HotelChatter

Tags: Hidden Hotel Fees / Chris Elliott / Hotel Amenities / In-Room Coffee / → All Tags

Have You Been Charged For Drinking the Coffee In Your Hotel Room?

In this turbulent, unpredictable world, there are a few constants that we've always known to be dependable and unchangeable: the sun will always rise. And when it does, we'll want coffee — and if we don't get it, we get surly. These have and will always be the case, no matter what happens.

One thing we also thought to be a constant that is apparently maybe not so much anymore? That the coffee we need so desperately in the A.M. will be free in our hotel rooms. Yeah: maybe not.

On his blog, travel expert Chris Elliott heard from a disgruntled hotel guest who stayed at the Barclay InterContinental in NYC. She was disgruntled not only because the hotel tried to charge her $80 for a breakfast she didn't even get, but something terrible happened. Something terrible involving coffee.

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Tags: Hotel Valet / Tips / Chris Elliott / Mandarin Oriental Hotels / → All Tags

What to Do When a Hotel Valet Earns You a Parking Ticket

So: you left your rental car in the hands of your hotel's valet parking people. A few weeks later, that car rental company contacts you to ask you to pay for a parking ticket that was issued while the valet was in possession of the car. Aw, hell naw. You ain't payin' for that. So what now?

A disgruntled individual wrote in to ask travel columnist Chris Elliott for advice when she found herself in a similar sitch. After staying at the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco, the car rental company had called the guest to hit her up for $85 to pay for a parking violation incurred by the hotel's valet.

After the guest called the hotel and "was reassured that the independent company used by the Mandarin would reimburse" her, there was no follow-up on the part of the hotel or the valet company — and then, after the guest persisted, the Mandarin folks told her they wouldn't take action until a copy of the actual citation was faxed over to them (which the guest was having a tough time obtaining). Ugh.

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Tags: Chris Elliott / Hotel Hell / Starwood Hotels / Four Points By Sheraton / → All Tags

Sheraton Can't Be Bothered With Your Erroneous Bill Or Your Silly MSNBC Friend

Where: 5115 Hopyard Road [map], Pleasanton, CA, United States, 94588

Our buddy Chris Elliott is a columnist at MSNBC and also has his own site at Elliott.org. Most of the time he acts as a mediator for travel disputes between customers who have been wronged one way or another by airlines, car rental companies, airlines, hotels, airlines, online booking sites, oh yeah, and the occasional complaint about an airline.

We travel a lot too - so naturally we keep an eye on his site, but we have to say -- most things he writes about doesn't really surprise us, since people do dumb things and some companies are even dumber. Particularly airlines.

Until this week's post about a customer (Mike Black) who reserved and then canceled a room at the Four Points by Sheraton Pleasanton in CA and was assured by the hotel that there would be no charges for the room or cancellation.

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Tags: Hidden Hotel Fees / Chris Elliott / → All Tags

MSNBC Says You Should Fight Hidden Hotel Fees with Aggression, Obnoxiousness

A disgruntled hotel guest wrote in to MSNBC Travel Columnist Christopher Elliott, complaining about a $50.00 hidden hotel fee (oy - typical) and asked him for advice on how to get said fee refunded.

His answer? Don't take it lying down.

He advises the traveler to simply refuse to take no for an answer -- which is kind of obnoxious, really, but good advice.

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Tags: Housekeeping / Tips / Hotel Maids / Hotel Staff / Hotel Services / Chris Elliott / → All Tags

Eager Housekeeping Staff to Get More Eager?

We know it's childish but every time housekeeping knocks on our hotel room door, we can't help but think of that scene is Tommy Boy where Chris Farley keeps incessantly knocking on the door pretending to be housekeeping while David Spade is trying to sleep.

Granted most housekeepers don't have such dirty suggestions as Chris Farley did but the knock of housekeeping is always inherently annoying. It always happens either when you're still sleeping, or when you're walking around with no pants on (tip: keep the robe handy!) or worse, when you're in the bathroom.

Then there's the whole exchange of what time housekeeping can come back later and clean and if you want new towels in the meantime or not.

We've just accepted this annoyance as part of our life, work and travels. However, thanks to budget squeezes housekeeping woes could get worse.

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Tags: Hotel Booking Tips / Chris Elliott / Hotwire / Hotel Hell / → All Tags

Chris Elliott to The Rescue in This Hotel Booking Horror Story

Just when we thought it was safe to book on these opaque booking sites, comes another story of a hotel guest showing up at their selected hotel to find no room waiting for them.

Chris Elliott over at MSNBC posted this travel horror story of a couple that booked a holiday weekend stay in Las Vegas to attend a wedding for $952. They found the deal on Hotwire. The hotel they were given was the Wynn Las Vegas.

Yet when they arrived at the hotel, there was no reservation in their name. When we interviewed Clem Bason, Hotwire's VP of Merchandising, he said these stories only happen about 10 percent of the time. Well, keep reading to see what happens 10 percent of the time.

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