I am a corporate traveller in Atlanta on business and booked this hotel several weeks in advance for a conference I was attending. The corporate rate was not inexpensive at &375.00 per night for a king room for a three night stay.
My husband and I arrived in around 10:45 pm at night and waited in line as the valet took our car. When we got to the front on the line we were told to "hold on a minute" then ignored as other travelers checked in to their rooms. This was embarrassing because we were so pointedly ignored it looked as if our charge card was declined or something.
We kept asking for attention and an explanation and were then told that they were oversold and that we were going to be staying at a different Marriott property. When I pointed out that I had this reservation in advance they said "so did these other people". They then continued to ignore us as we had to go and wait 10 minutes for our car to be brought around and load our luggage back in. As my husband tipped the valet (again), we loaded into the car in a stunned silence.
We arrived at the Marriott across the street and they were very nice and aplogized for the JW's lack of customer service. They then informed us that we were expected to go back to the JW Marriott the next day and check in. So... at Midnight we have a room for the night at a lesser hotel with a check out time of 11 am and then we are expected to sit around and wait hopefully for the 3pm check in at the JW Marriott (in case they decided we could actually stay there).
I will say they comped our room at the second marriott (199.00) / night, but as a corporate traveler, although I appreciate that, I would have preferred to have a place to stay where I expected and not be running around at midnight trying to find a hotel. I am not an unreasonable person and respond to good customer service. Had they handled this appropriately, I would have just written it off as a disappointing experience, which will happen during frequent travel.
What should have happened:
- They shouldn't have accepted the reservation if they were overbooked. I even re-confirmed that day of arrival.
- They had my Marriott number and could have called or emailed me that it was overbooked rather than letting us find our way in the dark, valet the car, tip and then haul our luggage out and wait in line.
- They should have been sincerely apologetic and had a quiet conversation with us to explain their error. Instead they just humiliated us.
- Finally they should have helped make certain we found our way to the other hotel.
I have stayed at this hotel numerous times and found it comfortable and adequate. However, since this was so horribly handled, I have zero confidence in their ability or desire to help a traveler that they strand and inconvenience. I am disappointed and wish they handled it differently.
Room Tip: Book at a different property.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.