Monday, June 29, 2009
Avoid the Westin Casuarina Hotel in Las Vegas, NV
I recently had a trip to Las Vegas -- the hotel where I stayed, the Westin Casuarina Hotel & Spa, was nice enough during the stay, and the quoted price was reasonable (~$75/night).
However, upon checkout, my bill included a $15/day Hotel Services Fee (plus tax, daily) -- when I asked what it was for, the manager told me it was for the pool, use of phone, and other services. Huh? Those aren't included in the daily rate?!? I asked her if I was able to opt out of these extra services, and she told me "no". So, why do this? Of course, it's so they can quote a lower daily room charge -- really, this is gross. I see a class action lawsuit coming their way. Of course, hotel guests won't benefit from the settlement, but some lawyer will, and Starwood Hotels will just proceed as usual.
Really, it's not about the extra $45 they charged me (3 nights) -- it's just the grossness of this type of idea -- that they said, "let's screw customers over with a fee that they can't do anything about, and then claim that it was in the fine-print on the order form." In the long-term, Starwood, you'll pay for this in customer defection. But, in the short-term, you're just making the world a slightly less nice place.
So... if you remember... try to avoid The Westin, and while you're at it, the rest of the Starwood Family of hotels (Four Points by Sheraton, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, W Hotels, Le M�ridien, The Luxury Collection, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, aloft, Element by Westin)
NOTE -- I'm not the only one with this problem -- you can see other unhappy customer complaints and bad customer reviews for the Westin Casuarina in Las Vegas here.
However, upon checkout, my bill included a $15/day Hotel Services Fee (plus tax, daily) -- when I asked what it was for, the manager told me it was for the pool, use of phone, and other services. Huh? Those aren't included in the daily rate?!? I asked her if I was able to opt out of these extra services, and she told me "no". So, why do this? Of course, it's so they can quote a lower daily room charge -- really, this is gross. I see a class action lawsuit coming their way. Of course, hotel guests won't benefit from the settlement, but some lawyer will, and Starwood Hotels will just proceed as usual.
Really, it's not about the extra $45 they charged me (3 nights) -- it's just the grossness of this type of idea -- that they said, "let's screw customers over with a fee that they can't do anything about, and then claim that it was in the fine-print on the order form." In the long-term, Starwood, you'll pay for this in customer defection. But, in the short-term, you're just making the world a slightly less nice place.
So... if you remember... try to avoid The Westin, and while you're at it, the rest of the Starwood Family of hotels (Four Points by Sheraton, Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, W Hotels, Le M�ridien, The Luxury Collection, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, aloft, Element by Westin)
NOTE -- I'm not the only one with this problem -- you can see other unhappy customer complaints and bad customer reviews for the Westin Casuarina in Las Vegas here.
Labels: bad review westin hotel las vegas, las vegas hotel, starwood hotel, westin hotel
