I had a very hard working 2011. And I went through surgery by the end of December. So when I thought of a place to relax, I figured a Caribean Island would be perfect! I would find out soon enough how mistaken I was.
As soon as I arrived at Saint Maarten Island and checked in at the Hotel, all the problems began…
They gave us the wrong room. We had made reservations for a Double Bed room in a specific building. The room they put us in had only one bed. When we asked for resolution, we heard from the Front Desk Agent:
“- There is nothing I can do. You may try again tomorrow.”
When I said that maybe I would try another hotel, she replied as if she couldn’t care less:
“- Do as you wish.”
Six hours later, I got help from the Bell Man (that’s right, the man who carries the bags/luggage) who put me in contact with the manager, by the phone. After talking to him I was informed by the same Front Desk Agent that they agreed to move my family to another room, only for us to find out we would be isolated from the rest of the hotel, surrounded by things left from a construction site. And I would have to walk a lot to get anywhere. As a man recovering from surgery and looking for a relaxing environment to spend my short vacation with my wife and daughter, that did not seemed to be a good idea.
After a few moments of uncertainty, my family decided that was not acceptable and I went over the Front Desk again. I explained the situation all over to the same Front Desk Agent. She called the same manager over the phone and after talking to him she turned to me and said: “- The manager said that you have to come here (at the front desk) again, tomorrow at 09:30 a.m. and he will have the proper room ready for you. It is already blocked.”
Guess what? By 09:30 a.m. next day, the “proper room” was NOT ready and the manager asked me to come back at 01:00 p.m.
Finally, precisely 24 hours after my arrival at the XXXX XXX Beach Hotel, my family was having access to the room we had actually booked and payed for.
We wanted Ocean View. Well, we did not get it. Not even a Pool View. Instead, view to the airport and we could see (and hear) airplanes landing and taking off all day long…
And that was the start of our relaxing vacation time in one of the most prestigious Caribean Island.
I wanted to personaly shake the manager’s hand and say “Thank you”, but the didn’t find the time for me, although I waited (standing) at the Front Desk for more than 20 minutes after the issue was solved.
The best detail in all this is the fact that a Bell Man was the hero of that story. If it wasn’t for him, I doubt we would have this problem solved in 24 hours. He was the only person willing to see the problem solved to meet the customer’s expectations and knew he had to help me get in touch with the manager. He went beyond the extra mile. Everybody at that hotel should learn from that Bell Man.
When making reservations at one the hotels in Caribe, make sure they have a good Bell Man.
Do you want to know what hotel we stayed at? Send me an e-mail and I will tell you in private.
