Aria's housekeeping is a joke (long read)

Unedited letter I received this evening:

Dear Mr. xxxx:

Thank you for your correspondence regarding your recent stay at ARIA Resort & Casino. We appreciate you taking the time to document your concerns.

When you plan to enjoy a stay at ARIA, you have every reason to expect the highest level of service in all aspects of your stay. Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconveniences and level of service you received from Housekeeping, and for the disappointment you experienced with our resort fee. It is always a source of genuine concern when anything disrupts our guests' stay. We regret these irregularities for they misrepresent our commitment to providing the highest quality of service. Rest assured your comments have been forwarded to the Director of Housekeeping in an effort to make improvements for the future.

We are pleased the Front Desk rebated one-night’s room & tax, in addition to extending a $50 Food & Beverage credit for your inconveniences.

Additionally, thank you for recognizing the excellent service provided to you by so many of our employees, especially Ryan Gregory, our Assistant Front Desk Manager, and members of our Bell Desk and Front Desk staff. Your thoughtful recognition of their efforts is greatly appreciated.

Once again, Mr. xxxx, please accept our apologies. We value your patronage and hope to welcome you back to ARIA in the near future.


Sincerely,

Reggie Sanchez
Guest Relations
T 702.590.9510
F 702.590.9723

.....

I was a bit surprised by its generic nature as well as the parting "we hope to see you again" comment. He doesn't sound any more hopeful about me returning than I am...a little odd

It doesn't seem like a form letter, although it does sound like there are many phrases in it that get used often.

I'm shocked that they didn't offer you something for a future visit.

Sevian, are you kidding me?

You get a comped night and $50 dining credit because housekeeping screwed up? What more do you want?

First, you had the do not disturb on, and they left you alone, as requested. You then asked for the service; they brought you towels instead, which you could have used for your showers, but instead, you throw them on the floor. You leave for five hours and come back. At this point in time, the housekeeping staff mostly has gone home for the night, and the mistake has already been made, leaving a small group to put out fires, like puke, toilet emergencies, and things of that nature. The rest of the exchange is betweeen Ryan and a housekeeping department who is likely putting out many fires at once while earning very close to a minimal wage. 90 minutes passed between your request at 7:30pm and 9:00pm. In an understaffed department, that isn't alot of time to respond when a number of other things are likely going on.

The problem was that you were sweaty. So, ask for some towels and make sure that you get them so that your night can at least be salvaged. Get your room serviced later.

You elected to spend the credit and not make a night out of it. The person that you complained to did everything he could to help.

Did you expect more? The truth is that you made the night miserable for yourself by not working around the problem (you could have gone to the pool and got towels). Other people are going to screw up. In this case it was the incompetent folk in housekeeping. But you let it get to you, and when you travel for a living (like I do), you gotta accept that people screw up, don't take it personally, and get the amends you expect.

I'm sorry for your rough night.

If an airline screws up my life, they give me points worth a free trip, not more. If a restaurant screws up my meal, they give me the meal for free. If a hotel screws up, they give you the night for free.

Your letter was fair, but I wouldn't expect anything more. If you expected more, you need to ask for what you think is fair!!!

.....

When I was there again last month, I was amazed at how rough and scratched the walls along the hallways were looking.

I still love staying there. The entire casino and hotel smells like chocolate ice cream.

Quote: boymimbo

Sevian, are you kidding me?

You get a comped night and $50 dining credit because housekeeping screwed up? What more do you want?

First, you had the do not disturb on, and they left you alone, as requested. You then asked for the service; they brought you towels instead, which you could have used for your showers, but instead, you throw them on the floor. You leave for five hours and come back. At this point in time, the housekeeping staff mostly has gone home for the night, and the mistake has already been made, leaving a small group to put out fires, like puke, toilet emergencies, and things of that nature. The rest of the exchange is betweeen Ryan and a housekeeping department who is likely putting out many fires at once while earning very close to a minimal wage. 90 minutes passed between your request at 7:30pm and 9:00pm. In an understaffed department, that isn't alot of time to respond when a number of other things are likely going on.

The problem was that you were sweaty. So, ask for some towels and make sure that you get them so that your night can at least be salvaged. Get your room serviced later.

You elected to spend the credit and not make a night out of it. The person that you complained to did everything he could to help.

Did you expect more? The truth is that you made the night miserable for yourself by not working around the problem (you could have gone to the pool and got towels). Other people are going to screw up. In this case it was the incompetent folk in housekeeping. But you let it get to you, and when you travel for a living (like I do), you gotta accept that people screw up, don't take it personally, and get the amends you expect.

I'm sorry for your rough night.

If an airline screws up my life, they give me points worth a free trip, not more. If a restaurant screws up my meal, they give me the meal for free. If a hotel screws up, they give you the night for free.

Your letter was fair, but I wouldn't expect anything more. If you expected more, you need to ask for what you think is fair!!!

I think you misunderstood some details, but that's fine. Perhaps they were not clear from my original letter. We had the privacy light on during the early part of our stay. We turned the light off around 2pm (with 2 housekeeping carts no more than 3 rooms away in either direction) *and* called housekeeping to alert them, plus we requested to have the sheets changed. Per their policy, you inform them if you wish to have the sheets changed. They sent towels up instead of having the room serviced, so we kindly refused the towels, believing maid service was going to come while we were gone, and we did not find it necessary to have 6 or 8 towels, nor did we think it appropriate for housekeeping to wash these new towels. We did not throw dirty towels on the ground.

The annoying and frustrating part was the aggregation of many miscues, miscommunications, and empty promises. It compounded the problem that housekeeping promised us it would "only take 15 minutes" from our 7:30PM phone call. Without this promise, we would not have been nearly as annoyed, but as it were, we were essentially kept in limbo for those 2+ hours after returning from our day away.

I do not, nor did I, expect any more than they did for us or gave us. I never once asked for anything to be comped, either during my stay or since then. I have never spoken down to a single member of staff, nor anyone related to the Aria. I believe, as gofaster and others have pointed out, that my expectations were not outrageous nor over the top for a supposed 5-star or 5 diamond resort. "Go get some towels from the pool" sounds like something you'd do at a low budget hotel. I'm also unsure when their pool closes. I don't think it's incumbent upon me to track down towels, either. All of this ignores the point that, even if we had gotten fresh towels, we still would have been in limbo, because they can't very well clean the room/shower while we're getting ready, and I'm certain my girlfriend -- like most females -- would not appreciate random people barging into the room while she is naked or getting ready.

As far as the letter I sent them, I expected a little more. I took a "business communications" class many years ago, and I think anyone who took that class could have written a better, more positive letter, all without offering any freebies. I definitely find it strange that he didn't say something to the effect of "I invite you back so we can prove to you that that is not how we operate at the Aria" etc. Just saying you hope I come back is kind of weak. Perhaps he doesn't really care if I come back? And I will say, even though I expected no comps or offers from my letter, it's amazing how much a simple "please enjoy one night 50% off" or "please enjoy $25 free play or food credit" can go to fostering goodwill.

I've got plenty more to say, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Quote: Keyser

When I was there again last month, I was amazed at how rough and scratched the walls along the hallways were looking.

I still love staying there. The entire casino and hotel smells like chocolate ice cream.

The smell became addictive, especially after being elsewhere for a number of hours. I thought about buying their scent sticks, but I was afraid that I might not want that smell in my house...plus being in the Aria would lose its luster a bit if I had it whenever I wanted

I go overboard on the ice cream everytime I'm there because of it. DAMN YOU ARIA!!

One recent comment about a blogger's StayCation at Aria.
Please note: This is Aria... at the much-ballyhooed City Center. Its new construction, so what is happening?

"... when we got to our room it was on floor twenty-something with a view of the Cosmo pools directly across from us. They were having a pool party so the music was bumping. The windows quaked with every thump. In addition, the room stunk like mildew. I'm extremely sensitive to mold so we called the front desk to have our room moved. ..."

Wow, for the music to make it all the way up to the 21st floor that must be loud indeed, but I'm more struck by the "stunk like mildew" comment. Its new construction and nothing should be mildewed there at all.

Harmon redux???? I hopes not!!

Yikes. The music from the Cosmo pool is a known issue. Unfortunately, it seems like this is a growing problem at many Vegas casinos. I was on the 19th floor at MGM recently and heard music from wet republic that was loud enough for me to make out what the songs were. I think I've heard similar problems with the pool at the Trop or the Flamingo, too.

I think it's inexcusable for any hotel to have a mildew smell, but especially a hotel purporting to be at/near the top of the MGM food chain. It sounds like they could benefit from a complete overhaul in their housekeeping department. It's unfortunate that they allow such basic details to detract from their business. I love the smell downstairs, and I thought it was a cool hotel.

Thanks for the updates, Flea.

Regarding the noise:

This past May, I spent one night at the D, on one of the upper floors, in a room facing East. FYI: The D is at the Eastern end of the Fremont Street Experience, so I kinda had the entire building between me and the noise source. Any noise had to wrap around the building to get to me.

And it DID get to me.

Not enough to bother me as I slept, but I sure heard it when I was awake with the TV was off.


So the problem is not limited to the Aria or Cosmo or anything else.

Resorts often have problems with sights and sounds and sometimes smells from nearby establishments.
Hotels often cast a shadow over a neighboring resort's beach or pool area. Often its unwelcome.
Noise pollution happens. Some rooms are more susceptible than others.

The one thing that I considered really bad was the mildew. Its not only the "top of the food chain" for MGM ... but its brand spanking new! How can there be mildew in new construction unless the construction litigation problems are worse than has been disclosed so far.

Words like musty and mildew should be reserved for the older dilapidated properties that are difficult to renovate or refurbish. Such words as mildew should never be heard in new construction at the so-called luxury level.