Eighteen months after the pandemic started, travelers say they keep encountering misleading and false promises on hotel websites. They complain about finding the elite lounges, free breakfasts or happy hour receptions with no snacks – sometimes even when hotels claim they have been restored.
Some street warriors say they now routinely call ahead to find out what cut the hotel. Guests often only see compensation for service reductions after complaining.
The biggest difference between business class rooms and regular rooms at Radisson Hotels is breakfast. It is included with a business class booking, but not with the regular fare payment. Aside from the fact that many US Radissons still haven’t reopened restaurants, every guest gets a takeaway breakfast.
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“Business class is when the restaurant is open and you’re getting a hot breakfast, not right now,” says a receptionist at the Radisson Schaumburg, Illinois, near Chicago.
Somebody should tell the Radisson website and reservations department. The chain was still selling business class rooms at higher prices on Tuesday afternoon. A one night stay this week costs $ 5 more. But if you book five nights at the Schaumburg Hotel in mid-November, a regular king-bed room costs $ 94 a night, while a business-class king costs $ 219 for the same dates. For this money you basically get some bonus points and drink vouchers.
Radisson did not respond to requests for comment.
It is not always clear whether reductions in benefits are due to Covid-19 safety precautions or cost savings. Some hotels offer hot buffets on weekends when full, but not hot breakfasts on weekdays when occupancy is due to. is less weak business travel.
Some hotels offer their guests a take-away breakfast. It’s not always clear whether service reductions are due to Covid-19 safety efforts or cost reductions.
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Roger Hooson, a recently retired urban planner from the San Francisco Bay Area, named the
Reign of St. Louis. They told him the restaurant had reopened and that he would get a free breakfast as he was on the top tier of Hyatt’s loyalty program. He arrived earlier this month and learned that the restaurant had actually reopened, but not on the days of his visit.
“It’s a changing goal,” he says. A Hyatt spokesperson says hotels are trying to find alternatives for eligible World of Hyatt members when free breakfast is not available.
Hotel chains have posted notices almost everywhere on their websites that some amenities may not be available in some properties due to the pandemic. But check out offers in specific hotels and often nothing has been updated.
“We have now passed the point where the pandemic is a passing excuse,” said Jay Sorensen, travel company advisor on branding and loyalty. “In today’s environment, it should be so easy to communicate effectively what is happening and what is not happening, and it is not.”
Mr. Sorensen believes that many hotels detract from the credibility of their websites and apps as sources of accurate information about hotels – and also how people see their brands. If your brand offers free hot breakfast and you don’t consistently offer it, you have a problem.
Mr. Sorensen recently found himself at a Staybridge Suites hotel near Minneapolis. The brand, a unit of IHG, is known for a hot breakfast buffet and an evening happy hour with hors d’oeuvres that can provide guests with a light evening meal. The Social, as it’s called, is still touted on Staybridge’s website and still listed as a convenience at the Staybridge Suites Minneapolis-Bloomington. Unless it is offered.
In a statement, IHG said it will continue to work with hotel owners to customize services while complying with Covid-19 restrictions and marquee programs will continue to be restored. “The vast majority of our hotels are independently owned and operated and we work with them to ensure that any offer or convenience presented to guests through our channels is accurate,” said IHG. “If a guest ever finds they are not getting the advertised experiences and services they should contact us and we will work with the hotel to fix this.”
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Some Staybridge managers have responded to complaints on Tripadvisor that full breakfast buffets and evening receptions have been put on hold and will return. But they didn’t post that on their own booking page.
Traveler Laura S. was one of many Tripadvisor users who mentioned the lack of breakfast at the Staybridge Suites Florence-Cincinnati South: “There was no hot BFST at all, no eggs, bacon, sausage, nothing !!!!”
The IHG website states on this hotel’s page with pictures, prices, directions and amenities: “Enjoy a free hot breakfast buffet every morning of your stay and a social get-together with light appetizers / appetizers and wine in our Monday through Wednesday Great Room. “At the top of the page it says,” Important Announcement. You can experience changed amenities and services when each hotel fully reopens. ”An IHG spokeswoman says the company is trying to restore the hot breakfast whenever possible.
Hotel losses during the pandemic were extreme. Real estate has suffered Labor shortage that have made it difficult to provide services such as daily housekeeping or loyalty group lounges. The American Hotel and Lodging Association estimates the industry lost $ 49 billion in business travel revenue in 2020 compared to 2019.
Frequent travelers fear that many of these standard amenities are likely gone forever.
Karl Chang of Richmond, Virginia, who retired during the pandemic but continues to travel frequently, says he eschews full-service Marriotts because his Titan status no longer brings him amenities like free breakfasts or loyalty member lounges . Grab-and-go offerings often consist of high-calorie breakfast bars and other processed foods.
Instead, it is now leaning towards reduced-service hotels that still have free breakfast for everyone, albeit with reduced offers.
Some hotels compensate guests for reduced amenities by offering bonus points or even gift cards for future stays.
“You have to ask,” says Mr. Chang. “Hotels may not offer these additional benefits voluntarily.”
Write to Scott McCartney at Mittelitz@wsj.com
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