I have been a member of the Marriott Rewards program for over 30-years. While I may not be an Ambassador Elite member, I believe that 30+ years of loyalty still has value to Marriott.
On February 15, 2025, I made a reservation at the ALOFT Brookly New York Hotel for a one-night stay from April 26 – 26, 2025, and confirmed it with the same credit card I have used for other Marriott reservations, for years.
On the evening of April 25, I realized I would be arriving late to the hotel. As a courtesy to the hotel, at 6:58 PM, I tried to call the local hotel number, to advise them I would be arriving very late. After selecting the option to speak to a hotel representative, the phone rang for almost a minute with no answer. I immediately called back and this time, selected to option to make a reservation. This put me ibn touch with the main Marriott reservation center. I explained that I wanted to alert the hotel to my late arrival but couldn’t contact anyone at the hotel. The agent looked up and confirmed my reservation and advised he would note my record that I would be arriving late. He did not advise me of any potential issues with my reservation.
When my wife and I arrived at the hotel at close to midnight, I found two other couple waiting to check in at what was an abandoned front desk. One of the guests waiting said she was told the desk agent went out for something to eat.
After about 20-minutes, the agent finally returned. When he got done chatting with his friend, who came back with him from wherever he was, he finally checked in the two couple that were ahead of me. When he got to me, I handed him my driver’s license and credit card. He looked up my reservation and said;
“Didn’t you get our email? We didn’t get no money.”
I had no idea what he meant and explained I had not received any emails from Marriott or the hotel. He again said;
“Your card is no good. We don’t get no money. We cancelled your reservation.”
I replied, “Well, I’m here now and I have my credit card so you can check me in.”
This seemed to update him. He said to me,
“Why you talk to me like this? What makes you think you are entitled? I don’t even have to let you in here, you don’t have no reservation. People do this all the time. They make a reservation with a bad card, they don’t show up, and we don’t get no money.”
While I’m sure that does happen, as a 30+ year Marriott Rewards member, I resent the implication that I am one of those people.
I will say again, I never received an email advising of a problem with my card. I also did not receive any message from my bank that a card transaction had been declined. At 6:59 PM, when I spoke to the reservation center, they made no mention that there was a problem with my card nor did they advise my reservation had been cancelled for non-payment.
Eventually, the desk agent did give me the room, but not before reminding me two more times that he didn’t have to let me into the hotel because I didn’t have a reservation.
At 9:00 AM on the morning on April 26, 2025, when my wife and I were ready to check out, we went to the lobby, only to find about a dozen people standing at the again, abandoned front desk, all waiting to check out. There were no agents behind the desk and no hotel staff to be seen anywhere in the lobby. To avoid what would have been a long wait, I just dropped our keys in the box and left the hotel.
Beyond this terrible service, has anyone at the hotel considered the potential danger they are putting their customers in and the potential liability for the hotel?
The front desk of the hotel is a less that 5-feet from the front door. When we arrived at midnight, the front door was wide open. Anyone would walk into the lobby. There was someone playing pool in the lobby and other people mulling around. Were these innocent bystanders or did someone see this as an opportunity to quickly grab the wallets and valuables of hotel guests that couldn’t get checked in because no one at the hotel was around? What about the dozen or so people waiting to check out. Surely at least some of them had cash to pay for their stay. A person on the street could easily duck into the lobby, collect valuables from the unprotected guests and be gone, before a hotel employee ever returned to the desk. These situations all pose serious exposure and liability to the hotel, which has a reasonable expectation to secure their premises. Leaving the front desk abandoned surely puts that expectation into question.
The fact that the front desk was abandoned when people wanted to check in is bad. The rude and disrespectful behavior of the front desk clerk, when he finally arrived, is totally unacceptable and the fact that the front desk was again abandoned at 9:00 AM on a Saturday morning when many guests want to check out is, to me, a sign that the management of this hotel is completely unqualified and has no understanding of what customer service means.
I do not mean to sound like an alarmist or the voice of doom, but as a former corporate risk manager for major corporations, I got paid to think about what could go wrong in a variety of situations.
I would rather sleep in my car, than spend another night at the ALOFT Brooklyn New York Hotel.
I hope this experience is not typical of the ALOFT brand. Regardless, the ALOFT Brooklyn New York Hotel is a disgrace to the Marriott name and reputation and I urge them to either fix it, change the hotel management, or close it, before it hurts the Marriott name permanently.
