If you had problems with your room at the Chicago Hilton

[DebbieJ]

Please email Experient at pamperedchef@<hidden email>. I just called this morning and they said to email them so it is documented.

They need to know. I talked to lots of consultants who had issues and yet only a few of them had let Experient know. They need to know so it can be avoided next year!

Thanks!

[janetupnorth]

Thanks Deb, I forwarded it on to my roomies who had some issues at the Palmer House.

[JAE]

Thanks for the reminder. Only a payment problem, but the room was fine. I like the Hilton.

[colegrovet]

I had no problems at Hilton.. :)

[DebbieJ]

I think with teh Wave 1-Wave 2 overlap and then another conference going on at the Hilton at the same time, they made some big boo boos. It's just not acceptable, though!

[janetupnorth]

Palmer House had some issues with rooms, took away all the coffee pots without saying anything and wouldn't give one when asked, overcharged the PC debit cards and froze peoples' spending money, etc...

I liked my stay last year, but had issues with the Palmer House not refunding my deposit for almost 2 months! I stayed there again, but will reconsider for next year.

[Chefgirl2]

Thanks for the email info. We intentionally waited until 3:30 to check in. I was irritated to find that they were overbooked, and even more irritated when they tried to convince us to save $10 and only have one bathroom! Amazingly a room popped up ready and they sent us to a smoking room where two consultants started having allergic reactions (coughing- headache)...an hour later we finally had an acceptable room. Check out was unbelievable...but at least I have Hilton honors and didn't have to wait too long. You would think they never dealt with a convention and room sharing before we came to town this week...

[Ginger428]

Sorry you guys had problems, I could not have been happier with my stay at the Hilton....:)

[DebbieJ]

Check out was unbelievable...

We checked out on the TV in the room.

[quiverfull7]

Thankfully everything at the Hilton was super great for us... we were Wave 1 but last year was Wave 2 for us and they were great then too ... of course nothing could top the fiasco at Leadership last year with the hotel! :)

[pchefjennoy]

Our problems at the Hilton were more housekeeping related. After the first day when we went back to our room the roll of TP the housekeeper put on was 1/2 brown like it fell in some dirty water!!! I had seen on some news show about how they don't take the glasses out of the room to clean them (like coffee cups) they just wash them in the bathroom sink with YOUR dirty rags. So I made a mark on the bottom of our dirty mug and surprise surprise that mug was in our room with the coffee maker....So how was it washed?? obviously not in a dishwasher. How unsanitary is that??? Then we had to check SEVERAL different floors to find ice for one of our roommates that had recently had surgery on her knee. I have to say the manager was really great but sheesh we could all get sick from those nasty cups!!! So NEVER drink from those cups in the room unless they are disposable!!

[raebates]

I have to admit that I wash glasses in the room before using them. I'd rather use a little shampoo and rinse well than be exposed to, well, whatever. I also NEVER use the coffeemaker in a hotel room. My imagination about what children (let alone adults) could do to them is too vivid.

[PChef_ang]

how's that saying go, What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, with what's been said above and what I used at the hotel, I guess I'm feeling a bit stronger!! Thank the Lord it didn't kill me, lol!
Guess next year I'll be cleaning after I check in :yuck:

[chefjeanine]

We had problems with our room at the Hilton. We checked in Sunday (after 5:00) and they did not have "our" room available (2 beds, 2 baths, NO SMOKING). It was especially irritating since my roommate (who made the reservation) called the day before (called the Hilton) to verify our reservation. They tried to get us into a two bed, one bath. We ended up in a 2/2/Smoking with the promise of getting into the room we had reserved on Monday.

The 10th floor STINKS! :yuck: When you get off the elevator the smell was overwhelming. The room wasn't much better but by the time we got in there we were exhausted. Of course, all our stuff stunk for the rest of the conference.

Someone told me later that you can't be put into a room that is a demotion when you have a reservation. Anyone know if this is true? Should we have pushed for an upgrade? I'd like to know for future reference.

[crystalscookingnow]

Usually, Smoking preference is a request, not a guarantee. I'm not sure if there's anything that can be done about that. That said, I detest being put in a smoking room. I have a severe allergy to cigarette smoke & usually end up with bronchitis b/c of it.

[iteachurkid]

I would complain to the actual hotel if I were you all. Last year our experience at the Sheraton sounds about like the Hilton this year. I went to their website when I got home and wrote a letter about the experience. I ended up getting a genuine apology from the CEO and a free night. I used it this year (the hotel was 100 times better), they made sure I had a good view, and they sent a fruit/nut/pretzel tray one afternoon. It might be worth just telling them how things were. You shouldn't have to pay for service like you all received.

[PaulaP]

One of my roommates and I had a terrible experience at Palmer House and our bank cards. They tried to make us believe that our bank was the problem. It was finally resolved on the 15th!!! We spoke with experience before we left the convention. We will not be staying there again!!!!

[DebbieJ]

I would complain to the actual hotel if I were you all. Last year our experience at the Sheraton sounds about like the Hilton this year. I went to their website when I got home and wrote a letter about the experience. I ended up getting a genuine apology from the CEO and a free night. I used it this year (the hotel was 100 times better), they made sure I had a good view, and they sent a fruit/nut/pretzel tray one afternoon. It might be worth just telling them how things were. You shouldn't have to pay for service like you all received.

Yes, I also called the General Managers office today and spoke with his assistant at length. I am supposed to have a call back by Monday.

But since Experient is the company that handles our hotel arrangements, they need to know as well.

[raebates]

We were pleased with the Hilton. Well, we had some cooling issues for the first 24 hours. The room felt a bit stuffy and, while the room wasn't hot, it certainly wasn't cool. It took a few calls but my final threat of, "There are three menopausal woman staying in this room--it could get really ugly if it doesn't start getting cool," seemed to work. :)

[chefjeanine]

I would complain to the actual hotel if I were you all.

When we were checking in (trying to) the clerk told us that our travel company had overbooked the rooms. I know they also had some trouble at Leadership. Let's hope they find a company that can handle the job or this one can get it together.

[pampered1224]

We had issues checking in but it was definately the hotels fault on that one. It seems that the clerks each had different rules about check ins. There were 4 of us staying in one room. One consultant checked in and I tried to check in a few hours later on Wednesday. I was told my name was not on the room so I had to find the first consultant to come down and get me on the room. But here is the kicker, they would not let me call the room or go up to see if he was there! I was in the hotel for two hours before we could find him. (That also taught me to make very sure i had my roomies' cell numbers where I could find them!) I had to check my bags and sit and wait. What a pain. When he checked in he was told, none of the other three names could be put on the room. But when I checked in, we put the other two names on the room without a hitch so we never had to make sure we were around for the last two to check in right away. How stupid! After that however, no problems.

[Fluffy215]

I will not be staying at the Palmer House next year. This was my first year at conference and loved everything about it except for the hotel. For one I had the room to myself and thank goodness because it was so small. My cabin on my cruise was larger than this. I had no place to hang my clothes. I could not use the bathroom without going past the toilet bowl to shut the door. The maids kept turning the thermometer down to 62 degrees. In these times of energy worries why would a hotel turn the temp down so low if the guest turned it up. I had turned it up to 72 degrees and everytime I came back from conference it was back down to 62. What a waste of money. They also put me in an adjoining room without asking me first. I have an issue that I do not know who is next to me and they have a door to my room that can not be seen by a camera. Very uncomfortable. Never again. I may try Sheraton but never again the Palmer House!!!

[EpTxGuy]

I liked my stay last year, but had issues with the Palmer House not refunding my deposit for almost 2 months!


Are the room deposits refunded? I was charged 1/4 of the deposit by the person who had the room in his name, since he was out $200. Should I be asking this guy for a refund when he gets his deposit back?

[pampered1224]

That's a good question. I know we gave the front desk $384 out of our pockets. You, me and Scott. Let me check the math as you may be right. I will private message you when I figure it out.

[EpTxGuy]

Thanks John. Oh, and thanks for taking care of the names on the room reservation so that I had a smooth check in on Thursday morning. I had no idea about the drama you went thru the previous day. I really appreciate it!

[Ginger428]

I made the reservations for my director & myself. Gave both our names, but used my CC. When we checked in we both showed our cards & when we checked out (the night before my director called & in the morning there were 2 pieces of paper under the door 1 for each of us. On mine the deposit was already taken off my bill....HTH

[chefann]

My group didn't have any problems. I guess we were lucky.

The only thing that would even be considered a partial issue is that they mixed up the names on 2 receipts, but they reprinted them and it was fine. I will have DH keep an eye on that card to make sure everything is OK, though.

[pchefkristin]

We didnt have any problems at the Hilton at all... well, except for the possessed elevator. We went from floor 6 (going down to the lobby) down to floor 3 and then starting going up... all the way to 13 at a very rapid rate, and then descending quite quickly with some shaking action going on. Pretty crazy for sure...

One of the girls in our group said that her underwear were strewn all over the room upon return one evening though... that is pretty creepy!

I have found it easier though to pay cash at check in for our group. We do the annual garage sale and it covers both rooms and then some. No mix ups on credit cards or charges for possible incedentals.
I learned from the San Fran trip that some hotels will hold $175 on your card to cover any room charges, etc you may incur.

I did hear of some consultants having a bug issue at the Palmer house... and not just any bug issue. Apparently the bug was HUGE. They put a glass on top of it and waited for someone to come up and take care of it for them. Nobody did. Even housekeeping cleaned around it! What the?

[katie0128]

If it was that large, maybe housekeeping thought it was a pet!

[Sallie_M]

of course nothing could top the fiasco at Leadership last year with the hotel! :)

You brought a smile to my face at 5:15 a.m. Ok, it was more of a grimace, but thanks for the reminder that things could always be worse:D

[pamperedbecky]

Our experience in Wave 3 this year was amazingly good. It was probably the first time I NEVER had a problem with anything there. Oh my gosh, that Leadership nightmare was horrendous!!! We checked in with NO problem and there was no wait. We just checked out from the room. They actually got all the receipts right and charged me the correct amount since I was the one that made the initial reservation. I was amazed. We never saw the amount of lines that we've seen in years past. Now last year....that's a different story!!

[EpTxGuy]

They actually got all the receipts right and charged me the correct amount since I was the one that made the initial reservation.

Was your room deposit deducted from your final bill, or is it something that they will refund to you later?

[Ginger428]

Our experience in Wave 3 this year was amazingly good. It was probably the first time I NEVER had a problem with anything there. Oh my gosh, that Leadership nightmare was horrendous!!! We checked in with NO problem and there was no wait. We just checked out from the room. They actually got all the receipts right and charged me the correct amount since I was the one that made the initial reservation. I was amazed. We never saw the amount of lines that we've seen in years past. Now last year....that's a different story!!

That is exactly how smooth mine went as well! Cannot wait till next year...;)

[chefann]

Was your room deposit deducted from your final bill, or is it something that they will refund to you later?

Mine will be refunded to my card. We had 4 in the room and had the bill split 4 ways. We had the room for 3 nights, so the 1 night deposit was actually more than 1/4 of the total stay. So my card will be refunded the difference (yay!). That's how they worked it in my room... your mileage may vary.

[merego]

The Sheraton wasn't a great experience, we are going to contact them and put in our opinions.

[janetupnorth]

It depends on what you told the desk.

Last year, I paid the deposit, then the room was split 3 ways and everyone paid a night then I got the deposit back since we paid on other cards.

This year, the person making reservations wanted the deposit up-front so we paid her.
We told them at the desk that each paid something so they applied that amount to each bill and she will not get her deposit refunded because we paid the balance.

Basically it depends how you paid and if you applied the deposit to the room.

[MissChef]

I think with teh Wave 1-Wave 2 overlap and then another conference going on at the Hilton at the same time, they made some big boo boos. It's just not acceptable, though!

Go get 'em Deb!! I know you were NOT happy with them at our meet-n-greet! ;)

[DebbieJ]

Go get 'em Deb!! I know you were NOT happy with them at our meet-n-greet! ;)

yeah, because I still didn't have a room at that point!!! :eek:

[baychef]

We were at the Palmer House for the 3rd year in a row with no problems. We stayed at a Best Western in Allen Town, MI (right outside of Detroit) and that hotel could teach all of the hotels in Chicago a thing or two. Talk about comfortable rooms!

In my 8 years I have stayed at the Sheraton, Palmer House and the Embassy Suites (just a block away from Sheraton). Just have never gotten the Hilton and it seems as if I may not be missing anything!

[fikibiff]

Our only problem was that Friday night, after dinner and dancing, we got to our room around 1am and our key cards would not work. We went back down to the desk and he told us we must have had them too close to our cell phones or other credit cards. I checked, and he was not interested in a PC catalog. Anyway, he reprogrammed them, or whatever they do, and we went back up to our room. We tried both of them again, but neither worked. We were all getting tired and cranky. We called the front desk from our floor's lobby and they said they would send up security. After about 20 minutes and calling 2 other times, finally a guy showed up. We all followed him to our room and he tried some card he had and informed us that the battery in the lock was dead. He said he would call the electrician. Great. It's now 1:30am. The electrician actually showed up with in about 10 minutes. While we were waiting I asked the security guard if he would like to look at a PC catalog. Guess what, he did. He said his wife might need a few things. Anyway, we finally got into our room and all got ready for bed while our room door was wide open and 2 men were standing in it, while working on the lock.

[chefann]

We were at the Palmer House for the 3rd year in a row with no problems. We stayed at a Best Western in Allen Town, MI (right outside of Detroit) and that hotel could teach all of the hotels in Chicago a thing or two. Talk about comfortable rooms!

I think you mean Allen Park. :)

[ChefBeckyD]

We were at the Palmer House for the 3rd year in a row with no problems. We stayed at a Best Western in Allen Town, MI (right outside of Detroit) and that hotel could teach all of the hotels in Chicago a thing or two. Talk about comfortable rooms!

In my 8 years I have stayed at the Sheraton, Palmer House and the Embassy Suites (just a block away from Sheraton). Just have never gotten the Hilton and it seems as if I may not be missing anything!

We used to stay at the Embassy Suites, but they stopped giving us the same price as the conference hotels!:cry: LOVED it there! Free drinks at night before dinner, free made to order breakfast in the morning......it was worth the block walk to the shuttle!

[erinyourpclady]

We actually stay at the Hyatt at McCormick. We get a miltary rate so it is even cheaper then the conference rate. Every year after Conference is over, my Director reserves our rooms for the following year...........
I love the east access of staying there! We pay a little more for cabs if we leave from the hotel but for the most part..we can take the shuttle to the Hilton and catch cabs there!

[redsoxgirl]

ours was good too...
we also checked out on the tv