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More Nightmares
The Occidental Tourist · April 19, 2000

Last week, the Tourist let readers vent about lousy hotel stays. Here are some more. And send him yours at tourist@ticked.com:

- From Robert A. Norheim of Seattle, on a Ramada in Oregon that’s apparently situated right next to a city bus barn.

Here’s a summary of his take:

“At 6 a.m. during the school year, guests on one side of the hotel have the privilege of being serenaded awake by the sound and exhaust fumes of several dozen school buses, which are lined up side-by-side at the edge of the bus yard nearest the hotel.

“A letter to the management suggesting that they either buy out the bus barn or physically move the hotel - the only two things I can think of that would solve the problem - resulted in a form letter that did not address the problem I raised at all and a voucher for a free night at one of the other hotels owned by the same outfit, none of which are in cities that I am likely to need a hotel in.”

Rob did the right thing. Although the Tourist usually gets more immediate response - and even wiggle room for negotiating - when he gets an executive of authority on the phone rather than write a letter.

Here’s what Rob could do: Give the manager who provided the voucher a call and indicate that there’s no likelihood of going to any of those cities in the indefinite future. Ask to have the money reimbursed outright. No guarantee it will work this time. But, for the Tourist, it’s worked enough times to make it worth a phone call. (And if the dweeby, local manager won’t acquiesce, go to the corporate office.)

- Not all the news is bad. Observant reader Joe Luehrmann, who previously weighed in on public transportation woes in Cleveland, sez he’s spotted a good hotel chain: Shilo Inns, 45 hotels on the left-handed side of the country that provide free breakfast, pool/sauna, fridge, microwave all for a very decent price, round $40 to $60.

“I discovered them in Portland and have used the chain four times,” Joe says.

The Tourist will have to keep that in mind to avoid the downtown Hilton there that had the nerve to add-on $10 to use the fitness center.

- And it’s nice to see Comeback Kids, because these hotels realize the value of good feelings generate word-of-mouth dividends. This from a reader on a wedding night experience at the San Jose Hilton & Towers. (And, yeah, I know. The Tourist doesn’t like not using real names. But this WAS a wedding night story ...):

“I want to tell you about the best Comeback Kid experience I've had with a hotel: the San Jose Hilton & Towers in San Jose, Calif. My wife and I spent our wedding night there, in preparation for hitting the road the next day. When we checked in and got up to our room, we discovered that we'd been given the wrong type of room (and, as it turned out, we were being charged extra for it). Now, the room wasn't bad - it was actually very nice - but it wasn't what we'd reserved, and we certainly didn't want to pay extra for it.

“Not wanting to argue about it on our honeymoon, we waited until we got home and wrote a letter outlining our complaint. What we got in exchange was more than we'd expected - total customer service satisfaction! Hilton refunded all our charges (room, dinner & drinks), and also gave us a certificate for a free night's stay in a Towers room. Now that's what I call a great comeback!”

No argument here. See, readers? Writing or calling with a factually based, emotionally detached, businesslike summary pays off.

The Occidental Tourist is a magazine writer in Washington, DC. He writes for Maxim, POV, Capital Style and ABCNews.com. His column appears on Tuesdays. E-mail him at tourist@ticked.com.