In the hospitality business, it is often the response to things that go wrong, rather than the mishaps themselves, that define your experience. Such was the case with our two-night stay at Meadowmere.
Our weekend spa package included massages and a deluxe room with a jacuzzi tub. The jacuzzi is in its own room within the room, not plunked in the middle of the floor like you often see at these places. It is a nice feature and the only reason to pay more than $200 a night here, because otherwise, everything is fairly standard, and in fact the bathroom is small and spare, with an exterior sink.
On the final (and coldest!) morning of our stay, we awoke at 8AM no hot water in our entire section of the facility. After our initial call, the front desk kept us apprised of the situation, saying that we could shower in the gym if need be. We received a call that the water would be restored at 10AM, one hour before our check-out. Unfortunately, when we turned the tub on, brown, murky water poured out. We gave up on the tub and the hope of squeezing in any more relaxation at that point.
Upon checkout, the young man at the front desk says, "was everything OK with your stay?" An odd statement given our previous conversation. "Well, there was the whole no hot water thing." He starts printing out our receipt, placing it in front of us as we're still talking! Then we told him about the disgusting brown water. I thought he'd be shocked and apologetic. Instead he says, "oh, you know, you should have told us, because we sent someone around to all the rooms that had this problem, to clean out tubs." WOW. He then launches into this convoluted pseudo-explanation about sediment in the pipes. The issue, to us, was not HOW it happened, it was that it DID happen. At no point did he apologize for the inconvenience, explain why he hadn't warned us about the sediment when I spoke to him on the phone, or offer any concession. This was the same person who checked us in, and he took NO ownership of us or our less than stellar experience.
At that point we flat out asked him to adjust the rate, because as I stated to him, the tub was a central reason that we paid $750 for a two-night stay. He put both of his hands on the desk and backed away and summoned the manager. She, by the way, was standing two feet away, in full earshot of our exchange, but seemed much more interested in the sweatshirts she was selling to another guest. After a quick glance at our bill, she arbitrarily offered us a measly $26 off the stay, with no explanation as to how she arrived at that figure.
We didn't fight. Relaxation WAS the point of this trip, after all. However, this was a sour ending to an otherwise pleasant trip. There was no reason to send us away feeling that way. This wasn't a money grab. I expected them to happily and proactively adjust the rate or make some other gesture to make it right, not to have to stand there and extract a measly $26 as a forced concession.
I hope management understands that experienced travelers expect things to go wrong, but they also expect staff to rise to the challenge when they do. Based on this five minutes in the lobby, I would be very reluctant to recommend this place, and I would certainly not return.
