# Marriott got me in trouble



## TravelTime (Feb 23, 2019)

I was staying at a marriott hotel this week. I had a horrible experience and wrote a negative review on tripadvisor. I found out that the hotel reported me to the group organizers and now they are angry at me. Is this appropriate for a hotel to report you to your group because you wrote a bad review?


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## T-Dot-Traveller (Feb 23, 2019)

Did the hotel resolve the issue ?

If so post an update / if not - notify the group organizers .

*******

2 can play the game


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## DeniseM (Feb 23, 2019)

Did the hotel "report you" or did they reach out to the group coordinator to try to offer some compensation or an apology?

Also - does the group coordinator get freebies from this hotel for organizing groups and have a financial motivation to stay in the hotel's good graces?


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## TravelTime (Feb 23, 2019)

T-Dot-Traveller said:


> Did the hotel resolve the issue ?
> 
> If so post an update / if not - notify the group organizers .
> 
> ...



No the hotel did not even attempt to resolve the issue. So I wrote a negative TripAdvisor review. The hotel never contacted me. I found out yesterday the hotel reported me to the group leader. The group leader was angry at me. The hotel never attempted to help me. It seems inappropriate for a hotel property to retailiate against a person who is unhappy and writes a negative Tripadvisor review. They knew who I am so they could have called me on the hotel phone and discussed it with me. I deleted the negative review for now but I plan to write a much more negative review once I get my thoughts and feelings together. The hotel hurt my professional relationship with my group by reporting me.


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## TravelTime (Feb 23, 2019)

DeniseM said:


> Did the hotel "report you" or did they reach out to the group coordinator to try to offer some compensation or an apology?
> 
> Also - does the group coordinator get freebies from this hotel for organizing groups and have a financial motivation to stay in the hotel's good graces?



No they reported me. They never once offered any help. I was assigned to stay in a building of the hotel that had no water, no mini bar, no restaurants...only room service. So onion soup cost $20 via room service vs $10 had I been able to walk to the restaurant.


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## TravelTime (Feb 23, 2019)

DeniseM said:


> Did the hotel "report you" or did they reach out to the group coordinator to try to offer some compensation or an apology?
> 
> Also - does the group coordinator get freebies from this hotel for organizing groups and have a financial motivation to stay in the hotel's good graces?



Yes the group organizers did get financial benefits from organizing the conference here. They have worked with this hotel for about 6 years. So they were really angry at me for complaining. They said it has hurt their relationship with the hotel. The group organizers were pretty lame and unhelpful too since they are “in bed” with this hotel.


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## TravelTime (Feb 23, 2019)

By the way, this hotel is part of The Luxury Collection. Unbelievable!


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## DeniseM (Feb 23, 2019)

So, are you saying you did not get the _type of room_ which you had booked and paid for? 

Or did you have a "best available" type reservation that would be assigned by the front desk at check-in, and you were unhappy with the room that you were assigned?

What resort is this that is so huge that it's too far to walk to the resort restaurant?


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## TravelTime (Feb 23, 2019)

DeniseM said:


> So, are you saying you did not get the _type of room_ which you had booked and paid for?
> 
> Or did you have a "best available" type reservation that would be assigned by the front desk at check-in, and you were unhappy with the room that you were assigned?
> 
> What resort is this that is so huge that it's too far to walk to the resort restaurant?



I was booked into the appropriate category. That was not a problem. The problem was the out building is rarely used and did not have access to any normal amenities. There was absolutely no drinking water in this part of the building. The rooms did not have mini-bars. There were no restaurants so the only option was room service, which costs double. My side of the building had relatively warm enough hot water for showers but the other side did not. This is not irrelevant to my complaint, just mentioning it because this out building apparently has plumbing problems. I heard other guests were complaining about the lack of hot water in the shower. It was a disaster from the moment I arrived. Technically it is a 5-10 min walk from the main hotel but it was raining a lot. The shuttle took about 20 min. I had terrible blisters and I could not walk. I told the front desk and they ignored it.

I would have ignored all of this and forgotten about it but yesterday the group organizers confronted me for writing a negative (but realistic and true) review on Trip Advisor.

My question is is it ethical and/or acceptable for a marriott property to report a person to a group coordinator who wrote a negative review? If they knew who I was, why not call me on the hotel phone and resolve the problem BEFORE the negative review is written? If not, why not just call me and appease the situation? Is it okay for Marriott to reveal confidential information to retailate? Is it okay for a hotel to retaliate against a guest?

I deleted the negative review on TripAdvisor under pressure.


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## DeniseM (Feb 23, 2019)

It seem's like there is a lot going on here that we are not understanding:

Did you ask if you could pay for an upgrade to a higher category room, or did you ask for a free upgrade?

*There was absolutely no water in this part of the building. *- Do you mean there was no place to purchase bottled water in your building?

*Is it okay for Marriott to ruin someone’s career because they wrote a negative review on TripAdvisor?* - How would this ruin your career - was this a work trip?  If so, who paid for the room?

How did you get blisters? 

What was the name of the resort?


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## Steve Fatula (Feb 23, 2019)

Do all those questions matter really? She is merely asking if I understand correctly:

"Is this appropriate for a hotel to report you to your group because you wrote a bad review?"

Why she thinks it was a bad stay is irrelevant to her question is it not? It almost seems as if we are trying to judge if her stay was bad or not, doesn't matter, she thinks it was. Sounds like she does not want to reveal all of the details.

It seems inappropriate to me would be my answer. I agree they could just pick up the phone and call her. Not sure why that became such a big deal, would have expected a call if I was staying there and would be angry if they would not call me. Even if it was just a lousy day for me and perhaps I was over-reacting. I would still expect someone to respond to me.


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## DeniseM (Feb 23, 2019)

Steve - It sounds like this was a work trip with other employees and that adds a completely different dimension to this situation.


> Why she thinks it was a bad stay is irrelevant to her question is it not?


If she got the category of room that her employer reserved for her, how is that Marriott's fault?  I understand that she might have hoped for a better room, but when you travel for work, you are usually bound by the parameters set up by your employer.  That's why I asked if she offered to pay for an upgrade, or she asked for a free upgrade.

Based on everything she wrote, I'm guessing that she complained about the room and was told by the front desk that she received the room her employer reserved for her.  Not the response she hoped for, but a response never-the-less.

I'm asking about the blisters because I'm trying to figure out if that was somehow work related.

Hopefully, the OP will explain how her employer is involved in all this, because that is the missing piece.


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 23, 2019)

I agree it was inappropriate because your complaint was a result of the hotel not responding your needs. What puzzles me is why would writing a negative review that you didn't have hot water and it was too long a walk to get food get you in trouble?  And how did the hotel and organizers know for sure it was you that wrote the review?


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## mpizza (Feb 23, 2019)

Perhaps when you wrote the review on TripAdvisor you “outed” yourself, and the hotel responded to the organization that paid/reserved the room?

Maria


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## alwysonvac (Feb 23, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> ....My question is is it legal and/or ethical for a marriott property to report a person to a group coordinator who wrote a negative review? If they knew who I was, why not call me on the hotel phone and resolve the problem BEFORE the negative review is written? If not, why not just call me and appease the situation? Is it okay for Marriott to reveal confidential information to retailate? Is it okay for a hotel to retaliate? Is it okay for Marriott to ruin someone’s career because they wrote a negative review on TripAdvisor?
> 
> I deleted the negative review on TripAdvisor under pressure.



Thanks for sharing...Sorry about your situation.
I would be pissed off too for contacting the organizer. However it sounds like a slippery slope if it impacts your career.

Just my two cents.. I won’t write anything else on TripAdvisor for now. Give yourself at least a week to think things through (PROs vs CONs) especially if it can impact your career.


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## TravelTime (Feb 23, 2019)

alwysonvac said:


> Thanks for sharing...Sorry about your situation.
> I would be pissed off too for contacting the organizer. However it sounds like a slippery slope if it impacts your career.
> 
> Just my two cents.. I won’t write anything else on TripAdvisor for now. Give yourself at least a week to think things through (PROs vs CONs) especially if it can impact your career.



Good advice.


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## controller1 (Feb 23, 2019)

Do you write your TripAdvisor reviews under your own name or under the handle @TravelTime ?  If under your handle, how did the hotel know who you were?  Also, how did "Marriott [to] reveal confidential information to retailate (sic)"?  What was confidential that Marriott revealed?


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## Panina (Feb 23, 2019)

Putting the dots together it seems, it is one employee of Marriott that reacted to your review and knew it was you by the details and wanted it removed as it was on their watch.  If this is work related, unfortunately it might not benefit you to pursue.  If this is only group travel not related to work there was no reason to feel pressured to remove.  If you know you are right you can pursue to a higher level of management.  Whatever the situation the employee should have dealt with you.


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## PamMo (Feb 23, 2019)

Perhaps Marriott discussed the negative post with your professional organization because they knew the complaint came from someone within their group, and Marriott wants to maintain a positive relationship with the group organizers. After a 6-year relationship, I think Marriott would want to discuss any problems with a valued customer. And since Marriott probably doesn't know what your TripAdvisor name is, perhaps it was someone within your professional organization that recognized it was you? I wouldn't automatically dump on Marriott.


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## BobG7734 (Feb 23, 2019)

Seems to me that this thread does not belong on this board...what does it have to do with Marriott timeshares.  The OP is vague about the whole strange situation....OP should be on FlyerTalk, not here!


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## icydog (Feb 23, 2019)

It seems to me that it is always preferable to report any irregularities in your room or stay to the group leader. That would seem like a common sense thing to do. Since you circumvented the group leader by posting a negative review on TA then you stepped on a series of toes by.. (1) criticizing the hotel in a very important forum (2)bypassing the organizer or group leader and (3) posting a negative review before waiting for a response from the group leader.


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## DannyTS (Feb 23, 2019)

we do not have a lot of details but that is OK, it is understandable you do not want to give even more info in this situation. As others said, if this is impacting your work relationships it may not be worth pursuing it.

Also, you assume that the hotel retaliated because of your tripadvisor comment. That may be the case or not. It is possible the group leader was discussing less than formally with the hotel management and the hotel brought it up that it was sorry they could not do more in your case etc. I am speculating of course but it is possible that the group leader got mad in case the hotel had made several major concessions and your employer thought this was not in their best interest.

In any case, i am sorry for what happened to you, hopefully your next timeshare vacation will make you forget completely about this


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## Steve Fatula (Feb 23, 2019)

BobG7734 said:


> Seems to me that this thread does not belong on this board...what does it have to do with Marriott timeshares.  The OP is vague about the whole strange situation....OP should be on FlyerTalk, not here!



The reason it is related (at least to me) is because higher levels of ownership grant certain privileges to Marriott hotels and Bonvoy. And those privileges are very very important to some of us. For me, worth a *lot* of money. So, the timeshare is related to the hotel system via that ownership level. It's just as relevant as all the Bonvoy threads and credit card threads, right? since that is not MVCI either. Part of the reason some of us own what we do is this intertwined relationship. Yes, no guarantees it will forever continue, etc etc. and maybe you do not care about that part of it. To me, it does belong here for these reasons and more, else, none of those threads belong here.

Personally, I see nothing vague. Consider it as simple as, OP had a bad stay, complained more than once, got no response, wrote review, and got in trouble (retaliated). The OP asked a simple question.


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## rthib (Feb 23, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> Is this appropriate for a hotel to report you to your group because you wrote a bad review?


To actually answer your question. Yes.

If you were part of a group and posted a negative review, then the appropriate response would be for the hotel to reach out to find out more information. 
In this case since you were part of a group, I would expect the hotel to speak to the group to find out more details and get a third view of the situation.
The problems you mention don't seem room specific, so if it was me as hotel I would ask the group if they had any other people complain or if this was just one person.
It is was me, I would not post on a public forum before speaking to the group coordinator first to see if they were aware and could resolve.


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## Dean (Feb 24, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> I was staying at a marriott hotel this week. I had a horrible experience and wrote a negative review on tripadvisor. I found out that the hotel reported me to the group organizers and now they are angry at me. Is this appropriate for a hotel to report you to your group because you wrote a bad review?


My short answer would be it depends on the specifics but it certainly can be appropriate to discuss it with the group organizer.  You have not shared enough for us to formulate a solid opinion on the matter either about the hotel or the group situation.  I'm presuming you had previously discussed this with the group organizer and hotel prior to posting the review, if not, you should have.


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## heathpack (Feb 24, 2019)

To me, it’s only fair to exhaust all “normal” complaint channels before posting a negative public review.  My sense is if I have a problem with someone I take it up with them directly, fair is fair.  I’d be more likely to bring up my issue at the hotel, and then if no response, write a letter to corporate after the stay.  If that got me nowhere, and the issue was a big enough deal to me, I’d just drop it and make a note-to-self not to patronize that hotel again.  

I do think it’s fair game for a hotel to bring up comments you made publically to other relevant parties, in this case the persons who book the conference.  If what you wrote on the TA review is factual, professional, not written in anger (as it should be always but especially for anything you put out there publically relating to your profession, including conference travel), I don’t see how it hurts you professionally.


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## frank808 (Feb 24, 2019)

Did you book under the group organizer and their contracted rate?  If so, managemant probably contacted said organizer to see if there was a problem with others and your complaint. 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

I shared a lot of details here on TUG, as much as I wrote in Tripadvisor.

It was not a work trip with employees but it was part of a travel industry conference where I was a paid member trying to learn about the industry. I did not book my room with the group. I booked it directly myself because there group told me they were out of group space. All I did was pay the group leader for the conference. I should delete the “career ruining” part of my comment. I will not continue with this group so that aspect will be fine.

I spoke to many people at Marriott about the problems in addition to the Marriott Titanium line. There was no water or anything for purchase in this building. The hotel manager told me call room service for Food, which I hate to do because of the pricing. Fortunately, they brought me water without charging me but they did charge me $20 for soup, which I did not eat because it was not tasty.

Frankly, I could care less about this incident. I was over it the next day. I did not get upset until the group leader approached me about the Tripadvisor review. I feel like this group and this hotel are the Tripadvisor Mafia. (Drama for emphasis) This is why Tripadvisor reviews are mostly positive. If you write a bad review, the travel industry has figured out how to get you to delete them.

You can bet your life that I will never ever post a negative review on TripAdvisor again that has any details. I will still continue to post about every trip I take to help others evaluate but I will keep the reviews vague going forward.

One more detail. This hotel had a huge hotel building where all the amenities are. Then they have an outhouse across the golf course. They usually do not put anyone in the outhouse but there were so many people at the conference, that they had to use it. However, they did not prep the rooms in the outhouse properly. Like I said, they should have had water in the rooms, a mini bar in each rooms with snacks for purchase, and a station with hot water for tea and coffee. They had these things in the hotel rooms. I know, because I convinced them to move me to the hotel after numerous complaints. Once I posted the TripAdvisor review, the service improved. LOL


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 24, 2019)

I still am puzzled why a group organizer would spend time following up other than to check in and see if everything was okay with you. Group organizers get a preferred rate for booking a block of guest rooms, however beyond that, they don't get involved with the hotel room side of it.

If the hotel threatened (or implied) to take away their preferential rate, that is simply wrong for the hotel to do it, and wrong for the organizer to feel threatened by it and not care about YOUR needs as a participant (i.e. paying customer) of their conference.

If it was factual and written professionally why would anyone be in trouble?  Companies need to be very careful about handing reviews. Attorney Generals in certain state have sued companies for using employees and paid vendors to post reviews - there cannot be any kind of remuneration involved and if there was a preferred rate tied to avoiding negative reviews, that could be implied as remuneration.  Of course that would never be in writing and very hard to prove but they need to be careful.


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

The blisters were from wearing boots and walking long distances in the airport. By the time I got to the hotel, I had huge blisters on my feet...the kind that is red and full of water. I had not slept in 2 days either so I was quite grumpy and hungry when I arrived. I still had 3 hours of work to do that evening so I did not have time to take the hotel shuttle anywhere to eat. So I purchased room service since that was the only option. I do not think my physical condition upon arrival is relevant or caused my hotel problems. It just made it harder to tolerate the conditions. Is that enough detail?


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

CalGalTraveler said:


> I still don't understand why a group organizer would spend time following up other than to check in and see if everything was okay with you. Group organizers get a preferred rate for booking a block of guest rooms, however beyond that, they don't get involved with the hotel room side of it.
> 
> If the hotel threatened (or implied) to take away their preferential rate, that is simply wrong for the hotel to do it, and wrong for the organizer to feel threatened by it and not care about YOUR needs as a participant (i.e. paying customer) of their conference.
> 
> If it was factual and written professionally why would anyone be in trouble?



This group leader never checked in with me. I agree with you...I saw no need for the group leader to be involved with this. That is what shocked me. The hotel did not want to handle any issues and they kept telling me to contact the group leader. I told them I did not want to contact the group leader because I did not book through them. I was perplexed as to why they would not help me and I had to contact the group leader. I asked to change rooms and they said to ask the group leader. After speaking to the manager, they agreed to move me to the main hotel in 2 days. I was happy once I was in the main hotel. It had all the normal amenities in room that anyone would expect in a hotel room.

We were all told in one break out session to be nice to the hotel because they have long standing relationships with this hotel and this hotel has been critical to their success. The “group” I am talking about is a profit making company that organizes events. I was a paying participant of the event. I spent $1497 to join the “group” and approx $500 for the conference not including $1000 for the room and $600 to fly to the conference. It was a great conference but poorly organized. I expected better organization from this group and this hotel - especially since it is a Luxury Collection hotel and I am a Titanium member of Marriott rewards.

I will get a refund of the $1497 (less an admin fee of about $300) since I am still in the 30 day money back guarantee period. So this group is losing revenue as a result of this problem. I am quitting the group because I am embarrassed by the hotel contacting the group leader. The group leader said it was bad of me to post of negative review and it has consequences for their business. She did not go into any more detail because she said she was too busy to talk to me about it. 

On the positive side, United upgraded me to first class on the long ride home. I was upgraded to first class on both legs of the flight home. That part was great.


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

frank808 said:


> Did you book under the group organizer and their contracted rate?  If so, managemant probably contacted said organizer to see if there was a problem with others and your complaint.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk



No I did not book through the group because the group said they were out of rooms. I booked by calling Marriott reservation line.


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 24, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> No I did not book through the group because the group said they were out of rooms. I booked by calling Marriott reservation line.



So the organizer has nothing to do with your complaint other than they brought an additional paying guest into their hotel? 

I am surprised the hotel did not supply you with waters. However, maybe Marriott is different. At other chains they usually they hand it out at check-in or they have it in the room. This is a fair complaint for a review as a top tier elite.

There may not be any implied threats (and if there are - that's the conference organizer's problem.) You are the customer of both the hotel and the conference.

Suggest you write another review. Be factual and professional and move on.


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

CalGalTraveler said:


> So the organizer has nothing to do with your complaint other than they brought an additional paying guest into their hotel.
> 
> There may not be any implied threats. You are the customer of both the hotel and the conference.  I wouldn't worry about it.
> 
> Suggest you write another review. Be factual and professional and move on.



Yes exactly...you got it. I was a paying guest of the hotel and a paying client of the group. I really will not do business with this group anymore if this is how they treat their paying clients. I am glad I found out now while I can still get a refund on the membership fee.


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## frank808 (Feb 24, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> No I did not book through the group because the group said they were out of rooms. I booked by calling Marriott reservation line.


 I have to edit my answer.  

My previous answer was based on your booking on not having anything to do with group, besides being there to attend conference.  As soon as you use, groups cheaper pre negotiated rate, I believe management has the right to involve group organiser.  As you are a representative of that group.

If you just booked a room directly with Marriott and not used that groups rate, my answer would be different.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

frank808 said:


> Well then they shouldn't have contacted group organizer.  Contract was between you and the hotel.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk



Exactly, that is what I told the hotel.


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

DeniseM said:


> Steve - It sounds like this was a work trip with other employees and that adds a completely different dimension to this situation.
> 
> If she got the category of room that her employer reserved for her, how is that Marriott's fault?  I understand that she might have hoped for a better room, but when you travel for work, you are usually bound by the parameters set up by your employer.  That's why I asked if she offered to pay for an upgrade, or she asked for a free upgrade.
> 
> ...



This was not a trip where anyone paid for anything for me nor did the group book my room. I paid for everything and I handled all room reservations and transportation myself. I did not ask for an upgrade or for anything for free. I asked to be moved to the same category room in the hotel building. I never even asked them to comp the $20 soup.


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## Dean (Feb 24, 2019)

frank808 said:


> Well then they shouldn't have contacted group organizer.  Contract was between you and the hotel.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk





TravelTime said:


> This was not a trip where anyone paid for anything for me nor did the group book my room. I paid for everything and I handled all room reservations and transportation myself. I did not ask for an upgrade or for anything for free. I asked to be moved to the same category room in the hotel building. I never even asked them to comp the $20 soup.


Was there a group or conference rate that was applied?


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

Dean said:


> Was there a group or conference rate that was applied?



Yes they did apply the group rate, even though the group told me the block of rooms were sold out. I called Marriott and booked myself and asked if they could apply the group rate and they said yes. At the time I booked, I had a choice of staying in the main hotel building or the out building. The Marriott rep on the phone seemed to think the out building was better and he booked that for me. He did not tell me it was a long walk to the main hotel building and that there was no food or water in the outbuilding. If I would have gotten better advice from Marriott, I would have chosen the main hotel right from the beginning. When I called Marriott’s Titanium line directly, the rep said there is no information in Marriott’s computer system about the out building. He said usually Marriott has pop up windows with warnings and advice. He said there are a few other hotels in the system where they get similar complaints because the phone reps do not know. This was no one’s fault and I never blamed anyone. I did not like the way the hotel treated me and that’s it. Then on top of that, they told the group leader that I wrote a negative review and the group leader told me that was a bad thing to do and it has bad consequences for their relationship with the hotel. So I deleted the review.

P.S. I was asking for a downgrade to move to the main hotel building because the out building has bigger rooms and Marriott charges a little more for it. That is also why I was perplexed as to why the hotel did not stock the rooms appropriately.


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

mpizza said:


> Perhaps when you wrote the review on TripAdvisor you “outed” yourself, and the hotel responded to the organization that paid/reserved the room?
> 
> Maria



I paid and reserved the room. If they had paid, I would not feel entitled to complain. I also paid close to $2000 to this group to be part of this conference.


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

PamMo said:


> Perhaps Marriott discussed the negative post with your professional organization because they knew the complaint came from someone within their group, and Marriott wants to maintain a positive relationship with the group organizers. After a 6-year relationship, I think Marriott would want to discuss any problems with a valued customer. And since Marriott probably doesn't know what your TripAdvisor name is, perhaps it was someone within your professional organization that recognized it was you? I wouldn't automatically dump on Marriott.



The hotel should have contacted me first. The hotel figured out it was me from the details. I posted under a handle, not my name. I was shocked they figured out it was me actually. I know the hotel figured it out because the group leader was angry at me and she never even questioned if it was my post or not. Technically, they do not know for sure that it was my post since it was posted under a handle. I think this shows how hotels manipulate TripAdvisor reviews. I post reviews on TA of everywhere I stay. This is normal for me. To get pressure to remove the review is slimy, IMHO.


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## frank808 (Feb 24, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> Yes they did apply the group rate, even though the group told me the block of rooms were sold out. I called Marriott and booked myself and asked if they could apply the group rate and they said yes. At the time I booked, I had a choice of staying in the main hotel building or the out building. The Marriott rep on the phone seemed to think the out building was better and he booked that for me. He did not tell me it was a long walk to the main hotel building and that there was no food or water in the outbuilding. If I would have gotten better advice from Marriott, I would have chosen the main hotel right from the beginning. When I called Marriott’s Titanium line directly, the rep said there is no information in Marriott’s computer system about the out building. He said usually Marriott has pop up windows with warnings and advice. He said there are a few other hotels in the system where they get similar complaints because the phone reps do not know. This was no one’s fault and I never blamed anyone. I did not like the way the hotel treated me and that’s it. Then on top of that, they told the group leader that I wrote a negative review and the group leader told me that was a bad thing to do and it has bad consequences for their relationship with the hotel. So I deleted the review.
> 
> P.S. I was asking for a downgrade to move to the main hotel building because the out building has bigger rooms and Marriott charges a little more for it. That is also why I was perplexed as to why the hotel did not stock the rooms appropriately.


Getting the group rate now involves the group organizer.  When I book conferences, I have booked with hotel or chain directly using their rate code.  If I did that, then group would certainly be in the right to be contacted since I used their discount.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

Okay, then are you saying it is okay for the hotel to contact the group leader, without contacting the guest first, and then for the group leader to complain to me about the TripAdvisor review? If that is how it works, I will be more careful with what I say on TripAdvisor and disguise my identity better. To me, this just shows how the travel industry manipulates reviews by pressuring people to remove them or change them. Most of my reviews are positive but I do post the truth about my experiences and if it is bad, I say so. A few hotels and tour operators have contacted me through TA to address the review and/or ask me to change it. I usually comply, unfortunately. In the future, I am not giving in. This feels wrong.


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 24, 2019)

Dean said:


> Was there a group or conference rate that was applied?



We don't know what the convo between the hotel and the group leader was, however the response of anger by the group leader is unacceptable especially in light of how much OP paid for the conference.

She was a Titanium guest. The the lack of hot water, poor soup quality and lack of waters / room amenities are unacceptable for a luxury hotel. Housekeeping should have brought waters to her door immediately without question without forcing her to purchase room service, or walk to the front desk in her exhaustion and blisters. (Hilton hotels would either give you water upfront, or bring it to your door).



TravelTime said:


> Then on top of that, they told the group leader that I wrote a negative review and the group leader told me that was a bad thing to do and it has bad consequences for their relationship with the hotel. So I deleted the review.



Since you will be leaving the group, who cares what the group leader told you. I would not let them get away with this intimidation.

If you are unhappy with how the group and hotel handled this, I would write a factual review, "I was at this hotel to attend XYZ conference." I am a Titanium Elite and was treated as follows after a long exhausting flight...(I would not include the hotel's response or group leader's anger, just factually saying you attended the conference, and sticking to the facts will do the trick.)

P.S. I have a healthy skepticism for hotel reviews.


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

CalGalTraveler said:


> We don't know what the convo between the hotel and the group leader was, however the response of anger by the group leader is unacceptable especially in light of how much she paid for the conference as a paying customer.
> 
> She was a Titanium guest. The the lack of hot water, poor soup quality and lack of waters / room amenities are unacceptable for a luxury hotel. Housekeeping should have brought waters to her door immediately without question without forcing her to purchase room service, or walk to the front desk in her exhaustion and blisters. (Hilton hotels would either give you water upfront, or bring it to your door).
> 
> ...



I have skepticism about TripAdvisor reviews. I was mildly skeptical before and now I am totally skeptical. When I book hotels, I tend to look to see what the negative reviews say and how accurate those reviews seem since I know many TA reviewers are pressured to delete negative reviews. I am letting this go for now since I quit the group. I do not want to be part of a group that pressures people to delete reviews. This group has all positive reviews online...now I know why.


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## frank808 (Feb 24, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> Okay, then are you saying it is okay for the hotel to contact the group leader, without contacting the guest first, and then for the group leader to complain to me about the TripAdvisor review? If that is how it works, I will be more careful with what I say on TripAdvisor and disguise my identity better. To me, this just shows how the travel industry manipulates reviews by pressuring people to remove them or change them. Most of my reviews are positive but I do post the truth about my experiences and if it is bad, I say so. A few hotels and tour operators have contacted me through TA to address the review and/or ask me to change it. I usually comply, unfortunately. In the future, I am not giving in. This feels wrong.


Do you know for sure the conversation that was between hotel and group leader to remove negative post?  

You were in contact with hotel the duration of your stay trying to get issues fixed. Maybe their thought was this:

If they did not do you right by the time you left, maybe their only option would be contact the next person available. And that was to address your issues with organizer that negotiated the rate and use of facilities?

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## TravelTime (Feb 24, 2019)

frank808 said:


> Do you know for sure the conversation that was between hotel and group leader to remove negative post?
> 
> You were in contact with hotel the duration of your stay trying to get issues fixed. Maybe their thought was this:
> 
> ...



I was still staying at the hotel when the group leader approached me. In fact, I still had 2 more days left when I was notified of the problem. I am assuming the hotel told the group leader about the TA review, unless the group leader is reviewing TA reviews for the hotel when she is hosting 400 people at a conference. How else would the group leader find out?

I did not ask for any compensation at all. I am not a hotel scammer. I do not complain in order to get compensation. I was in bad physical shape by the time I arrived after getting up at 1 am and traveling until the afternoon that day. I just needed some support from the hotel and this hotel seemed to have a snooty attitude. I spoke to 4 people at the hotel before I wrote the TA review.

In a way, the hotel was making an assumption it was me. I could have denied it to the group leader since my name is not on TA. I did not deny it since that is not my style. But the hotel jumped to the conclusion it was me and reported it to the group leader.

Frankly, I think this hotel had bad service from the beginning and the fact that they reported me to the group leader without contacting me directly, seems like really bad service. I wish now that I had not deleted the review. I never expected the hotel would figure out I posted and report it to the group. It was pretty humiliating to me.


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## heathpack (Feb 24, 2019)

Personally I see no issue with the hotel management mentioning something you posted publically to anyone they see fit to discuss it with.  Issues that you kept just between you and hotel management should be kept confidential of course.  But if you take it to a public area like TA, I think it’s fine for that to be discussed by anyone with access to that arena- in this case, literally anyone.

I’m not sure the intent was punitive.  It sounds like the hotel could not wrap their head around the idea that you didn’t book through the group.  They might have brought your issues up with the group leader to try to either make things better for you (‘hey group leader, one of your customers is unhappy and we can’t make her happy, maybe there’s something you can do for her?’) or for future guests (‘hey group leader, in the future when you describe accommodation on your group site, maybe you want to make it clear that your attendees will be in an outbuilding with different amenities than the main hotel and let folks know what to expect’).  The issue in you being pressured to take down the review might be coming from the group, not the hotel.

If, after thinking it through you feel like your review was justified and you are severing professional ties with this group anyway, you could always put the review back up.  If it’s worth your time to do so.


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## Dean (Feb 24, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> The hotel should have contacted me first. The hotel figured out it was me from the details. I posted under a handle, not my name. I was shocked they figured out it was me actually. I know the hotel figured it out because the group leader was angry at me and she never even questioned if it was my post or not. Technically, they do not know for sure that it was my post since it was posted under a handle. I think this shows how hotels manipulate TripAdvisor reviews. I post reviews on TA of everywhere I stay. This is normal for me. To get pressure to remove the review is slimy, IMHO.





TravelTime said:


> Okay, then are you saying it is okay for the hotel to contact the group leader, without contacting the guest first, and then for the group leader to complain to me about the TripAdvisor review? If that is how it works, I will be more careful with what I say on TripAdvisor and disguise my identity better. To me, this just shows how the travel industry manipulates reviews by pressuring people to remove them or change them. Most of my reviews are positive but I do post the truth about my experiences and if it is bad, I say so. A few hotels and tour operators have contacted me through TA to address the review and/or ask me to change it. I usually comply, unfortunately. In the future, I am not giving in. This feels wrong.


Yes, given those circumstances, a discussion between the hotel and group is reasonable though the specifics might or might not be reasonable. It sounds like you'd already discussed with the hotel and they'd done what they were going to do so if that's the case, I wouldn't think it necessary to contact you first if the discussion with the conference reps was otherwise appropriate.  I attend quite a number of conferences often with the group rate (often not as I often find it cheaper) and many of them are at Marriott's, this is just weird.  I'm having trouble just coming up with a scenario where a conference moderator would even interface with an attendee and I know many of the people personally that moderate the conferences I attend plus I know many of the on the ground people also.  I think we all realize there's a lot we don't know here of what was done/said and how it was done.  But with what you've shared I can only judge that there is a lot more to the story of what was said and how it was said than we can know to get to this level.


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 24, 2019)

Dean said:


> I'm having trouble just coming up with a scenario where a conference moderator would even interface with an attendee and I know many of the people personally that moderate the conferences I attend.



I wholeheartedly agree. Very strange that the organizer would take time to call someone out.

+ conference rates are usually not the best rates. They are designed for busy business attendees who don't care because they are on the company's dime.


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## VacationForever (Feb 24, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> I was still staying at the hotel when the group leader approached me. In fact, I still had 2 more days left when I was notified of the problem. I am assuming the hotel told the group leader about the TA review, unless the group leader is reviewing TA reviews for the hotel when she is hosting 400 people at a conference. How else would the group leader find out?



You have based your assumption on the hotel reporting your review to the group leader.  It appears to me that it is quite likely the group leader or someone in the group read the review and reported to the group leader instead of the hotel reporting to the group leader.  You mentioned that you had spoken to 4 people about it.  I do not know if you had spoken to any of the attendees about the issues.  It would not surprise me that it was someone in the group or the group leader who was aware of the issues that you were facing and put 2 and 2 together and identified you as the one who posted the TA review.


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## davidvel (Feb 24, 2019)

I'd be more peeved at the group. If your complaints are legit, too bad for them. If you are scared enough of this group to take your post down, that seems to be the bigger problem, and you probably shouldn't have posted to begin with.


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## DeniseM (Feb 24, 2019)

TravelTime - It was hard for us to provide a meaningful response, when we didn't have all the facts.  The statement you posted and later redacted about "ruin someone's career," was misleading.

Connecting the dots, it appears that you were at a conference at a hotel, which you paid for yourself.

You booked the room using the conference rate, and therefore, you were linked to the conference in the hotel's  reservation system.

You were tired from a long day of travel and had blisters on your feet from your boots.

You were unhappy with the amenities in the room, and the distance to the main building, and complained to the hotel.  Since you have high status with Marriott hotels, you expected to receive appropriate assistance.

The hotel told you to take it up with the conference organizer - which you did not do. You spoke to multiple people at the hotel and also over the phone, but did not receive a satisfactory response.

You then posted a complaint on TripAdvisor, and the hotel recognized you because it matched the complaints that you made to them in person.

The hotel moved you to a better room.

The hotel contacted the conference organizer about your public complaint.  The hotel told the conference organizer that you were advised to take to it up with the organizer.  The organizer was angry, because they have a good relationship with the hotel and staying there is beneficial to their organization.

Is this an accurate description of the events?

_My thoughts:

It's critical to wear comfortable walking shoes when traveling - you might want to carry a pair of walking shoes in your purse or carry-on.

It's hard to know if your expectations for the hotel room were compatible with the conference rate rooms, but if you have high status with Marriott, I'm shocked that they didn't do more to help you.

It sounds like you have had a parting of the ways with the travel organization that you were considering, and that's probably for the best.  

If you are going into the travel business, you should look at this from another angle:    How will you respond when one of your customers is angry or dissatisfied with your services?  Working with people in the travel industry takes an enormous amount of patience and tact, so it's something to think about.

Good luck with your career!_


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## Steve Fatula (Feb 24, 2019)

I see nothing wrong with posting on TravelAdvisor. It is not required that it be a last resort, some may view it that way. If one might post a positive review without all these suggested requirements, then, it's fair to post a negative review. TA reviews are subjective, all that matters is the posters view on this. I've certainly read reviews that are negative where the poster is "wrong" even, and that's ok as it may save someone else a hassle they did not realize. Things like there is nothing here to do, etc., when it's a property clearly in the middle of nowhere, etc. Definitely information about the outbuilding would be useful for others to read, esp. if Marriott didn't even know which you said they did not and it rents for a higher rate.

I agree with another poster that I would be more mad at the Conference group. I suppose you are, since you cancelled your membership. Good for you! If a group had organized an event I was going to, had a "high" membership fee, and rooms at a place that cost me 4 figures, I would sure expect more from all parties. That would be a group I would certainly not be a member of. Especially if they got angry at me, I would expect them to go to bat for me. Not a group I'd want.


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## Dean (Feb 24, 2019)

Steve Fatula said:


> I see nothing wrong with posting on TravelAdvisor. It is not required that it be a last resort, some may view it that way. If one might post a positive review without all these suggested requirements, then, it's fair to post a negative review. TA reviews are subjective, all that matters is the posters view on this. I've certainly read reviews that are negative where the poster is "wrong" even, and that's ok as it may save someone else a hassle they did not realize. Things like there is nothing here to do, etc., when it's a property clearly in the middle of nowhere, etc. Definitely information about the outbuilding would be useful for others to read, esp. if Marriott didn't even know which you said they did not and it rents for a higher rate.
> 
> I agree with another poster that I would be more mad at the Conference group. I suppose you are, since you cancelled your membership. Good for you! If a group had organized an event I was going to, had a "high" membership fee, and rooms at a place that cost me 4 figures, I would sure expect more from all parties. That would be a group I would certainly not be a member of. Especially if they got angry at me, I would expect them to go to bat for me. Not a group I'd want.


I don't think we have enough facts to judge this ultimately but even in it's worst form, it's difficult to indict the organization based on one person's (or a small group) actions.  I have a suspicion I know the group involved and if it were them and knowing them, I'd tend to be very lenient likely to be point of assuming there was more than shared.  Often the moderators for such groups are volunteer other than to have their expenses paid, staffers usually get paid plus their expenses.


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## icydog (Feb 24, 2019)

I feel that reporting on Trip Advisor was outside the hierarchy present in most business. _You do not go over the head of the guy/gal who outranks you. _You should have spoken to the group organizer and had her/him deal with the hotel. You put yourself in the position of appearing insubordinate.


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## gravitar (Feb 24, 2019)

icydog said:


> I feel that reporting on Trip Advisor was outside the hierarchy present in most business. _You do not go over the head of the guy/gal who outranks you. _You should have spoken to the group organizer and had her/him deal with the hotel. You put yourself in the position of appearing insubordinate.


The only issue with this is the OP did not get their room from the group block as there were no more rooms left. The reservation was between the OPand the property. The only function the group had in this was the OP paid the group to attend the conference. 

Why would the OP have to complain to the group organizers when they had no standing in this? 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk


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## Panina (Feb 24, 2019)

Room paid by op directly to hotel, who is a member of Hotel Brand.  Ultimately from reservation to room placement to handling the problem the hotel chain did not handle the situation to the high stardards they normally do.  

Op should bring all of these inadequacies to a higher tier in management.  Nothing is fixed unless someone finds out something is wrong and is willing to get involved and fix it.  

If initially the person who took the  reservation understood what they were booking none of this would follow.  This is taking the group out of the equation.  Putting the group leader into the equation just made it worse.


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## VacationForever (Feb 24, 2019)

It is not conclusive to me that it is the hotel which alerted the group leader.


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## chemteach (Feb 24, 2019)

This thread is pretty surprising to me.  If I have a room that does not have enough warm water, and there is a long walk to any restaurant, and I choose to put that information on TripAdvisor, it seems that there should be absolutely no retaliation from a hotel.  TripAdvisor is supposed to get HONEST information about hotels.  If people get ANY negative feedback for posting honest reviews, there is a problem with how TripAdvisor works.  (There are many other problems with TripAdvisor - but that's not for this thread...).   Just my opinion.


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## VacationForever (Feb 25, 2019)

chemteach said:


> This thread is pretty surprising to me.  If I have a room that does not have enough warm water, and there is a long walk to any restaurant, and I choose to put that information on TripAdvisor, it seems that there should be absolutely no retaliation from a hotel.  TripAdvisor is supposed to get HONEST information about hotels.  If people get ANY negative feedback for posting honest reviews, there is a problem with how TripAdvisor works.  (There are many other problems with TripAdvisor - but that's not for this thread...).   Just my opinion.


The issue is not with TA.  OP reported the problem with the group organizer being angry with her.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

VacationForever said:


> You have based your assumption on the hotel reporting your review to the group leader.  It appears to me that it is quite likely the group leader or someone in the group read the review and reported to the group leader instead of the hotel reporting to the group leader.  You mentioned that you had spoken to 4 people about it.  I do not know if you had spoken to any of the attendees about the issues.  It would not surprise me that it was someone in the group or the group leader who was aware of the issues that you were facing and put 2 and 2 together and identified you as the one who posted the TA review.



No I did not speak to any attendees. I can’t say for sure how the group leader found out. I assumed it had to be through a hotel employee, whoever it is who monitors TripAdvisor. I think whenever someone posts a review, an automatic email gets sent to a hotel person.

I find this entire situation to be very strange. It seems odd for the group leader to approach me with this infomation. She did not have time to talk to me so I know very little of what happened or why she was upset. All I know is she said it was very bad to have posted the review and it had big consequences. There must be some back story or history between this hotel and the group that I am not aware of.


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## DeniseM (Feb 25, 2019)

> This thread is pretty surprising to me. If I have a room that does not have enough warm water, and there is a long walk to any restaurant,



She didn't say her room didn't have warm water - she said there was no place to buy bottled water in the building she was in.  She also said she couldn't walk to the resort restaurant, because she had blisters from wearing boots.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

icydog said:


> I feel that reporting on Trip Advisor was outside the hierarchy present in most business. _You do not go over the head of the guy/gal who outranks you. _You should have spoken to the group organizer and had her/him deal with the hotel. You put yourself in the position of appearing insubordinate.



Technically I outrank the group organizer because I am their client. They are supposed to be working for me. I paid the group a lot of money to attend the conference. I booked the room myself and paid for the hotel myself. Also, I had never met the group organizer before. I was new to this group and it was my first time attending their annual conference.


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## DeniseM (Feb 25, 2019)

> *I can’t say for sure how the group leader found out*. I assumed it had to be through a hotel employee, whoever it is who monitors TripAdvisor.



Your story keeps changing - that hurts your credibility.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

Panina said:


> Room paid by op directly to hotel, who is a member of Hotel Brand.  Ultimately from reservation to room placement to handling the problem the hotel chain did not handle the situation to the high stardards they normally do.
> 
> Op should bring all of these inadequacies to a higher tier in management.  Nothing is fixed unless someone finds out something is wrong and is willing to get involved and fix it.
> 
> If initially the person who took the  reservation understood what they were booking none of this would follow.  This is taking the group out of the equation.  Putting the group leader into the equation just made it worse.



Yes, exactly. The room situation was annoying. Reporting the TA review to the group was the icing on the cake. I was shocked by this. Also I was fairly annoyed with the group leader to call this to my attention because it is none of her business if I want to write an honest but critical TA review online.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

DeniseM said:


> Your story keeps changing, that hurts your credibility.



It is not changing. I am assuming the group leader found out from the hotel but I do not know for sure, of course. Logically, there is no other way for her to have found out. If this hurts TravelTime’s so-called credibility, oh well... At least I described my blisters in detail. Or are you questioning that too? (Note: Just kidding to lighten this up a bit.)


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## Steve Fatula (Feb 25, 2019)

DeniseM said:


> Your story keeps changing - that hurts your credibility.



Hmm, I do not really see anything of importance that changed. There are some unknowns, sure, but those are tangential. What I *do* see is a whole lot of judgements on a fellow Tugger who was merely asking a simple question and did not ask for those opinions and judgements. People want to judge whether or not she was justified in her complaint, which is not what the question was and is totally irrelevant. People are either really misreading, ignoring certain facts, or, I don't know what. There may well be other items that she is not willing to post, no one is an open book, and it is clear there was some sort of pressure on her to remove her review, maybe there are reasons. That is completely wrong on any level. This is disheartening to me as a user here.

The OP was dissatisfied with her stay and posted on TA. It does not matter if anyone agrees with the dissatisfaction or not, and she does not have to prove she was dissatisfied to whatever anyone elses standards are. And, curiously, was then approached by someone else about her TA review and pressured to remove it. I have a hard time believing the group leader, who likely has a lot to do during an event mind you, was sitting there monitoring TA just looking for reviews. But those are best guesses admittedly. This is not right behavior by whomever did that either! Along with many other things that were not handled well. You can cherry pick pieces if you wish, but, that's the bottom line.

IMHO, one should assume the OP had her reasons to be dissatisfied and leave it at that. I am shocked by many of the responses, in a bad way. Chemteach has it right (except for the warm water, she said other guests had no warm water so clearly there were issues at this hotel and there is no way she was the only complainer based on that alone). Panina has it right as well. I believe she has posted before that she is a Titanium level owner. Surely this is not the way to treat such an owner.


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## Mlvnsmly (Feb 25, 2019)

I think the most important question here that hasn't been asked is this:

Does the organization represent the hotel or is the hotel a member of the organization?

I ask because you said this was a travel industry conference and it seems like this would be a possibility that would change the context of this situation.


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## Dean (Feb 25, 2019)

Steve Fatula said:


> Hmm, I do not really see anything of importance that changed. There are some unknowns, sure, but those are tangential. What I *do* see is a whole lot of judgements on a fellow Tugger who was merely asking a simple question and did not ask for those opinions and judgements. People want to judge whether or not she was justified in her complaint, which is not what the question was and is totally irrelevant. People are either really misreading, ignoring certain facts, or, I don't know what. There may well be other items that she is not willing to post, no one is an open book, and it is clear there was some sort of pressure on her to remove her review, maybe there are reasons. That is completely wrong on any level. This is disheartening to me as a user here.
> 
> The OP was dissatisfied with her stay and posted on TA. It does not matter if anyone agrees with the dissatisfaction or not, and she does not have to prove she was dissatisfied to whatever anyone elses standards are. And, curiously, was then approached by someone else about her TA review and pressured to remove it. I have a hard time believing the group leader, who likely has a lot to do during an event mind you, was sitting there monitoring TA just looking for reviews. But those are best guesses admittedly. This is not right behavior by whomever did that either! Along with many other things that were not handled well. You can cherry pick pieces if you wish, but, that's the bottom line.
> 
> IMHO, one should assume the OP had her reasons to be dissatisfied and leave it at that. I am shocked by many of the responses, in a bad way. Chemteach has it right (except for the warm water, she said other guests had no warm water so clearly there were issues at this hotel and there is no way she was the only complainer based on that alone). Panina has it right as well. I believe she has posted before that she is a Titanium level owner. Surely this is not the way to treat such an owner.


I think there are a lot of unknowns in making a true determination of the situation that are core to that thought process.  The OP asked for opinions, other than addressing the information presented as best one could, I don't see much as being judgmental.  There are always at least 2 sides to every story and likely 3 or 4 here.


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## Mr. Vker (Feb 25, 2019)

1) I believe this more appropriate of Flyertalk than Tug--but its here. 
2) I think the hotel was WAY out of line-as you called, booked and paid for your stay yourself. IMHO, no different than if I book a AAA rate and right a negative review. Would they call AAA and complain about me? That's ridiculous. 
3) The group leader should have dismissed the complaint from Marriott and said that you paid individually and the property needed to deal with you. (I guess the hotel wanted to leverage rates etc, but ultimately they should care about your experience more.)


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## icydog (Feb 25, 2019)

I admit I *thought* I knew the facts when posting but obviously I did not know them all.

1. Now that I understand the situation more fully, or as fully as the OP intends to tell us, I think the group leader spoke out of turn. The group leader should not have gotten involved.
2. If the hotel is twisting the group leader’s arm to get you to remove your post on TA, that is absolutely not acceptable.
3. As I’m reading this I am imagining that the group leader was worried about her job being threatened (because she does so much business with the hotel)  Real or imagined, the Group leader was scared.  That fear prompted her to tell the OP to remove her TA post without the Group Leader having any authority to do so.

4. Bottom line, the fact is, the OP got in trouble and that deeply troubles her.  But how much trouble, other than the verbal reprimand, did she get into? 
I know any censure can feel devastating.  I been on both sides and it’s much harder to receive than give criticism! But at the end of the day did the OPs complaint on Trip Advisor mean any loss of her position at her job—-or affect her paycheck? If not, and I know this is easier said than done, get on with your life and avoid the Group Leader whenever possible!


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## VacationForever (Feb 25, 2019)

icydog said:


> But at the end of the day did the OPs complaint on Trip Advisor mean any loss of her position at her job—-or affect her paycheck? If not, and I know this is easier said than done, get on with your life and avoid the Group Leader whenever possible!


OP is a business owner herself, as an employer and not an employee.  So this should not affect her established business.  From my reading, I think she was trying to expand or add a different line of business in the travel industry.


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## icydog (Feb 25, 2019)

VacationForever said:


> OP is a business owner herself, as an employer and not an employee.  So this should not affect her established business.  From my reading, I think she was trying to expand or add a different line of business in the travel industry.



I wish I knew all that! But how could I? That important piece of information was not stated in her posts (or even in the other posts from the Tuggers who knew she was a business owner and who replied here?

This changes everything!

Since the Group Leader was not employed by her, or visa-versa, then she can do, and say, anything she wanted  on TA or anywhere else for that matter!


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## VacationForever (Feb 25, 2019)

icydog said:


> I wish I knew all that! But how could I? That important piece of information was not stated in her posts (or even in the other posts from the Tuggers who knew she was a business owner and who replied here?
> 
> This changes everything!
> 
> Since the Group Leader was not employed by her, or visa-versa, then she can do, and say, anything she wanted  on TA or anywhere else for that matter!


We "know" her from many other threads.


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## icydog (Feb 25, 2019)

VacationForever said:


> We "know" her from many other threads.


  I must have missed all those threads.


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## chemteach (Feb 25, 2019)

VacationForever said:


> The issue is not with TA.  OP reported the problem with the group organizer being angry with her.


I understand that.  I'm saying that if people report issues on TripAdvisor, and then hotels or whatever entity complains to or retaliates on the poster, then TripAdvisor reviews are problematic because people might be afraid to post anything negative.  I already don't trust all the TripAdvisor reviews, and this makes me even more concerned that people with negative things to say may feel threatened and not post...


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## Bodie (Feb 25, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> I was staying at a marriott hotel this week. I had a horrible experience and wrote a negative review on tripadvisor. I found out that the hotel reported me to the group organizers and now they are angry at me. Is this appropriate for a hotel to report you to your group because you wrote a bad review?



Did you go the very top of the Marriott International food chain?  I have always found them to be very reasonable and eager to resolve an issue.  Years ago, I actually sent a typed letter via the USPS to JW Marriott, Jr.  It elicited a response from a very concerned, very professional staff member who fixed the situation to my satisfaction.


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 25, 2019)

I agree with the earlier poster - why is there a double standard for TA reviews? e.g. it's always okay to post a positive review anytime, but a negative review is seen as a last resort?

As a paying customer she was sharing her impressions for other travelers and she has full rights to do so without anyone's permission. IMO what is so negative about the room being distant from the main lobby and not having waters available? Yes there were factual service issues but it wasn't like she was reporting phony bed bugs or a hazmat issue.

I understand how the resort is trying to minimize negative reviews and there are sometimes people who post negative reviews which are are silly. If I see only positive reviews I become skeptical. Nothing is perfect.

There probably is someone at the hotel that gets measured on number of negative reviews. I heard a bank would fire employees if they didn't get perfect 10s on customer satisfaction scores which I think is ridiculous.  This is a consequence of poor metrics driving bad behaviors to intimidate the group and guest.

_*What is most concerning is the retaliatory nature of the response which is the point the OP was making. What's next? Are hotels going to shut-down loyalty accounts because guests write a bad review?*_

I would like to know the name of the hotel because I don't ever want to stay there for pulling such retaliatory tactics.  @TravelTime Please PM me the name if you don't want to make it public. Thanks for sharing this story, I hope this is not a trend.


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## davidvel (Feb 25, 2019)

Having seen more facts about what happened, I'll add this to my prior response:

Some of the comments here are downright hilarious. She has to jump through a bunch of hoops (she actually did), before she posts a comment on TripAdvisor? First time I've ever heard this.  That being said, TA is a joke, as many have noted. They don't post factual posts about people being injured, or other major issues. They simply don't post them. They are not independent and work hand in hand with hotels and resorts selling rooms for them. 

Putting aside the TA issue itself, the OP got  crappy room location but she chose the outbuilding. We have to take her at her word that the reservation agent said "It was better" but she chose to be located separate from the main building (10 minute walk away.)  I presume the event was in the main building along with the hotel's amenities. Certainly the rooms should have had proper working utilities, but the location was ultimately her choice.   

My biggest gripe is that the OP complains about what TA did, but she took down her post because of a comment from the event organizer.  This directly affects the integrity of the TA reviews. I hope she puts her review back up.


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## heathpack (Feb 25, 2019)

CalGalTraveler said:


> _*What is most concerning is the retaliatory nature of the response which is the point the OP was making. What's next? Are hotels going to shut-down loyalty accounts because guests write a bad review?*_



First, no one knows that the hotel "retaliated".  All anyone knows, including the OP, is that OP put up a negative review and the group organizer expressed dissatisfaction to OP for doing so.  Its is unknown how the group leader became aware of the negative review.

Second, could you argue that the TA review was a form of retaliation by the OP towards the hotel?  By OP's own comments, her negative review was posted while she was still at the hotel, during her stay.  If one is intending to write a fair review of a hotel stay, it only makes sense to wait until the stay is complete and then write a review of the entirety of the experience.  

There's nothing wrong with writing a negative review but sometimes I think in modern times there is an expectation that everything will be "Goldilocks just so" or fixed instantly.  If its not, a negative review gets slapped up on social media or the web and a relatively small thing like the lack of bottled water in the room gets turned into a public declaration of the room having "no water" as if the guest was unable to shower instead of being unwilling to drink tap water.

Sometimes I think we all just need to take a deep breath and give it a moment.  Maybe the hotel was going to do something extraordinary to make up for the service lapses but never got a chance.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

icydog said:


> I must have missed all those threads.



You do not know the TravelTime? I am sad. I thought I was popular on TUG.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

I got a nice email from the CEO of the group today. She seemed sad that I am not continuing with the group. I wonder if she knows what happened. Perhaps her sales manager did not tell her. Regardless, it was nice to hear that she missed me.

The hotel manager called me today and we spoke for a long time. He was very nice, patient and apologetic.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

VacationForever said:


> You have based your assumption on the hotel reporting your review to the group leader.  It appears to me that it is quite likely the group leader or someone in the group read the review and reported to the group leader instead of the hotel reporting to the group leader.  You mentioned that you had spoken to 4 people about it.  I do not know if you had spoken to any of the attendees about the issues.  It would not surprise me that it was someone in the group or the group leader who was aware of the issues that you were facing and put 2 and 2 together and identified you as the one who posted the TA review.



I had spoken to 4 hotel employees. I actually never spoke to anyone at the conference about my problems. Frankly, after I got some food and rest and I wrote the TA review, I was done with it.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

DeniseM said:


> TravelTime - It was hard for us to provide a meaningful response, when we didn't have all the facts.  The statement you posted and later redacted about "ruin someone's career," was misleading.
> 
> Connecting the dots, it appears that you were at a conference at a hotel, which you paid for yourself.
> 
> ...



Yes Denise your description is accurate.


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## TravelTime (Feb 25, 2019)

By the way, this is an aside...I learned at the travel conference that many people spend 6 figures in 1 vacation. I heard stories of 6 figure vacations for a group of 4. This makes Marriott Vacation Club seem cheap!


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## Panina (Feb 25, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> By the way, this is an aside...I learned at the travel conference that many people spend 6 figures in 1 vacation. I heard stories of 6 figure vacations for a group of 4. This makes Marriott Vacation Club seem cheap!


I been seeing prices like that more and more at places I travel.  In prime areas and prime time it becomes very expensive for lodging.  This year when I paid my mfs I kept thinking how lucky I am that I figured out to go on all my timeshares for what many pay for one vacation or two vacations.


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## taffy19 (Feb 26, 2019)

davidvel said:


> That being said, TA is a joke, as many have noted. They don't post factual posts about people being injured, or other major issues. They simply don't post them. They are not independent and work hand in hand with hotels and resorts selling rooms for them.
> 
> My biggest gripe is that the OP complains about what TA did, but she took down her post because of a comment from the event organizer.  This directly affects the integrity of the TA reviews. I hope she puts her review back up.


I so agree with you.

I know someone who writes many reviews for TA and she was asked to delete one review because it hurt one of their hotels that books through them.  They are not independent.

I would rather read a review on the TUG board but mostly read the comments in the regular threads as they are more spontaneous, IMO.


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## Dean (Feb 26, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> By the way, this is an aside...I learned at the travel conference that many people spend 6 figures in 1 vacation. I heard stories of 6 figure vacations for a group of 4. This makes Marriott Vacation Club seem cheap!





Panina said:


> I been seeing prices like that more and more at places I travel.  In prime areas and prime time it becomes very expensive for lodging.  This year when I paid my mfs I kept thinking how lucky I am that I figured out to go on all my timeshares for what many pay for one vacation or two vacations.


While I agree that Marriott and other timeshares CAN be a savings, they often are not.  One common mistake I see is assuming the price of maintenance fees as the total cost of the lodging.  Another and even worse approach some take is forgetting there are other costs besides just the lodging and that in many cases, the timeshare forces other costs like airfare.


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## mav (Feb 26, 2019)

When I want to check reviews on a hotel I look up the hotel on Booking.com  You have to have stayed there to even post a review on their  website.  I have never heard of review problems with them, and I have booked hotels in Germany, Austria, and other European hotels thru. them and left reviews of my own on their website. I tend to look at TA with a funny eye after hearing reports of problems with them, fake reviews, etc.


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## dayooper (Feb 26, 2019)

Dean said:


> While I agree that Marriott and other timeshares CAN be a savings, they often are not.  One common mistake I see is assuming the price of maintenance fees as the total cost of the lodging.  Another and even worse approach some take is forgetting there are other costs besides just the lodging and that in many cases, the timeshare forces other costs like airfare.



Eh, I spent my $1050 MF, my $176 HGVC club dues plus the $65 club booking fee for a grand total of $1291 for a week at HGVC’s Ocean 22. I know that there’s the cost of the TS ($4500 plus fees), but that will be spread out over several years. I want to go on vacation anyway so it saved money there. Yes there is potential air fare costs (not for this trip, although we are renting a Suburban for our drive), but if we were going there, or somewhere like it, we would be flying anyway.

In all reality, it someday might cost us more, but the savings isn’t the reason we bought. We bought so it would make it easier to plan for a vacation. We have all of these grand ideas that never came to fruition because something always got in the way. We planned this vacation in October for next June and it’s in the book (and everyone else’s). The hardest part is waiting 9 months to go on your vacation once it’s planned out!


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## BocaBoy (Feb 26, 2019)

DeniseM said:


> Your story keeps changing - that hurts your credibility.


I thought OP's "story" was quite consistent.  What kept changing was others' opinions as they "assumed" additional facts which were apparently often not accurate.


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 26, 2019)

Dean said:


> While I agree that Marriott and other timeshares CAN be a savings, they often are not.  One common mistake I see is assuming the price of maintenance fees as the total cost of the lodging.  Another and even worse approach some take is forgetting there are other costs besides just the lodging and that in many cases, the timeshare forces other costs like airfare.



I presume one could argue that without owning that you wouldn't be required to buy airfare during a downturn. However you could still forgo the airfare by renting out your unit, trading into something within driving range, or banking the unit for up to 2 years to defer the trip possibly booking 2 consecutive weeks to avoid paying 2x the airfare.

Agree with @dayooper that we would be traveling no matter whether we have a timeshare or not so airfare will still be a cost. Plus can shop around for better airfare because can plan in advance for known sales opportunities instead of waiting until the last minute.


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## Dean (Feb 26, 2019)

dayooper said:


> Eh, I spent my $1050 MF, my $176 HGVC club dues plus the $65 club booking fee for a grand total of $1291 for a week at HGVC’s Ocean 22. I know that there’s the cost of the TS ($4500 plus fees), but that will be spread out over several years. I want to go on vacation anyway so it saved money there. Yes there is potential air fare costs (not for this trip, although we are renting a Suburban for our drive), but if we were going there, or somewhere like it, we would be flying anyway.
> 
> In all reality, it someday might cost us more, but the savings isn’t the reason we bought. We bought so it would make it easier to plan for a vacation. We have all of these grand ideas that never came to fruition because something always got in the way. We planned this vacation in October for next June and it’s in the book (and everyone else’s). The hardest part is waiting 9 months to go on your vacation once it’s planned out!


The points I made were 3.  One that there's more to cost than just the fees, sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don't.  Another was that some forget about the other costs of a given vacation like Disney Tickets, air, meals, etc.  And lastly that some timeshare ownerships have extra obligate costs like air for Aruba or HI and one should consider those.


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## davidvel (Feb 26, 2019)

Dean said:


> The points I made were 3.  One that there's more to cost than just the fees, sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don't.  Another was that some forget about the other costs of a given vacation like Disney Tickets, air, meals, etc.  And lastly that some timeshare ownerships have extra obligate costs like air for Aruba or HI and one should consider those.


People are comparing their "savings" with a TS to booking the same  trip a different way. Of course they have to include all the associated costs of their TS for a true comparison. I don't see how booking a hotel saves you the costs of  "Disney Tickets, air, meal... etc" over a TS.  If you stay in a hotel in Aruba or Hawaii, you still have to pay the airfare unless you decide to row a boat.  In fact, you likely can save on meal expense by cooking in your unit as opposed to eating room service or at restaurants. 

 Of course if you don't go anywhere, you'll always save a lot over going to a TS somewhere.


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## Dean (Feb 26, 2019)

davidvel said:


> People are comparing their "savings" with a TS to booking the same  trip a different way. Of course they have to include all the associated costs of their TS for a true comparison. I don't see how booking a hotel saves you the costs of  "Disney Tickets, air, meal... etc" over a TS.  If you stay in a hotel in Aruba or Hawaii, you still have to pay the airfare unless you decide to row a boat.  In fact, you likely can save on meal expense by cooking in your unit as opposed to eating room service or at restaurants.
> 
> Of course if you don't go anywhere, you'll always save a lot over going to a TS somewhere.


But some people compare it this way.  The timeshare is lodging only and has real costs that one needs to consider.  In my experience one can save on meals but many/most don't.


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 26, 2019)

Staycations will always pencil out to a better economic deal. But that's comparing apples to oranges.


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## Panina (Feb 26, 2019)

Dean said:


> The points I made were 3.  One that there's more to cost than just the fees, sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don't.  Another was that some forget about the other costs of a given vacation like Disney Tickets, air, meals, etc.  And lastly that some timeshare ownerships have extra obligate costs like air for Aruba or HI and one should consider those.


True, almost all vacations have additional costs unless you get an all inclusive with transportation included. Those additional costs vary greatly based on the travelers wants and budget.

Just comparing timeshares to booking through the hotels,  lots of savings are to be had.  This year I went to a Marriott timeshare on Marco Island .  When I visited the  cost if I booked my suite for the week diecetly was $6600 versus  the $800 mf for the week I traded plus my trade fee and II membership.  Thousands in savings.  I also spend 2 weeks in Key west in timeshares I own in prime winter time.  With my mfs, parking fee, resort fee and option housekeeping I took each day I paid $2000.  A room, without kitchen up the block to what I would consider equivalent in quality was $900 a night.  The difference in what I save pays for all the mfs of my timeshares.

Granted, these are extreme savings, most timeshares have much smaller savings but there are tremendous savings to be found in timesharing if you learn what to buy and how to use it.


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## dayooper (Feb 26, 2019)

Dean said:


> The points I made were 3.  One that there's more to cost than just the fees, sometimes they make sense and sometimes they don't.  Another was that some forget about the other costs of a given vacation like Disney Tickets, air, meals, etc.  And lastly that some timeshare ownerships have extra obligate costs like air for Aruba or HI and one should consider those.



Since many people have gravitated toward a points based system, you can control where you go. If I want to go to Hawaii, that’s my choice. I will book a room there. If money is tight, I can drive to a Florida or South Carolina, I can rent it out or I can exchange into a place that’s even closer. Since I have a family of 5, I normally would have to book 2 rooms, costing me even more.

I understand your point above on people not taking advantage of the kitchen, but it’s still a potential savings. My first trip to a HGVC resort (sorry talking about HGVC on a Marriott forum) was in Vegas as a guest of a friend. First thing we did was go to the grocery store to purchase food. We ate breakfast every morning in the unit except for the morning we had brunch at The Bellagio. We brought back leftovers where ever we ate and cooked 3 meals. Just that little bit saved us a bunch. 

One of the many things I learned from my short time here on Tug is that we know how to extract every last bit out of our purchases. From walking reservations to knowing how to maximize points/MF’s to even knowing where it’s best to buy, we take our intervals to the max. My guess is we are the minority in this. Many don’t know how to use it in this way, but it doesn’t mean that the savings aren’t there.


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## CalGalTraveler (Feb 26, 2019)

If you own in on Maui (either MOC or Westin Kaanapali), or Oahu (HHV) the MFs are much less than the cost to rent - especially for oceanfronts during prime season.

We always use the kitchen for breakfasts, lunches, snacks and cocktails. We only eat out every few days. This saves a lot of money - especially if you have hungry teens and like to enjoy Mai Tais at sunset on the balcony. 

When you compare to owning a vacation home, the costs and headache are much less.


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## Dean (Feb 26, 2019)

Panina said:


> True, almost all vacations have additional costs unless you get an all inclusive with transportation included. Those additional costs vary greatly based on the travelers wants and budget.
> 
> Just comparing timeshares to booking through the hotels,  lots of savings are to be had.  This year I went to a Marriott timeshare on Marco Island .  When I visited the  cost if I booked my suite for the week diecetly was $6600 versus  the $800 mf for the week I traded plus my trade fee and II membership.  Thousands in savings.  I also spend 2 weeks in Key west in timeshares I own in prime winter time.  With my mfs, parking fee, resort fee and option housekeeping I took each day I paid $2000.  A room, without kitchen up the block to what I would consider equivalent in quality was $900 a night.  The difference in what I save pays for all the mfs of my timeshares.
> 
> Granted, these are extreme savings, most timeshares have much smaller savings but there are tremendous savings to be found in timesharing if you learn what to buy and how to use it.


They are also somewhat artificial unless you would have booked on cash.  Comparing to even a discounted rack rate is often not truly applicable.  IMO the best compariso to judge true savings are what one could have rented privately for the same or a similar option.  

Here's a personal extreme example.  A few years ago we stayed in Cabo for 2 weeks at a resort that was available to exchange through DVC (back when it was more restricted).  Our total cost including all fees and indirect expenses were in the range of $350 per week.  To exchange DVC points it would have been 1500 points (Registry Collection) at a then value around $18000.  But I would not have used that route even had it been the only option available to me.


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## Panina (Feb 26, 2019)

Dean said:


> They are also somewhat artificial unless you would have booked on cash.  Comparing to even a discounted rack rate is often not truly applicable.  IMO the best compariso to judge true savings are what one could have rented privately for the same or a similar option.
> 
> Here's a personal extreme example.  A few years ago we stayed in Cabo for 2 weeks at a resort that was available to exchange through DVC (back when it was more restricted).  Our total cost including all fees and indirect expenses were in the range of $350 per week.  To exchange DVC points it would have been 1500 points (Registry Collection) at a then value around $18000.  But I would not have used that route even had it been the only option available to me.


At times I agree many rates can be artificially high.  My examples were the best rates I could find.  My other half wanted to book an additional few days for next year at the resort at Key West.  They were already sold out. 

Renting privately, during prime time will be closer to $6000 for the two weeks to have descent accomodations.  I have become accustomed to having good accommodations.  Having a bargain rate in a rental home unit I consider sub standard  to what I can have at timeshares is not a route I want to go. I love the amenities and services of a timeshare resort.  That is why timeshares  work for me and not for others.


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## controller1 (Feb 26, 2019)

Panina said:


> I have become accustomed to having good accommodations.  Having a bargain rate in a rental home unit I consider sub standard  to what I can have at timeshares is not a route I want to go. I love the amenities and services of a timeshare resort.  That is why timeshares  work for me and not for others.



This describes us!


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## Dean (Feb 27, 2019)

Panina said:


> At times I agree many rates can be artificially high.  My examples were the best rates I could find.  My other half wanted to book an additional few days for next year at the resort at Key West.  They were already sold out.
> 
> Renting privately, during prime time will be closer to $6000 for the two weeks to have descent accomodations.  I have become accustomed to having good accommodations.  Having a bargain rate in a rental home unit I consider sub standard  to what I can have at timeshares is not a route I want to go. I love the amenities and services of a timeshare resort.  That is why timeshares  work for me and not for others.


As do we.  The original point I was making that got us on this tangent is that sometimes people include things in their decision making that aren't actually related to the accommodations as well as often leaving out true costs.  I've seen this a lot over the years.  Experienced TUGGERS are going to be far less likely to do either but often when I post I'm responding to those who might be new and reading now or in the future.


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## TravelTime (Feb 27, 2019)

After letting the dust settle and thinking this through, I realize now that when traveling under a group rate, it is better to stay quiet and not complain. I thought my TA review would be unidentifiable but I was wrong. I guess all is fair in love and war, as they say, so it probably was in the domain of the hotel to report my complaints to the group leader. If the group leader wants to confront me on it, that is probably okay too because she probably felt that someone complaining about the hotel who is part of her group, even if I booked on my own, should not complain and embarrass the group. Going forward, next time I travel as part of a group, I will keep my comments to myself or make them very unidentifiable without specifics. It is sad that this needs to happen this way. The entire experience at that hotel with that group left a really sour taste in my mouth about TA.


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## davidvel (Feb 27, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> After letting the dust settle and thinking this through, I realize now that when traveling under a group rate, it is better to stay quiet and not complain. I thought my TA review would be unidentifiable but I was wrong. I guess all is fair in love and war, as they say, so it probably was in the domain of the hotel to report my complaints to the group leader. If the group leader wants to confront me on it, that is probably okay too because she probably felt that someone complaining about the hotel who is part of her group, even if I booked on my own, should not complain and embarrass the group. Going forward, next time I travel as part of a group, I will keep my comments to myself or make them very unidentifiable without specifics. It is sad that this needs to happen this way. The entire experience at that hotel with that group left a really sour taste in my mouth about TA.


Great thoughts and humbleness. 

But, don't feel pressured to hide from your original comments and TA post.


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## amanda14 (Feb 28, 2019)

Appreciate you sharing.  The knowledge that can be gained by having others view it is the kind of info I really appreciate about this site.  I will definitely think more carefully when I post a review as a result of this.  Thanks!


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## 1Kflyerguy (Feb 28, 2019)

Interesting thread.  I have attended quite a few conferences, and don't think i ever would have thought to involve the conference organizers with an issue with my accommodations.  In fact i did have an issue with Ritz Carlton in Atlanta while attending a conference.  The Ritz was one of several conference hotels.  I worked with the front desk, and ultimately shared my experience on TripAdvisor, though I think i had already returned home by the time I wrote the review.    

I have heard of some hotels actually retaliating for negative reviews.  I saw news segment on TV where a guest at a small hotel in the UK wrote a negative review the first night of their stay.  When they returned to the hotel the next day, the innkeeper had packed their belongings and checked them out.  The management said they did not feel they would be able to make the guests happy and asked them to leave.

They also reported on some hotel having some type of contract clause for groups rates where the guests are forbidden from posting negative reviews or the rate goes up or some type of penalty is imposed. The example from the news segment had a wedding party stay at a hotel, and one of the guest posted a negative review and the bride and groom got stuck with a larger than expected bill.

I am guessing these examples are smaller hotels or inns, probably not big chains...


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## VacationForever (Feb 28, 2019)

It brings to mind that whenever I stayed in the former SPG brand of hotels, in the post-stay survey there was always a question that was something like "Have you reported the issues that you faced to other media?".  I wonder what would have happened if I had said yes... maybe a follow-up with them to negotiate taking down a negative post?


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## Steve Fatula (Feb 28, 2019)

I would still post the experience on TA, perhaps with updated rating if appropriate based on hotel feedback. No one will ever force me to take down an honest review.


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## sfwilshire (Feb 28, 2019)

TravelTime said:


> Okay, then are you saying it is okay for the hotel to contact the group leader, without contacting the guest first, and then for the group leader to complain to me about the TripAdvisor review? If that is how it works, I will be more careful with what I say on TripAdvisor and disguise my identity better. To me, this just shows how the travel industry manipulates reviews by pressuring people to remove them or change them. Most of my reviews are positive but I do post the truth about my experiences and if it is bad, I say so. A few hotels and tour operators have contacted me through TA to address the review and/or ask me to change it. I usually comply, unfortunately. In the future, I am not giving in. This feels wrong.



I write TripAdvisor reviews now and then. Certainly not every hotel stay because I travel too much, but if the property stands out as especially good or especially bad, I try to write a review. If there are issues that I wish I had known before arrival that aren't reflected in existing reviews, I try to find the time to report them. I appreciate the reviews others leave and try to do my part also. Some of the reviews have been pretty bad, so maybe I should be surprised that no-one ever ask me to remove one. Maybe there is not enough information to identify me.

I should also add that if the review is extremely poor, I provide the same information to the hotel first to give them an opportunity to make it right. I tend to put details of the stay in a Word document as I go along so I don't forget anything. I just cut and paste the info into emails to the hotel mgr (where appropriate), into the hotel chain survey if I am ask to fill one out, to the Marriott Titanium or Hilton Diamond desk, and finally to TripAdvisor (or TUG if it's a timeshare stay).

If I am satisfied or dissatisfied, I say so in no uncertain terms. Others may not have the same triggers as I do, and that's fine. I feel how I feel, so I express those feelings regardless of the forum.

Sheila


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## alwysonvac (Feb 28, 2019)

1Kflyerguy said:


> Interesting thread.  I have attended quite a few conferences, and don't think i ever would have thought to involve the conference organizers with an issue with my accommodations.  In fact i did have an issue with Ritz Carlton in Atlanta while attending a conference.  The Ritz was one of several conference hotels.  I worked with the front desk, and ultimately shared my experience on TripAdvisor, though I think i had already returned home by the time I wrote the review.
> 
> I have heard of some hotels actually retaliating for negative reviews.  I saw news segment on TV where a guest at a small hotel in the UK wrote a negative review the first night of their stay.  When they returned to the hotel the next day, the innkeeper had packed their belongings and checked them out.  The management said they did not feel they would be able to make the guests happy and asked them to leave.
> 
> ...



Hopefully this doesn’t happen as much any more. 

In 2017 the Consumer Review Fairness Act took effect to prevent businesses from including terms and conditions, that allowed them to sue or penalize consumers for posting negative reviews.

The Consumer Review Fairness Act & What It Means for Your Business - https://www.score.org/blog/consumer-review-fairness-act-what-it-means-your-business

Consumer Review Fairness Act: What Businesses Need to Know - https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/bus...review-fairness-act-what-businesses-need-know​


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## TravelTime (Mar 1, 2019)

The Forbes Travel Guide sends inspectors on 3 day blind visits. They claim there is no pay to play.

https://www.travelagewest.com/Trave...28A1692390I7U&ajs_trait_oebid=6012C3585790B5P


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## CalGalTraveler (Mar 1, 2019)

alwysonvac said:


> Hopefully this doesn’t happen as much any more.
> 
> In 2017 the Consumer Review Fairness Act took effect to prevent businesses from including terms and conditions, that allowed them to sue or penalize consumers for posting negative reviews.
> 
> ...



@alwysonvac Thank you. +++ That is very insightful information.


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