Caribe Hilton San Juan, How Can You Do Better?

After all the hassles I had been through, I expected Caribe Hilton San Juan would accommodate me with a better room. I was finally switched to an ocean view room. However, I feel more disappointed with this Hilton property than before. This property has serious maintenance and guest service problems that cannot be easily fixed.

At about 11:30am, a Front Office Agent left me a message in my room and informed me an ocean view room was made ready for my transfer. I stopped by the Front Office at about 1:00pm and picked up my key. I was asked: “do you want to take a look at the room first?” What does that mean? The hotel was not confident of their ocean view rooms? I then went up to the room and took a look. Indeed, I was not quite happy with the view, I requested for another room. Then, I was asked to wait another hour for a better room because the “better” room had not been cleaned yet. At 2:30pm, the room was ready. Again, I was offered to take a look before I make the transfer… The Front Office was actually very nice of offering me a chance to take a look at the rooms before I made the transfer. However, my question is how good this hotel is if its staff is not sure whether a room can satisfy the guest needs.

After I moved to the ocean view room, I actually felt more disappointed with this hotel than before because I found more problems: (1) there are marks on the walls from previous guests here and there; (2) the coffee machine was not working; (3) the TV was not able to turn on; (4) the plastic bag of the ice bucket was missing, and (5) the water stop that was supposedly attached to the bath tub was loose and could be taken apart.

If you think these maintenance issues should not be associated with a Hilton resort hotel, there are more. I called the guest service agent with the house phone and reported the maintenance issues. Twice in a row, I heard a lazy voice saying --- as if she was too annoyed to pick up my call --- “How can I help you?” I asked myself: Pardon me? Am I am in a Hilton hotel? Am I supposed to be greeted with a “good morning” or a “good afternoon?” What about my name?

I certainly expect more from Caribe Hilton San Juan, not because I paid more, but because it is a Hilton property. I feel maintenance a big issue of this hotel. Very likely, it does not even have a good preventive maintenance program in hand. Without nice rooms, everyone is trying to fix guests’ complaints. What do you think?

Comments

Luxury vs. Millennials and Their Technology: The Ritz-Carlton (By Julia Shorr)

Embodying the finest luxury experience, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC has been established since 1983. In 1998, Marriott International purchased the brand offering it more opportunity for growth while being independently owned and operated. They are known for their enhanced service level as the motto states, “Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen”. The luxury brand now carries 97 hotels and resorts internationally and is attempting to keep the aspects of luxury while keeping up with the trends of the technologically improving generations. The Varying Demographics of the Target Market The Ritz-Carlton’s typical target market includes: business executives, corporate, leisure travelers, typically middle-aged persons and elders, and families from the upper and upper-middle class section of society . This infers a large range of types of travelers in which all are similar in that they are not opposed to spending extra for the luxurious ambiance. However, with

Want to win in future competitions? Invest in data-driven decisions now

Speaking of the permanent changes in the hospitality industry, many people will probably agree that demands for “bleisure”/“work-from-anywhere” travel and contactless self-service will continue to grow in the near future. Not everyone, however, realizes that data-driven decisions will become a key driver for growth in the industry, which has already affected how we do business now. Automatic service enables businesses to capture more operational and consumer data for business decisions One advantage of using automatic service comes from its ability to spontaneously capture and store real-time operational and consumer data for additional analysis. In the old-time when businesses still relied on workers to serve customers, operational data were collected usually through careful book-keeping, documentations, and observations; consumer data through market research were often limited to their perceptions, behavioral intentions, or past experience. Now that automatic service is provi

Is It OK for Hotel Staff to Wear Piercings and Tattoos?

Time has changed. I see more and more college students wearing piercings and tattoos nowadays, but is it OK for hotel staff to wear piercings and tattoos? The answer is “no, no, no.” According a report at USAToday.com, customers across the board do not want to see any hotel workers with pierced eyebrow, pierced tongue, tattooed arm, or nose ring. Some may argue that tattooed and pierced workers may seem more acceptable in edgy boutique hotels as compared to the big franchised hotels, but the survey results did not find any differences among a variety of lodging products. Many respondents believe people who wear visible tattoos and piercings are taking a high risk of their professional lives. If you stay in a hotel, do you mind being served by tattooed and/or pierced staff? What if you are the one who makes the hiring decision? References: USAToday.com: http://tinyurl.com/linchikwok08042010 Picture was downloaded from http://tinyurl.com/linchikwok08042010P

Linchi Kwok, Ph.D.

Search This Blog