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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 For the W."
"Nothing says "Welcome to Chicago" like the body-thumping music and tres chic employees of those trendy W Hotels....Of course, I forgot I'm getting to be an un-hipster and the W chain is all about hip."
From Red Stapler, I Am Kind Of A Big Deal,
"For BlogHer 07, I stayed at the W Hotel, where I instantly felt Not At Home.
The chic design, the beautiful people cavorting in the lobby and the extremely loud music everywhere all combined to tell me "you don't belong here." Those feelings were compounded by the $8 water in the rooms, the shuttered opening between the bathroom and bedroom (hello! I'm POOPING in here! Can you hear me?? GOOD! I LOVE THAT!) and the tiny type on their incomprehensible menu of services (housekeeping is called "styling" and the gym is called "sweat").
I'm not saying it wasn't nice. Quite the opposite. It was way too nice for a white trash girl like me."
It is for this very reason that I give The W two and three -quarters stars. How can a business in the hospitality industry succeed when they make people feel out-of-place? Unwelcome? Unhip? To succeed The W must make every guest feel like they belong. That they are welcome. Success is making the uphip feel hip for a day.
In their effort to create a brand experience that is extraordinary they focused on the stuff. The words. The toilet paper stored in a bag. The Shower with a half door. The bathroom with a shutter window. A closet without doors and drawers that unless you know what you are looking for, you cannot find.
Instead of delighting, it became a frustration. Instead of enhancing, the stuff hindered the experience. In its totality The W with all its stuff, pulsating music, and special language ended up being nothing more than a cartoon caricature of the brand image its trying to extol.
If you were rating The W would you give it 5-4-3-2 or One Star?
We felt chic until we had to sit on the floor to eat.
Susan Wagner July 31, 2007 - 8:07am
We stopped at the market the first day and picked up wine and chichi sandwiches to bring back to the W--and then had to eat them sitting on the floor because there was no table in our wee little room.
I didn't dislike the W, but I didn't love it. How many stars does MEH get?
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