When the East Houston Hotel opened up on the Lower East Side last Fall, the first reviews that came in weren't so nice.
The first guests had to deal with hanging wire hazards and no food during the proposed continental breakfast hour. Another guest complained that the hotel has a dizzying reservations process and bewildering cancellations policies, not to mention some hotel name confusion.
Yet one more guest complained that a Best Buy gift card had been stolen from the room and the accommodations were pretty drab.
These complaints don't sit well with the hotel's manager Tim Cho who says the hotel has made great strides in improving its experience for hotel guests since the first weeks of opening.
Since we at HotelChatter like to encourage a dialog not just between fellow hotel guests but between management and guests, we've given Tim Cho the opportunity to respond to such complaints. Read his full letter after the jump.
While checking out the recent TripAdvisor reviews of the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, we noticed something rather interesting. The hotel's general manager has replied to at least six of the recent reviews and dating back to August 2006.
The responses tend to start off as a form letter, "Dear TripAdvisor Member, Thank you for taking the time to write." But they do address a whole range of issues like one guest's complaint about the hotel's design. This is how general manager Jenny Chmieleski responded:
Since our renovation in 2001, we have received many responses to Phillipe Starck's avante-garde lobby design. We appreciate that every person has a distinct and personal opinion regarding design aesthetic, and we accept that the style here at Clift may not be your particular cup of tea.
She even offers her email address in case the guest wants to contact her directly. Good on ya Jenny, so long as the general manager is genuine and not posing as a guest, they should most definitely get involved in the conversation. We would hope that the general manager would be available while the guest is still at the hotel as well.
Wow, it seems that hotels thought to be closing/opening also come in threes. First, the W Honolulu was to turn into a swank Balinese-themed hotel but ended up remaining a W. Then the Hotel Du Cap Eden Roc was reported to close but the owners said that talk of the hotel turning into a private residence was not true.
A tipster says the Cosmo Browns @ the Ritz in Carlow is neither a gay hotel or gay bar.
Cosmo Browns @Ritz Hotel Carlow was NEVER a gay hotel. The last manager ran in to problems with banks etc. and the rumors had it that the venue was opening as a gay bar.
This is sad for Ireland's gay community but probably better for the travel community as a whole, since the TripAdvisor reviews from last summer were horrendous. Back then, it looked as if the hotel was operating not as a gay hotel but just some hole in the wall to stay for a night.
Yesterday, Cannes was abuzz with the news that by next year the popular The Hotel Du Cap Eden Roc would be turned into a private residence. However, the hotel's current owners say that's not so.
We got this email from Lou Hammond, who apparently represents the hotel's current owners saying,
The following statement relates to incorrect information on Page 6, New York Post on April 22 relating to the Hotel du Cap Eden Roc and as featured on your site.
Dr. h. c. August Oetker of the family owned Oetker-Group said today in respect to the rumors relating to the alleged sale of the Hotel du Cap Eden to Mr. Roman Abramovich:
"The Hotel du Cap Eden Roc is and remains an integral part of the Oetker-Group. There are neither negotiations nor any intentions to sell this hotel."
So there you have it. The Eden Roc ain't going nowhere. Better start saving up your cash again.
A while back, we did a PM Linkage that linked off to some of the hotel reviews that we received. This review about the Jungle Bay Dominica however has been hotly contested by the resort's owner who wrote into us to say that the reviewer could not have possibly been a guest there.
As long time readers and hotel mavens know, we encourage both guest and hotel management involvement--as long as it is transparent. Our goal, as always, is to present you all sides of the story and let you, the potential guest, make your own informed decision on the property in question.
For now, we're placing Hotel Maven (if you are such a thing) WindiesWanderer under a Cloud of Suspicion.
[UPDATE: The owner has responded to this review. Go here to see what he says is inaccurate.]
We chose Jungle Bay because it claimed to be an eco-lodge, and we believe in protecting nature. Sadly all we got was the best example of greenwashing, false green claims, that I have ever seen!!
The place is set in stunning surroundings. But unfotunately the place is doing nothing to protect those surroundings. The locals all say they are being exploited, and the gardens were all being sprayed with chemicals, despite claiming not to use them. There really was nothing eco about the place at all.
The food was average, but the prices were 5 star.
The rooms were ok, and the staff are generally friendly enough, although when we complained that the room was not cleaned properly, we were told by the owner that there was nothing he could do because the cleaner had gone home.
We asked to move rooms because the plumbing was making loud noises in the night, and the owner said we would have top pay extra to move. What happened to the peace and tranquility we were promised?
There is nothing better than a good old fashioned hotel rep mixing it up with us. And while we would much rather be hearing from a hotels General Manager, or at least someone in-house, hearing from some sort of hotel mouthpiece makes us smile, and is easily post-worthy.
After the jump, Maria Vu from Syndicate responds to our One Night At Tribeca Grand stay. In our humble opinion, PR folks can learn a lot from how Maria enters the conversation. As always, we welcome guests, hotel employees, and tipsters to enter the hotel conversation any way they wish--just remember to tell us who you are, cause we will find out anyway.
Wow, it seems that hotels thought to be closing/opening also come in threes. First, the 
