'Is this enough to compensate?': Woman gets free parking and a $150 steak dinner after getting stuck in a 5-star hotel bathroom for an hour, hospitality professionals say she should've gotten more

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Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Jan 6, 2024 1:00 PM EST

What do you expect in terms of hospitality when you book an expensive 5-star hotel? You're usually paying upwards of $500 a night, so you would think they would provide the best of services. Especially if you get stuck in a bathroom! Things happen and precarious situations arise, we all know that's unavoidable in this place we call life. But it is how you handle these situations that gives you a top notch rating. When this woman got stuck in a 5-star hotel bathroom while vacationing with her boyfriend, she wasn't exactly sure if the compensation she received really matched a 5-star rating and honestly, other hospitality professionals seem to agree. The hotel tried to offer her less, but eventually they agreed on comping the parking and giving the couple a $150 for the nice steak restaurant in the hotel. All nice and fun, but the bathroom door was never fixed or even cleaned up. So what's really the deal here?

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    Cheezburger Image 9860613120
    via Pixabay via Pexels
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    Posted by u/SignificantDesk7605 5 days ago Trapped in hotel bathroom
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    My boyfriend and I went on vacation on the east coast. We stayed at a 5 star hotel for 2 days. While there, I got trapped inside the hotel room bathroom right
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    before we were about to go out. I was trapped in the bathroom for about an hour and an engineer had to break our door lock with a crowbar in order to get me out.
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    The debri from the door was not cleaned up. We parked our car in a nearby parking lot and being trapped in this bathroom led to us not being able to move the car in time,
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    resulting in an additional $32 dollar charge, as well as delaying us for the activities we had planned. Its been about 5 hours since the situation happened and our
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    room has still not been cleaned up and we called the manager and he said he would send clean up about four hours ago. To fix this issue,
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    the manager gave us a $150 restaurant credit (to an expensive steakhouse inside the hotel) and free parking for the rest of our stay ($65 value). He originally
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    offered us only a $75 credit and we had to bargain for $150 and the free parking. Is this enough to compensate time wasted and for the danger caused by this incident? What
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    are your thoughts? TLDR: Got stuck in hotel room bathroom of five star hotel. Is $150 compensation enough?
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    Update: it's 19 hours after the situation has happened and our room still has not been cleaned up.
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    Also, forgot to mention that I did not have my phone in the bathroom (it was charging in the other part of the room) so I was lucky that my boyfriend was in the room when I got stuck. This also
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    explains why my boyfriend didn't leave the room to go get our car. Another update: we checked out of the hotel and the door debris was still not cleaned. Hopefully
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    they clean it for the next person who is staying in that room (and hopefully they get a new door too!)
    via u/SignificantDesk7605
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    Big-Net-9971. 5 days ago I am sorry that you got trapped in the bathroom, and your plans for the evening got messed up.
    via u/Big-Net-9971
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    On the bright side, you were not in any real danger, just an annoyance, and you've gotten some kind of treatment, a nice steak dinner, and a pretty funny story to tell out of
    via u/Big-Net-9971
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    the adventure. While it will seem weird, do personally thank the folks that helped you when you needed them. Yes, somehow the hotel screwed up and created the
    via u/Big-Net-9971
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    situation, but it was not out of malice, and it was certainly not the fault of the people that helped you. (Plus, I'm sure they're embarrassed about it...)
    via u/Big-Net-9971
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    arpeggi4 4 days ago It happened to me in Chicago at a fancy hotel, I just busted the door off lol. We were able to fix it
    via u/arpeggi4
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    kind of and didn't get charged so it was fine, but it's weird it's happened to multiple people all over.
    via u/arpeggi4
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    OP mackenzieb123 · 4 days ago They should have given her a new room and comped her a night. If they are booked up, and can't move her, they should comp her stay. This is WILD treatment for a 5- star $500+ room a night.
    via u/mackenzieb123
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    Late-Egg2664. 3 days ago Perhaps contact corporate with a report of your stay? I'd discuss the missed opportunities to do the things you intended on your stay, the poor maintenance which
    via u/Late-Egg2664
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    resulted in you getting stuck, and the hazard created by the debris which the hotel failed to clean up. I hope you took pictures? Both being stuck and the debris could have resulted in injury and been a liability for the hotel. I'd ask them
    via u/Late-Egg2664
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    how this hotel has a 5 star rating when it treats guests' well being worse than a Holiday Inn, and why the manager wasn't able to handle clearing the debris or compensating you for ruining the day you paid them for. The parking $ just
    via u/Late-Egg2664
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    counteracted fees incurred due to them. The dinner is inadequate, and forced to you to change plans. Say the hotel failed to live up to it's reputation, but stay calm and professional so they don't treat you like a Karen.
    via u/Late-Egg2664
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    You could always dispute some of the charges (itemized from the bill for that night's stay) with your credit card if they fail to comp that night. You didn't get what you paid for. They left you in a broken room!
    via u/Late-Egg2664

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