This is my letter to GM Stephen J. Sikking
Dear Mr. Steven Sikking this past weekend I had stayed at your Eden Resort Inn and had a horrible stay experience there. While I was staying at your hotel I also had left you three messages on your personal voice mail at your hotel and you never returned any of my phone calls. Your outgoing message at the hotel said you were in the office and would return phone messages left for you. I had left you my room number and my cell phone number so I would not miss your phone call. But you never returned any of my phone calls.
I had stayed at the Courtyard Lancaster hotel last year and had a wonderful stay experience there. I wanted to give your Resort Inn a try from reading the reviews posted on Tripadvisor.com. My experience at your Resort was a nightmare. I have not posted my review of your Resort on Tripadvisor.com as of yet.
From the start when I check in with my wife and two small children, the lady at the desk (Mrika) was not very organized, lost my pre-paid tickets to the breakfast buffet, I had to ask for my tickets to the amusement parks more than once even though it was listed on my reservation. When I told Mrika that I did not have the pre-paid breakfast tickets, she said she gave them to me. She made me check my pockets, open up my wallet, like she was doing a strip search of me. I asked to speak to the manager and she told me he was with a guest right now and I can call him later. I also asked Mrika if she had any chocolate bars for the kids, she told me no. I told Mrika that I was surprised because when I stayed at the Courtyard Lancaster my kids were given two chocolate bars at check in. Also I stayed at Hershey Park in the past at that seem to be a customary thing that is done at any decent hotel in this area. Mrika told me there are chocolate mints for the kids. I told Mrika, small children don’t eat mints because it is a choking hazard.
Once I got up to my room I called the front desk and asked for the hotel manager. Eric finally came to the phone. I told him what had happened with Mrika. Eric gave me the third degree over the phone telling me more than once that they have ways to track these breakfast tickets and that if more than two are presented at my table I am going to be charged. I told Eric that Mrika never gave me the breakfast tickets, and could not understand why he just did not give me new ones without making all the fuss. I also asked him once again that my kids did not get any chocolate bars at check in, and from my experience staying at other hotels in the area that is customary. He told me they don’t do that there and that was it. Eric was not very accommodating, treated me very poorly over the phone. In not so many words Eric was calling me a liar about the breakfast tickets. And what is so ironic is the breakfast buffet at your resort is so-so. My wife and I found the breakfast buffet choices were very limited, and did not even feel it was even worth what we paid for it.
Our refrigerator in our room was also not working. My wife had put a bunch of milk and chocolate milk and some small food for the kids in it. When we returned to the room that night everything in it was spoiled. I called the front desk at spoke with Marci. I told Marci that all the milk and food my wife put in the refrigerator was spoiled. I also told her the refrigerator was making weird sounds. Marci had someone come look at it and it was replaced with another one because it was broken. Marci never offered to replace any of the milks or spoiled items. Since right next to the front desk is a place where the hotel desk charges guest for milks, chocolate and other items it would not have been difficult for her to do. It also would not have been difficult for Eric the hotel manager to give my kids two chocolate bars.
Coffee pot in room was filthy. I could not even have a cup of coffee in my room. The place where the water goes had packed on dust in it and was not sanitary to drink from. The Knobs were falling off closet in room. Most of the stations on the TV were very snowy.
The beds in our room were very small and my wife who is pregnant did not sleep at all both nights because she was very uncomfortable in it. I had asked Mrika if she could give us another room with queen beds and was told no. I also tried to call your Mr. Sikking for your help and see if you could make our stay better on our second night there but you never called me back after leaving you three messages.
When we had to walk through hotel lobby to get to our room or go to breakfast the ceiling was falling down my son slipped on floor. There were ladders and buckets all over the place and no one roped off area to keep hotel guest safe. You had to walk around the wet floor and debris and water leaking from ceiling.
Mr. Sikking, since you have not gotten back to me I am going to contact Best Western Corporate Headquarters and see if someone in Mr. David Kong’s office can address my complaints.
This is the lettter Stephen J. Sikking wrote me:
I have spoken to both Mr. Eric Brown and Ms. Mrika Kallaba regarding the incident you and I discussed yesterday. I have talked with my chief engineer regarding the ceiling leak and subsequent clean up. As I mentioned in both my letter yesterday and during our subsequent conversation it certainly appears as though the items you encountered were unusual occurrences at the Eden.
Both Eric and Mrika acknowledged the breakfast ticket mix-up during the registration process. According to Eric he quickly offered to replace the tickets once he was made aware of the situation, but he apologizes if he made you feel as though he was questioning your honesty. He explained that your wife came to the desk to retrieve the tickets and at that time he even offered chocolates to your children. Unfortunately, the chocolate had nuts in them and your wife explained that your children were allergic to nuts.
I believe the hotel staff worked diligently to correct the sudden roof leak caused by heavy rains and within a short time they had a safe path with non-skid carpet runners placed on the tile in that area. The ceiling tiles were unable to be replaced until the leak itself was resealed.
Although you encountered some unusual situations I still believe the Eden Resort offers the areas best overall value on a consistent basis. I would like to encourage you to return to the property and try us again by offering you a complimentary overnight stay with breakfast for four based on the hotels availability.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to take advantage of this offer. I am sure you will find your next stay much more satisfactory.
Thank you again for your time and patience in allowing me to address this situation. I do hope you consider trying us again in the near future.
When I tried to take GM Stephen J. Sikking up on the complimentary overnight stay this is the email he sent me:
I am retracting my offer below as a result of my recent conversation with Best Western. You should have made me aware of the fact that they had already offered you $100 when we were talking. Unfortunately, every once in a while I come across someone more interested in taking advantage of a businesses hospitality rather than in being fair. You are clearly that type of person.