Nothing special, especially for a special occastion
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 05/26/08
My wife and I stayed at the Ritz Carlton Dearborn for two nights to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We booked a bed and breakfast package, which included breakfast (either in-room or at their The Grille restaurant) and valet parking. When booking our hotel and being asked, we informed them that it was our anniversary. We had stayed at the Four Seasons Ritz-Carlton in Chicago for an earlier anniversary and were blown away by their attention to detail and making each customer feel like they were important. Unfortunately, we were underwhelmed at the R-C Dearborn.
The staff at the hotel were all very polite and cordial, which we appreciated. However, we never really felt more than just two more people staying at the R-C. Had the hotel staff seemed more concerned with their attention to detail (as they do at the R-C Chicago), we would have left with a much more positive reaction to the hotel.
Frankly, we could have paid less to go to the nearby Hyatt Regency or even much less for a three-star hotel to have just as nice a room and been treated just as warmly by another staff. And we would have been ok with that. But when you have a reputation as a higher-end four-star hotel chain, your clientele should expect you to be a cut above the rest in terms of service and attention to detail. That especially goes for doing the extra things to make a special occasion stay a memorable one. While I'm sure business people love this hotel because of its amenities, it left a lot to be desired for us--people who were just there to celebrate and get away from home for a weekend. We will more than likely never stay at the R-C Dearborn again because the staff seemed to be satisfied with being nothing more than just an elegant hotel. And that's not enough to keep our future business.
