15 October 10

Marriott Guest Relations
1818 N. 90th Street
Omaha, NE 68114

RE: Pittsburgh Marriott City Center

To Whom It May Concern:

Recently I, and several of my friends, had the extreme displeasure of staying at the Marriott City Center in Pittsburgh. We have a relatively large group of businessmen, doctors, attorneys, accountants, etc., all in their 50s or 60s, who travel throughout the world twice a year for golf outings. In this particular instance, we stayed at your hotel from 9/29/10 – 10/1/10. 

Upon arrival, our reservations were completely messed up, without the proper number of rooms reserved on the concierge level. As a result, the two (2) young women behind the desk, who could not have been less friendly or helpful, assigned several of us to non-concierge rooms, but at a higher nightly rate than we had been quoted for the concierge level (and for which we had confirmations for). When I questioned this, I was told that the rate for the non-concierge rooms would be higher since we were doing this as “walk-in” customers, without proper reservations.

Entering our more expensive, non-concierge rooms, we found the following:

• Peeling wallpaper
• A bathroom that had clearly not been remodeled in the last 20 years
• A bad odor in the room
• A TV remote that did not work
• A mini bar which had been screwed shut with drywall screws
• A floor lamp which had its base broken off and which was leaning against the wall. The concrete base for the lamp was broken in pieces and lying in a pile on the floor. When I called the front desk, I was told that they would send someone to address the problem…. No one ever showed. When I complained to the front desk the next morning about the lamp, the response from the same check in girl was “I’m sorry.” The broken lamp was still there when we checked out
• The breakfast menu and Shop Marriott catalogue left on my bed had clearly had water spilled on them, were wrinkled up, and when I tried to open them, the pages were stuck together
• When I opened the Guest Services Directory to find out who to call about all of the issues that we had with the room, the pages in the three (3) ring binder were unbound, upside down and fell on the floor

Other issues:

• On our second night, eight (8) of us, all 50-60 year old professionals, had cocktails in your ground floor bar before leaving for dinner. Several of the eight (8) were disappointed to find that the bar was “out of Jack Daniels”… a bar that has no Jack Daniels? Nevertheless, we had drinks, went to dinner and returned later that night. When I ordered drinks for the group, the ponytailed, tattooed bozo behind the bar told me that he would not serve us until we cleared up our tab, as we had tried to “steal” our drinks earlier in the evening. Apparently, my roommate had signed our earlier tab, but since the room was in my name, the bozo had decided that these eight (8) 50-60 year old professionals, in blazers and jackets, had decided that we would scam the Marriott, and then come back later in the evening and do it again. No problem- I signed a new tab, again ordered a round of drinks for my friends, but was told by the bozo that he would not serve us because he could not read my handwriting on the drink tab, where I spelled out my last name, and that he again thought that the eight (8) professionals in the blazers and jackets were trying to rip off the bar. When I finally told the bozo that he was, well, a bozo, and walked outside, he sent security out to threaten our group for skipping on a tab which we had now signed for, twice.
• My roommate has sleep apnea and uses an electrical device, a facemask, per doctor’s orders in order to prevent a heart attack, etc. When plugging in his equipment, he found that only two (2) electrical outlets in the entire room worked, under the window and in the hall. He called the front desk to request service on the non-functional electrical outlets and was told that “maintenance does not work on the weekends”… this was a Thursday night. He then asked for an extension cord and was told that they would get right back to him. 45 minutes later, with no phone call, he contacted the front desk again and was told that “there are no extension cords in this hotel.” He wound up working on his laptop on the hall floor, and sleeping without his apparatus.
• I was asked when I checked in if I would like a newspaper, and I responded that I would prefer a USA Today. Three (3) mornings and no newspaper, although I noticed that every other room had one outside their door.
• Entering the concierge breakfast room, I noticed that the bagel tray was empty. This was at 8 AM. When I asked for additional bagels, the hostess told me “we’re out.”

In short, the two (2) young girls behind the front desk could not have been more arrogant and useless. They screwed up our reservations, put us on a non-concierge level floor, then gouged us. They were useless when we complained about the floor lamp leaning against the wall, the non-functional electrical receptacles or the need for an extension cord. Their standard response was “I’m sorry”, and then they would walk away or hang up. The bozo behind the bar was simply a total idiot.

What maid walks into a room, for three (3) straight days, notices a floor lamp with a broken base, tilted against a wall, and a pile of gravel on the carpet, and vacuums around it? What maid sees breakfast menus that have had water spilled on them, with the pages stuck together, and simply puts the same menu back on the bed each day? What hotel has non-functional electrical outlets, and doesn’t have one (1) single extension cord available? All this for $279/night, which was $20/night higher than we had been quoted for a concierge level room?

The eight (8) of us travel extensively, personally and on business. I would imagine collectively that we stay in hotel rooms 250-300 nights/year. We have slept in bunkbeds, in dilapidated old hotels in Europe, in castles. To a man, we agreed that our stay at the Pittsburgh Marriott was the worst lodging experience that we have ever had. While the facilities were dated, dusty, overpriced and uncomfortable, the arrogance, stupidity and incompetence of the staff added insult to injury. It was so bad that I truly thought that this was some sort of prank for a TV show.

We have all vowed to NEVER again stay in any Marriott hotel. Enclosed is my Marriott Rewards card. Perhaps you can use it to prop up the floor lamp so it doesn’t fall on anyone’s head while they sleep, or to scrape the dust off of the light switch in the bathroom.

The manager and entire staff at your Pittsburgh establishment should be fired. We have had better experiences at Motel 6. Photos of your “quality hotel” are attached.

Sincerely,

Eric Rahenkamp, AICP, RLA