How to make a complaint about a hotel room in hopes of getting a credit

February 2, 2024 10:50 PM

I'm currently staying at what is apparently an 4 star, upscale Marriott hotel in one of their king suites. For the charming price of $260 USD/night I have received very scuffed up furniture, a weirdly stained couch, a shower that only sort of works as well as a toilet AND sink that both run at random times. (Thankfully the bed and bathroom are mostly clean.) Are my expectations too high? Can I reasonably request a credit? Can I do it without talking to the front desk?
posted by The Adventure Begins to Travel & Transportation (19 answers total)

What will happen is that you can call the front desk and complain that the room is not to your liking and the shower isn’t working. What will probably happen next is that they will offer to give you a different room if one is available or they will fix the shower. They won’t just let you stay in that room and get a credit if they can solve the issue.
posted by little striped mule at 11:53 PM on February 2, 2024 [42 favorites]

The front desk is your main chance of success here. Go down there & show up as a fellow human with perfectly reasonable expectations. They’ll put you in a different room if they can, and throw you some kind of other compensatory measure if they can’t. But your stay probably won’t end up being free of charge.
posted by rd45 at 2:11 AM on February 3, 2024 [8 favorites]

Can I reasonably request a credit? Can I do it without talking to the front desk?

Well no, because you need to talk to the front desk to request a room change. Is there a reason you are reluctant to do that? You can just ring them if you don't want to go down there.

I'm not trying to be passive agressive; I'll ring them for you if you need some help getting a different room.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:50 AM on February 3, 2024 [8 favorites]

Can I reasonably request a credit? Can I do it without talking to the front desk?

How would you go about getting the credit? Calling Marriott’s customer service number? I mean, they might give you a credit just to get you off their back, but without any proof/documentation that there was an actual problem (i.e. telling the front desk) they won’t know if you’re legit or just trying to scam a room credit. You might get red-flagged in their system.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:27 AM on February 3, 2024

I lived out of hotels for work for many years. This will depend on where you are staying. Are you in a small city or other out of the way place where $260/night is close to higher end for the area? If so a complaint might be worthwhile as you’re paying a premium price for a premium product relative to the other prices in the area. On the other hand if you’re in, say, midtown Manhattan or another expensive place, well. $260/night is closer to the price for entry, and a shoddy room is probably what I’d expect.

You may be able to get a credit, but the front desk is where to start figuring that out.
posted by HVACDC_Bag at 4:51 AM on February 3, 2024 [13 favorites]

The furniture wear seems not terribly unexpected for a room at that price point to me, though I’d go ahead and take photos in case you try to escalate anything and need documentation. But your plumbing should work. You do need to contact the front desk, who should either fix it or move you, or yes, offer you a credit if they somehow can’t do either.

I don’t expect that you will get anywhere with central Marriott customer service if you haven’t made an effort to resolve this with the hotel.
posted by Stacey at 5:30 AM on February 3, 2024 [5 favorites]

Be polite, and it might work.

For context: May I recommend Reddit's sub Tales From the Front Desk? Everyone is always trying to get a credit from the front desk person for their complaints. The front desk person can help but if you don't make them want to, you are just one in a long line of people who are angling for a credit for various reasons.

I hate hotels in general but this sub is hilarious.
posted by Peach at 6:15 AM on February 3, 2024 [11 favorites]

If you want things to be potentially fixed right now (via a new room or whatever), you need to talk to the front desk. Otherwise, you could submit a post-facto complaint to the hotel chain's customer service people after your trip is over and see if they would give you some kind of credit or a discount towards a future stay.

And, talking to the front desk now and potentially being moved to a new room or whatever doesn't prevent you from later contacting the company's customer service to complain about your overall stay.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:25 AM on February 3, 2024

If you are on their Bonvoy scheme you might get away with just calling but there is no credit scheme I know of, only upgrading. So there are no no-touch strategies I can think of.

Another issue is if you booked via a central service then hotels and airlines turf you back to thatservice.com and nothing good happens.

So front desk it is, and the nicer you are and the less likely you seem like a chronic complainer, the better your likely outcome within their rules!
posted by drowsy at 6:40 AM on February 3, 2024

Go talk to the person that the front desk. I've had to do this myself -- the last hotel we stayed in, the toilet didn't flush and the room smelled like cigarette smoke. One quick, polite conversation with the front-desk clerk, and we were immediately moved to a different room. And this was in a cheap, not-very-nice hotel; I assume a more upscale one would be at least as easy and pleasant to deal with.
posted by maryellenreads at 7:00 AM on February 3, 2024 [1 favorite]

I have to nth just talking to front desk about the plumbing. (Running facilities make me insane.) My mom did that last night and the front desk guy said he had no idea, but would put in for someone to check tomorrow.

On a related note, I am in a fancy Hilton right now and um, the bidet settings don't work :p Which is like, the most hilarious petty complaint ever,but you push the buttons and it sprays nothing, but Mom wanted to test it....
posted by jenfullmoon at 7:09 AM on February 3, 2024

Best answer: I got too nervous and am just going to take it as an expensive lesson on how to be more assertive when I stay at a hotel. :( It happens. Now I know what to do next time. Thank you.
posted by The Adventure Begins at 7:25 AM on February 3, 2024 [1 favorite]

I had a disappointing experience at a Westin for a big anniversary weekend. I later wrote a letter to the customer service manager at that location and outlined all of the things that I was disappointed by. I was very pleasant about it. I don’t think I asked for money back, maybe just made it more like "I want you to be aware of this customer experience." He wrote back and asked me to come back for another weekend on them in a better room. It was the nicest room I've ever been in, and I never could have afforded it myself. It was a treat.

Now in my case there were issues with ongoing fire alarm testing that we hadn't been informed of, so that was a customer service issue, and we had sprung for this room for a special anniversary treat, but still... You can always write a pleasant letter about it and see where it gets you.
posted by happy_cat at 8:08 AM on February 3, 2024 [5 favorites]

If you ask for credit, and I think that's reasonable, take pictures and accurately describe the issues. Companies never, ever want to give back money, but you might get a few free future nights, and that would be pleasant, as well as fair.
posted by theora55 at 8:41 AM on February 3, 2024 [1 favorite]

Yeah, it's normal. From what I can see, the front desk people are relatively less judgy than, say, most other client-facing people, even if they do tend to be stone-faced.
posted by Peach at 8:59 AM on February 3, 2024

Just want to validate you--it's totally okay to call the front desk, mention your concerns with your room (I would stick to stains and bathroom issues--scuffs to furniture aren't things they can easily repair), and ask what they can do for you. Cosmetic issues are one thing, but it's 100% valid to expect a fully functioning bathroom.
posted by epj at 9:15 AM on February 3, 2024 [1 favorite]

Does it really self-designate as "four-star?" Marriott-branded Hotels are considered "premium" in their own level system. In wider parlance, that seems to match with three-star ratings.

3-Star Rating: Moving on Up
Three-star hotels are typically part of larger, more upscale hotel chains, such as Marriott, Radisson, and DoubleTree. These hotels are generally more stylish and comfortable than one- and two-star hotels, and they offer a wider range of services and amenities: a fitness center, a pool, business services, an on-site restaurant, room service, conference rooms, and valet services. The hotel rooms are larger, with higher-quality, contemporary furnishings, and often include fancy extras like flat-screen TVs with extended cable. Three-star hotels are located near a major expressway and local attractions, and they are often geared toward business travelers.

I say this just to note that expectations may be in play. I do a lot of business travel, and while some cities and locations are definitely more expensive than others, $260 for a Marriott room - let alone a king suite - is not something I'd find abnormal. Still with the plumbing issues I would ask for another room.
posted by Miko at 9:36 AM on February 3, 2024 [1 favorite]

For next time:
"a shower that only sort of works as well as a toilet AND sink that both run at random times."
Are totally reasons to ask the front desk to move and they will usually be super accommodating. If they dont have another room free for you, then you might get a credit. I have done this before, i hate being the person to complain but as long as you are polite this is a routine, no big deal thing to the employee.

All the times recently that I have stayed at a hotel I have received a "how did we do email", and Im usually honest- this is where I would put all the plumbing issues, plus that the room looked tired and stained. I also try to highlight what was good (service, valet ect) Occasionally the manager will reach out with a follow up/ offer for next time, but by then its past their ability to "make it right" and its hard to get a refund.
posted by zara at 10:55 AM on February 3, 2024 [6 favorites]

I stayed in a Marriott in Baltimore last year. Saw a roach (!!!) in my room. It was 1am and I didn't want to change rooms at that point. But I went down to the front desk the next day, told them, and got a new room plus a credit for the night that I hadn't even asked for.
posted by acridrabbit at 12:46 PM on February 5, 2024