when things go bump in the night...

Like the movement of a finely tuned clock, everything about the perfect hotel stay happens behind the scenes. Your booking goes smoothly. Your visit is VIP'ed. Hotel staff discuss your stay during the hotel's daily "morning meeting." Virtuoso amenities are explained at check-in. Hopefully you'll be surprised with an upgrade to a higher room category. Your room is ready when you arrive. Hotel staff greet you by name, and service requests are handled promptly. Your bed is comfortable, the pillow to your liking, and you wake up well rested after a great night's sleep... And, of course, the final bill is correct, with things like breakfasts, internet, and hotel credits properly reflected.

But sometimes there's a wrinkle. To err is human, said Alexander Pope. Everyone — even I — mkae mistkaes. And that's when a great hotel and its team shine. A recent hotel stay enjoyed by one of my clients is testimony to that.

Nothing about this booking was easy (through the fault of no one in particular). Starwood and Marriott, as you may know, have finally completed the massive integration of their reservations systems, and details remain to be perfected. For instance, Starwood's Luxury Privileges amenity program has a new rate code, but it's not yet active in my GDS, making it more time-consuming to book that rate. Marriott's call center had issues making a simple revision to that reservation. At check-out, the guest Folio showed charges for in-room internet, and the F&B credit hadn't been applied to a restaurant bill.

The good news is that the Marriott Luxury team was phenomenal. The national sales team got me to the right individual at the hotel who did a superb job in working through the hassles of booking and revising. The guest was never aware of any of this. He arrived at the hotel, checked in, and enjoyed his visit. And when I noticed a couple of mistakes on the Guest Folio that had been emailed to me, I emailed my colleague at the hotel. The bill was corrected and only then did I forward it to my client.

My client had the perfect stay — with never a hint of any of these issues — because so many people were working SOOOO hard behind the scenes to deliver on a great hotel experience. I want to express special thank you's to Marissa, Ly, and Travis.

copyright (c) 2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

I blame the bean counters at Marriott

view from the Club Lounge at Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay

Ritz Carlton is truly one of my favorite hotel brands. It is for this very reason that I want to push back against the new cancellation policy being instituted by Marriott, its corporate parent. A few Ritz Carlton hotels still have a one day cancel deadline (Buckhead!), but most Ritz Carlton hotels now adhere to the 2-3 day cancelation deadline that is the new Marriott standard.

I blame the bean counters. This self-inflicted corporate unfriendliness is bad news for guests and bad news for Marriott Luxury Brands. I have nothing but the highest admiration for the ladies and gentlemen of Ritz Carlton, among the warmest and most gracious hosts in the entire luxury hotel industry. This unfortunate policy makes life harder for everyone, especially their business guests who need flexibility when they travel for business. What the Marriott bean counters may not appreciate is that this also makes life harder both for their travel partners (luxury travel advisors like myself) and for our Ritz Carlton Guardian Angels. I'm thinking of all the time I'll waste requesting waivers of cancellation penalties ... and the time my Guardian Angels will waste working on exceptions for my clients.

I acknowledge that cancellation penalties can serve a valid function. Once a room has been sold, it's "off the market" and cannot be resold. Last-minute cancellations do not leave enough time to re-sell that room. It's reasonable for the guest to compensate the hotel in the form of a one-night penalty if the cancellation prevents the hotel from selling the room to someone else. But unless a hotel is nearing a sell-out, nothing is really lost.

My appeal to the bean counters... read the Mission Statement of Ritz Carlton, and realize how this policy contradicts that mission:

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission.  

We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed, yet refined ambience.  

The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests. 

My appeal to my clients and fans of Ritz Carlton: vote with your dollars. You don't have to tolerate minimum 3-day cancel deadlines at city hotels. The only way the bean counters will get the message is for us to send our business to their worthy competitors. Just checked a random day in New York City, and the cancel deadline is just one day at Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, Fairmont (The Plaza), Peninsula, Park Hyatt, and Rosewood (The Carlyle). 

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Two Bellmen | original Marriott short film

Have 17 minutes to spare? Here's an original short film produced by Marriott, yours to watch as many times as you want. Best part, it's free. Yes, that's the best part, because otherwise it's a quarter hour devoted to a (hopefully) amusing infomercial. The movie was shot at the JW Marriott Los Angeles (also the location of the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles atop the same building).

From the press release:

Two Bellmen follows a competitive relationship between two exceptional bellmen that becomes a “crime fighters” friendship when the pair teams-up to thwart an attempted art heist. The bellmen and the JW Marriott’s legendary guest service emerge as the heroes.

 Enjoy!

copyright (c) 2015 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.