After taking a friend’s recommendation to change our hotel booking from the RI Chicago Downtown/River North as it’s a newer property, closer to the action, and their family friend is the GM — we happily did so about a week before my daughter’s 11th birthday weekend trip over Canadian Thanksgiving/Chicago marathon. Especially because there was a 2-bedroom suite for our family of 4 which was a huge win at $1000USD per night. Recognizing there would be a higher chance of winning the lottery this weekend than having a hotel room ready for early check-in, I still called en route from the airport as I always do, and also as a courtesy to let them know we’re on our way and will require concierge services to store our bags in the meantime. The front desk manager Andrew answered the call and very abruptly and rudely said with a scoff “Your 2-bedroom suite is our most in demand room so no, it’s not going to be ready early.” Just the way in which he said it took me aback a little but I’d just come off a flight, maybe I was tired so I shook it off. He then proceeded to use the same dismissive tone when I asked two follow-up questions: “When is our room expected to be ready then?” — “Normal check-in time, 4pm.” “Is there somewhere my girls can change and freshen up from our flight?” — “No there’s nowhere for your kids to change here.” I found that response a bit bizarre so I rephrased it: “You mean, there’s not even a lobby washroom that we can use to freshen up from our flight in?” - “Well, you can use the bathroom if you want to. I’m just saying we don’t have change rooms or anything set up for you to change in.” My husband and I have both been in the sales and service industry, albeit finance, for over 20 years. There’s not much that bothers us, or would compel us to write a review to share a negative experience. I will always make sure that I give someone the grace to course correct, as I would hope someone gives me, if I have acted out of character or said something or done something to hurt someone’s feelings. Whatever Andrew was going through that day, the immediate impact of his words was taking the wind right out of our sails for an exciting and special birthday weekend within minutes of arriving in Chicago. So I reached out to the GM Tommie Van to express exactly this point - that tone matters. Words matter. Tommie assured me he would take care of rectifying the situation and when we checked in at 4pm, the girls would be “elated” about what the hotel was going to set out for us. After a day touring Chicago, we arrived back at the hotel at 5:45pm, exhausted, and giving them additional time for our rooms. As the two-bedroom suite on this property is two adjoining rooms - only one room (the girls bedroom with two double beds) was ready. The main room (one-bedroom suite with dining area, kitchen, etc) was not ready and we would get a call later on. I emailed Tommie again to let him know that not only was there nothing to be “elated” about in our r
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