarding the Friends & Family rate.

Am I allowed to book a discounted stay for my sibling, or is the rate only available for myself and my parents? To clarify, I wouldn't be staying with them—I would only be making the reservation on their behalf.

Also, is the Friends & Family rate valid at any Kempinski hotel worldwide, or does it only apply within the region where I work? For example, if I work at a Kempinski hotel in Europe, can I use the discount at Kempinski hotels worldwide, or only at European properties?

Thank you in advance for your help!

My wife and I have been staying at the Axiom Hotel, in San Francisco this weekend. This is supposed to be a 4-Star hotel. However, this has been the worst hotel experience we have ever had. We stayed here for three nights (Thursday - Sunday) and have moved rooms three times. Every room has had problems and we lost hours of sleep and had to cancel multiple plans for the weekend.

1) The first room we stayed in had no working air conditioning. They said they had no other rooms available for the night so they just gave us a fan. This is happening in summer so it was extremely hot and we barely slept. The next day (Friday) was our most important day and we were extremely exhausted and unfocused at the events we went to.

2) After we got back on Friday, they moved us to a second room. The second room they sent us to had no central air, but had a portable AC unit. After moving to the room we discovered that this AC unit was leaking and had left a huge puddle in the middle of the room so the floor and carpet were wet and soggy. We tried to call the front desk and found that the phone wasn’t working either. I had to go down the hall and use the emergency phone just to speak to someone.

3) At this point I went down to the lobby again and waited there until I finally spoke to a manager named William on the phone. William offered us full compensation and a third room. Unfortunately, this third room has been full of problems as well. This room also has a portable ac unit, however after moving to room we discovered the that power kept turning off because of the faulty circuit breaker and we had to keep calling someone from the front desk to turn the power back on (The only devices we had plugged in were our two phones). This started happening at midnight and continued throughout the night. They sometimes couldn’t even turn on the power for a while because they had only one or two people working in the whole building (this seems like a gross safety hazard for emergencies). This kept happening in the middle of Friday night so we woke up sweating and had to call for them to turn on the power. We were so tired that we had to cancel our sightseeing plans for Saturday. I spoke to William again and he said all he had the power to offer at this point was late check out on Sunday. Unfortunately the problems continued throughout Saturday night and now into Sunday morning. We have had to call the desk at least 8 times over the night and it has now been another two nights of sweat and no sleep here. We called William as well as his supervisor Bryan and have had to leave voicemails about our situation.
At this point we are at a loss for what to do. We still have not been able to speak to any of the upper management face-to-face. Any recommendations welcome.

TLDR: The hotel changed our rooms three times, but every room has had electrical problems or such. They also seem to be extremely understaffed and unprepared for emergencies.

I’ve usually booked hotels through booking platforms because it’s easier to compare different properties, check reviews and see multiple options in one place.

But I’ve also heard people say that booking directly with the hotel can sometimes be better, especially when it comes to room preferences, changes or dealing with the property directly.

For those who travel regularly, which option do you prefer?

Booking platform or direct hotel booking — and what made you choose one over the other?

Curious about the current state of things. If a guest wants extra towels, a toothbrush, or wants to let the front desk know the AC isn't working, what's the normal path in most properties now? Still a phone call, or have most places moved to texting, an app, a tablet in the room, or something else?

A few things I'm wondering about:

- For properties that use SMS or a messaging platform, does it actually reduce front desk calls or just move the volume somewhere else?

- Do guests use it, or do they still pick up the phone regardless?

- Are the QR codes I keep seeing in rooms mostly just menus and wifi info, or do any of them go to a real request system?

Asking as someone with a software background who's interested in the operational side, not trying to sell anything. Mostly want to understand what already works and what's just clutter.

Any hotel gms out there that transitioned to a dos position? Just looking for advice to shift out of operations and how it went for others!

I really appreciate most hotels now have body wash, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower. But could you please put a label on it big enough that us older people can read it without our glasses on?

I am now really starting to panic. I have to leave September 4th from WA to WI.
I do not have a credit card. I only had a prepaid debit card (Direct Express), so I got a Capital one 360 checking account, based on recommendations and the fact that they have no fees on most things that other banks do.
I asked AI what brand the card would be, it said Mastercard. Nowhere did I see anything about Discover during the process of opening the account. I am now reading things on reddit that have me worried about relying on a Discover debit card. I was about to transfer my funds to Capital One, but I could open an account somewhere that uses Visa or Mastercard with same day printing for the card and deposit the money there instead.

I am planning to stay in cheaper hotels such as Super 8. I'm will call ahead before booking, but I do not want to get stranded anywhere if Discover network is down (apparently this happens?).

I realize that using a credit card is preferable, unfortunately that is not an option. Should I attempt my upcoming trip using Capital One/ Discover, or open another account at a credit union or bank that uses Mastercard/ Visa?

Can someone explain to me why so many motels/inns don't have sheer curtains? And in my experience it is always "no sheer curtains = dirty, unkempt, bad temp. control etc". What is it about sheer curtains? I mean on all the things thay could cut expenses on, why sheer curtains? And it's always sheer curtains 🤔