"I've removed the dashes and replaced them with more natural punctuation while keeping the wording polished.
The air conditioning in Room 926 did not work, and unfortunately my stay coincided with one of the hottest weeks of the year so far.
I reported the issue first thing in the morning, as I was staying for a three night work trip, and was assured it would be resolved by the time I returned later that afternoon. When I got back to the hotel at around 4:30 to 5:00 pm, the air conditioning was still not working. Although it was blowing air, it wasn't cooling the room. You could only feel a slight effect if you stood directly underneath the unit, which obviously wasn't practical.
I returned to reception expecting to be offered a room change but was instead told I needed to speak to a manager. Unfortunately, my interaction with the manager, Marlon, was disappointing. There was no apology for the inconvenience. He briefly looked at me before turning away and continuing his conversation with a colleague. I was asked to wait, during which time four new guests were checked in ahead of me.
When Marlon eventually spoke to me, he matter of factly advised that he could move me to a single bed room, despite the fact I had booked and paid for a Deluxe King Room. There was no mention of refunding the difference in room rate and, once again, no apology. I explained that I would like to be moved to a comparable room, or at the very least one with a double bed. I was told there were no such rooms available and was instead offered a fan. With little choice, I accepted the fan.
Later that evening, an engineer came to my room and attempted to repair the air conditioning again. Unfortunately, it still wasn't working properly and wasn't circulating enough cool air to make the room comfortable. The engineer himself was extremely polite, apologetic and genuinely tried to help, so I had intended to leave the matter there.
However, the following morning I discovered that one of my shopping bags was missing from my room and had apparently been mistakenly thrown away by housekeeping. Given the ongoing issues with the air conditioning and the constant back and forth with reception the previous day, I hadn't noticed it sooner.
I contacted reception, and the duty manager attended my room to take a description of the missing bag and its contents. She was very apologetic. At that time, I couldn't remember everything that had been in the bag, only the two items I needed that morning. After checking, I advised her that the items I could account for totalled £8, but I made it clear that this was simply all I could remember at that moment. I was refunded £15.
When I checked out on Thursday, I realised that my hair serum was also missing. After checking my suitcase and all of my other bags, I informed reception but was told that the manager was unavailable. Later that day, when I returned to collect my luggage from the bag storage room, I spoke to another manager, Mo, who gave me an email address and advised me to send details and a photograph of the missing item so that it could be refunded. The serum cost 58£ and that was the only reason I flagged it to them at this point otherwise I would have just left it.
Today I received an email refusing reimbursement. I was told that because I had not reported the missing hair serum on the same day it was mistakenly disposed of by housekeeping, I was not entitled to compensation. I was also told that because I had not provided proof of purchase, despite never being asked for it, this was another reason for denying my claim (I have the receipt, it was gift for my birthday).
I am a Hilton Honors member, and this stay was a corporate booking through my employer. I've stayed at this hotel regularly over the past several months and have never experienced anything like this before. Whether there has been a change in management or something else has changed, the standard of customer service has deteriorated significantly, as has any sense of accountability.
As this was a corporate booking, I will be escalating this matter through our corporate account manager. I wanted to share my experience so that others are aware of the level of service the Double Tree Hilton are offering some of its clients. The interaction with the first Manager Marlon was already not pleasant but now couple with the fact the hotel staff threw my personal belongings in the bin just made things all the worse. The most disappointing aspect was the complete lack of accountability and customer care shown throughout what should have been a straightforward situation to resolve."
