Inhospitable Experience
By A Yahoo! Contributor, 1/28/10
At 8:15am I arrived at the Hotel. I immediately approached the front desk with my reservation confirmation for a 3pm check-in and requested a parking placard so that I could park in the hotel's parking lot and walk to the AlamoDome for the volleyball tournament. The manager on duty, refused and told me that if I parked there without a permit he would have my vehicle towed. Since most of the guests in the hotel were there for the same 2 day tournament (that had already started and would run until my check-in time), there was adequate parking at the current time, and that few if any vehicles would be returning before the 3pm check-in, I politely pressed on. However, he continued to refuse to issue an early placard to make my life any more convenient and proceeded to tell me that he really didn't care if I ever came back to his hotel because San Antonio is a destination city and he would do just fine without my business.
Well maybe he is right. But the lack of hospitality has soured my taste for ALL Holiday Inn Express hotels and the other chains that they own. I travel about 30-40% in my work, and I have very rarely experienced this degree of inhospitable behavior by hotel management. Because of his actions, I will let the 72 other heavy travelers in my company know about my experience in this hotel chain.
Yes, I have let their corporate HQ know and received a simple "Thank you for letting us know" email. They got my money this time, but never again.