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Goodbye, Brownies on The Pillow: Hotels Ditch Services in an Effort to Save Some Cash

The Gramercy Park Hotel, which by the way, is still a five-star hotel.

All of the sudden the outlook for the hospitality industry seems to have gone from bad but with hope on the horizon, to worse with drastic cost-cutting measures now taking place.

Indeed, 2009 has been one of the worst years in history for hotels but yet the best year for travelers looking for steep deals. However, just because you got that five-star hotel for half of its usual price, doesn't mean you'll be getting all the perks you'd expect.

A new report says that hotels have begun dropping stars from their star ratings so that they can reduce their level of services and save money. Some hotels that have already done this? Starwood and Hilton Hotels. And here's why.

Hotel operators need to reduce services to conserve cash. Occupancy rates for luxury hotels worldwide fell to 57 percent in the year through July from 71 percent in the same period a year earlier, a bigger drop than for other types of accommodation, according to Smith Travel Research.

The average daily room rates at the most luxurious hotels around the world dropped 16 percent to $245.13, the Tennessee- based hotel-data company estimates. Prices for mid-range hotels fell about 13 percent to $87.12.

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Overservice / Snapshot / Hotel Amenities / Four Seasons Hotels / → All Tags

Julie of 'Julie and Julia' Has an Adventure in Overservice

Where: 120 East Delaware Place [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60611

Ah, overservice — if you aren't creeped out by it, you can always laugh about it. Or blog about it, really. Or laugh at how hilarious your own jokes are as you're blogging about it. Not that we'd say that was a frequent occurrence on late Thursday afternoons at HC HQ or anything.

Alas, the world's current favorite food blogger-turned-author (turned mega-celeb now that her book became a soon-to-be-released Meryl Streep movie), Julie Powell of Julie and Julia fame experienced an overservice adventure of her very own — which she, of course, blogged about.

Powell had checked in to the Four Seasons Chicago and found this sorta-creepy, very personal bottle of water waiting for her. On What Could Happen, she writes:

I found this, along with a complimentary bottle of wine, last night when I arrived at my CORNER SUITE at the Four Seasons last night. Very nice, but so unnecessary as to seem a little creepy. Like I'm going to find out I'm in "The Prisoner" or something.

I did drink the wine though.

Hehe. Well, er, props to the Four Seasons Chicago for paying very close attention to detail, right? Well, those types of rooms start at $635 and go up from there — so we suppose they'd better be paying attention.

[Photo: Julie Powell]

OpenThread / Overservice / → All Tags

Do You Always Let the Hotel Bellman Take Your Bags?

Not too long ago, we were staying in a hotel for one night and showed up with a miraculously light load of nighttime supplies. All we had was a teensy wheelie bag, one of the airplane-cabin-friendly kinds that were small enough to fit in the overhead compartment. 'Twas a load of luggage that we were perfectly capable of handling by our perfectly capable selves — but as we checked in, the bellman whisked it away from us and ran off into the night. Er, ran off into the elevator. Or, worse, stood there with us before accompanying us up the elevator to our room.

And then we have to tip them.

What are we supposed to do, though? Do we just stand there and let them take our bags? Or are we the only people on this earth who are too awkward or flustered to stop the staffers from doing jobs that we are clearly capable of doing ourselves? Are there people who never, ever let the hotel staffers anywhere near their luggage?

[HotelChatter OpenThreads are a place for readers to get in here and talk about hot stories and issues of the day in an open forum. If you are already a HotelChatter member log in to comment, if not become a member for free and comment away.]

[Photo: Digiart2001]

Overservice / Hotel Blog Watch / Bill Marriott / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags

Bill Marriott Hearts the Employee Who Gave a Guest His Pants

Well, we're going to go ahead and put this in our "Adventures in Overservice" category, even though this is just sort of a story about someone doing something ridiculously, exceptionally nice for a stranger — regardless of whether this was a hotel employee/hotel guest arrangement.

Yesterday (so April 2nd, which leads us to believe this is a legitimate tale and not a joke at all), Bill Marriott blogged about a particularly interesting Marriott customer service anecdote that had him quite tickled: a Canadian Residence Inn employee actually gave a guest his pants. For real.

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Overservice / Hotel Bathrooms / Hotel Services / Hotel Amenities / Towel Origami / Toilet Paper Origami / → All Tags

Adventures in Overservice :: The Art of Toilet Paper Origami

Origami is again assuming its rightful place in the world thanks to the hotel business. Housekeepers at luxe lairs around the world are neatly folding the loose end of a partially used roll of toilet paper into a neat little bow or fan--because toilet paper origami is an art form only enjoyed by the highest end travelers.

So when the room's temporary inhabitant next finds himself on the pot, he'll know that this hotel takes its commitment to creating an "experience" for him seriously, even while he's on the throne.

And if the hotel fancies themselves that much more deluxe, the tissues poking out of the tissue box will have been made to resemble the petals of a carnation (never again to be unbound, forcing anyone who needs to blow their nose to reach for the TP).

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Room Service Boxes / Overservice / Hotel Amenities / Hotel Trends / → All Tags

Dear Hotels, We Wanna Know...What's In Your Box?

That's the Magic Box at Las Brisas Acapulco.

Finally, a new hotel service trend that doesn't involve personal shoppers, bath butlers, dog walkers or preferential treatment for celebrities. There's isn't even any VIP access involved.

No, this new service trend taking root in Mexico is quite simply a Room Service Box. At Acapulco's very plush (and recently revamped) Las Brisas the room service box is called a "Magic Box" because a continental breakfast magically appears there every morning of the stay. Also, the box is pink. We love it already.

Likewise, Marquis Los Cabos does the same using what they've dubbed "private niches." (Is it just us or are these boxes kinda naughty-sounding?)

We've also been told that General Manager Ella Messerli is a former Las Brisas Acapulco staffer who obviously knows a good idea when she sees one. In fact, the room service box is getting so hot that, dare we say it, even all-inclusive companies like Secrets Resorts are catching on and building suites with "Secrets Boxes." (Ok, that does sound dirty.)

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Hotel News / Hotel Sex / Overservice / → All Tags

Turkish Hotel Fires Entire Male Staff for "Overserving" the Ladies

You know how it is when you're sort of boozed-up in a hotel bar and the bartender is kind of hot, and you semi-jokingly propose a quick two-person trip to the bathroom and he's all, "nuh uh, I could lose my job over that" and you're like, "no you wouldn't! P. Swayze had some guest-ual relations in Dirty Dancing and besides, nobody would ever find out."

Turns out, his excuse is valid -- overly-whorey male hotel staff can indeed get canned due to an excess of staff-to-guest affairs. Boo. Lame.

According to a Reuters article today, the Image Hotel on Turkey's Mediterranean coast fired every one of its male employees for repeatedly having affairs with foreign lady guests. They've restaffed the 27-room hotel with women only.

The (female) GM was quoted as saying:

"The last straw was when I saw our bartender, who was a very decent man, walk out of the bathroom with a British tourist."

Well, there go our Fall vacation plans.

[Photo via NYPost.com]

Ritz-Carlton Hotels / Overservice / Hotel Staffers / Tips / → All Tags

Adventures in Overservice :: Crossing the Ladies' Room Line

Where: 4012 Central Florida Pkwy [map], Orlando, fl, United States, 32837

If you've been fortunate enough to stay at a Ritz-Carlton, you know that "Ladies and Gentlemen" is not a euphemism for the restroom -- but rather how the company refers to its staff. So, when we last stayed at the Ritz-Carlton at Grande Lakes in Orlando, we deigned to ask one of these comely "Ladies" stationed in the lobby where we might find the nearest ladies room. Instead, found ourselves being escorted to the threshold of the powder room.

This was somewhat of an awkward moment that left us wanting to point out that we no longer wear Pull-Ups and, in fact, can go potty by ourselves.

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Overservice / Sofitel Hotels / DC Hotels / Hotel Staff / → All Tags

You've Been Overserved, Part Two :: A Happy Medium

Where: 806 15th St Nw [map], Washington, DC, United States, 20005

A second installment of the "You've Been Overserved" chronicles. Enjoy.

Last week we told you about our experience checking into the Marriott Marco Island in Florida and our attempts to wrestle our luggage from the bellmen in order to make a clean getaway to our room for some much needed R&R.

Now we'd like to follow that up with an account of our ideal check-in experience at the Sofitel Lafayette Square in Washington D.C. last winter.

When our taxi pulled up in front of the hotel late one evening, two bellmen rushed over to open the door and alleviate us of our luggage--much as they did at the Marco Island Marriott.

Except, when we refused their assistant, they didn't push the issue, but simply told us where to find reception and then wished us a pleasant stay.

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Overservice / Hotel Staffers / Marriott Hotels / Tips / → All Tags

You've Been Overserved

Where: 400 S. Collier Boulevard [map], Marco Island, fl, United States, 34145

Ok, maybe we would need some help if we had this much luggage with us.

Think back on your most recent hotel stay. Was there an instance -if only a fleeting one--when you couldn't wait to escape some overzealous hotel staffer who was hell-bent on giving you "an experience" that you could go home and eagerly share with your friends?

For example, we still can't stop talking about a stay of more than a year ago at the Marriott Marco Island Hotel in Florida. As soon as our cab pulled up in front of the hotel, a bellman was opening the door while a second was attempting to whisk our luggage away, into that purgatory where it seems to disappear for hours after checking-in.

When we politely objected, we found ourselves in a verbal volley of courteous "please-ma'am-allow-me" and "thank-you-but-really-I-manage-it."

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