Depending upon my mood and level of exhaustion when I arrive at a hotel, my reaction to a cruddy room falls anywhere between shut-up-and-take-it and I’m sorry, do I maintain a silver Marriott card so you can stick me in the equivalent of a dorm room and charge $250 for it?
In Las Vegas, where I travel most often, slipping the clerk a $20 (or even a $10, depending upon the hotel) will usually net you a slight upgrade—maybe a corner room or one with a view of The Strip if you contort your body at just the right angle.
In other cities, such as New York or Philly, I’ve complained about my room maybe four out of 10 times and yes, I am always as pleasant as I can muster. At some point, you just know when a front desk clerk has stuck you in a dank room with a view of the parking garage wall just because he couldn’t be bothered to type a few extra keystrokes but, frankly, as annoyng as that is, I realize that being surly isn’t going to get me anywhere.
Recently, a friend and I visited Philly and stayed at the downtown Marriott Courtyard. The woman at the front desk was curt and distracted, and when we schlepped upstairs to find our room next to the elevator, the size of my laundry room and, yes, with a view of the parking garage wall, I immediately called downstairs to ask if there might be something else available. How interesting that this new person on the phone apologized for putting us in such sub-par accomodations and within minutes, we were relocated to a room twice the size with a view of Philly’s gorgeous City Hall building.
Hey, if you don’t ask, you’ll never know. Besides, you’re paying for it, so why not try to get the best for your dollar?
Check out this great New York Times story for some more tips:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/travel/31heads.html?ref=travel
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