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The majority of business travelers don't spend most of their evenings in four star hotels.So when Blogher arranged for its attendees to get a really fabulous rate at the uber chic W Hotel on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, many of us jumped. What normally would be an out-of -reach expense suddenly became a stretch purchase.
Like so many things in life, the anticipation of The W was cooler than staying at The W.
When the promise of the experience doesn't match the reality, you have a brand problem. That is exactly what happened in Chicago.
The W has worked hard to create its brand personality. It even has its own corporate patois. As they say, " why use the ordinary to describe the extraordinary."
No lobby in this hotel. It's the living room. Why call it a garage when wheels will do? Want to work out? Don't ask for the fitness center--just ask for sweat.
There's more. At The W you have a :munchie box, in room dining, WC,Lift, and of course the whatever/whenever.
When you position yourself as extraordinary then you better well deliver extraordinary. There is no room for error. However, this weekend The W was very error prone. Just ask anyone who reviewed their bill at checkout.
Munchie box charges for items that were never purchased, incorrect fees for the internet and on and on and on.
When asked, the manager on duty dismissed the problems saying, "we were having computer problems this weekend and that's beyond your or my control."
Even without this billing snafu, The W does not meet my standards of excellence. Now to rate a hotel you need to have a standard methodology. Factors you consider every time you stay at a hotel.
What are your minimums? What are your delights?
At minimum,I need a hotel that provides:
- WiFi - preferably free
- A bathrobe or at minimum lovely towels
- A coffee maker with multiple pouches of coffee
- Replenishing the toiletries on a daily basis
- A comfortable bed and great pillows
- Room Service
- Fitness Center with the equipment I use
- Cable with the stations I watch
Note: I didn't include clean on this list because that goes without saying.
On my rating system The W gets two and three-quarters stars.
The bathrobe was luxurious but then having a bathrobe at a four star hotel is the price of doing business. It was a really nice bathrobe. In fact it was one of the nicest I have had in a hotel.
I like a hotel that replenishes their stuff every day. Replenishing is a major factor in my grading system. Even when it was obvious I had plenty of soap left and had taken the previous days allotment and stowed them in my suitcase, the entire line of BLISS samples--from the body butter to the fresh foaming shower gel and the foaming face wash reappeared en masse on the bathroom shelf every day. They are finding a home in my guest room.
Great Bed. comfy cozy. lovely duvet. pillows. It was a joy.
But,when you wake up a 4:00 A.M. to do work and discover that coffee pots are not part of the package, suddenly the replenishing, bathrobes and bed don't seem quite as important.
When I mentioned this to the manager, she told me that the hotel wants to be more personal and so they like to deliver coffee to guests rooms. Then she said that she realized some guests don't like having hotel personnel coming to their room early in the morning when they are not dressed.
She did say that The W does have in-room coffee pots that they use during some months.Whatever.
However, how can you even consider yourself chic if you don't have WiFi in the room? On top of that,the regular charge for internet service is $14.95 . That is not the room charge. It's $14.95 per computer per day. It didn't help that on Friday, when I got up at 4:00 a.m. to do work before the conference,(without coffee) the internet connection was erratic making it impossible to proceed.
On Friday evening I wanted to order some room service. The first time I called the whatever/whenever line I let it ring 20 times. I waited 10 minutes and called the whatever/whenever line again and let it ring another 20 times. Then I went to the sushi bar up the street.
But more than these annoyances,the brand is so strong that I felt unwelcomed. As PunditMom wrote, "I'm Too Old
