Kudos to Danita Harth-Bates, Director of Rooms and Chief Experience Officer at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers! She went above and beyond in response to my recent post-stay gripefest. Our correspondence follows:My email on Monday morning:
I am generally a quiet hotel guest. Both in demeanor and contact with the hotel management. But I had a stay last week that demands comment. Combining business and leisure I brought my wife and two teenage daughters along to Chicago. We checked in without incident on Thursday and happily had access to a room at noon. It's what faced us that evening that's the issue. A very large group of college students considered our entire floor a party until at least 4:30 am. When I returned from an early morning Lakeshore run I overheard a guest checking out and complaining to the woman who was manning the front desk. That woman received an apology and an adjustment on her bill. When I expressed being blown away by the unchecked conduct of this group I received a story about how "security was chasing the party from floor-to-floor all night." No apology and no small adjustment to our bill. After the icing on the cake being a 15 minute wait for our car at valet I vowed to my wife that I would complete the post-stay survey. Your "thanks for staying with us and come back soon" email provided a forum for my tirade.
Your hotel is perfectly located and the rooms are wonderful, but with the tremendous amount of choice I will be considering alternatives for future stays.
Your hotel is perfectly located and the rooms are wonderful, but with the tremendous amount of choice I will be considering alternatives for future stays.
Ms. Harth-Bates surprising and wonderful reply later that SAME day:
Dear Mr. Michelson,
Thank you very much for your email. I am very sorry that your start to a good experience ended in such a frustrating manner. The noise you experienced was not what we expect from our group attendees, what I found more disturbing from your email is the response of the agent when you brought your experience to our attention. We will address with our front office team the appropriate response in a situation such as you described.
By way of further apology, I am issuing you a credit in the amount of $163.34, room and tax for the night. I know that you have choices when traveling and I hope that I am able to persuade you to give the Sheraton Chicago another opportunity to demonstrate that we are able to provide the quality of service and product you have every right to expect from our hotel. When you decide to give us another chance, please let me know and I will upgrade your room and add other CEO touches for your enjoyment.
Warmest regards,
DANITA HARTH-BATES
Director of Rooms and Chief Experience Officer
Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers
** No need to guess where I'll be staying next time business brings me to the Loop. Thank you again Danita for turning a negative into a positive.
