"Today, my sister and I were subjected to an absolutely unprecedented and deeply disturbing experience at the King George, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Athens.
After an exhausting overnight flight, we arrived at the hotel by taxi, hoping for nothing more than a smooth check-in and the opportunity to rest. Instead, during the registration process, a concierge service employee named Cleopatracategorically and unapologetically informed us that we would not be allowed to check into our pre-reserved and confirmed room.
Her reasoning was that she was allegedly unable to charge the payment to a virtual credit card belonging to our brother, a Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite member, who had made the reservation for us. Despite the fact that this method of booking has been used by him repeatedly around the world for his children and close family members without ever encountering any issues, she insisted that this was “Marriott policy” and that she would not accommodate us under any circumstances.
As a result, we were forced to wake our brother in New York, in a completely different time zone, to explain the situation. Even after he personally clarified that this booking method is standard practice and has never been questioned at Marriott properties worldwide, the employee stubbornly refused to offer any solution whatsoever.
For two hours, we were left standing at the front desk — exhausted, jet-lagged, emotionally distressed, and utterly confused as to what was being demanded of us. The employee’s behavior was irrational, dismissive, and openly hostile.
I finally expressed to her that her conduct and attitude toward guests — particularly loyal members of the Marriott Bonvoy program — directly contradict the values and standards publicly upheld by Marriott International. We have stayed at countless Marriott properties across the world, in hotels of various categories, and have never encountered such rudeness, incompetence, and blatant disrespect.
I requested to speak with a Senior Manager in order to formally file a complaint regarding both the incident and this specific employee. In response, she deliberately misled us, pointing to various staff members and falsely presenting them as Senior Managers, until those employees themselves confirmed that they had no such position.
At the same time, my sister began recording the situation on video in order to document the events. At this point, the employee became hysterical, screaming and aggressively demanding that the video be deleted. We refused. She then called the police and began telling them fabricated stories in Greek.
Without going into every horrifying detail of what followed, I will state only this: all staff members present in the lobby positioned themselves at the exit, physically blocking our way and preventing us from leaving the hotel. The police eventually requested that the video be deleted, clearly recognizing that the concierge employee was behaving in a completely unprofessional and unstable manner and that the situation could otherwise escalate indefinitely. My sister deleted the video, and we finally managed to leave the hotel.
We left what is, without exaggeration, the most offensive, hostile, and least customer-oriented Marriott property we have ever encountered."
