Travel Tip 94
What to do with problems at your hotel.
My room’s waterfall view and private jacuzzi at Huacahuasi more than made up for the cracked windowpane.
5 tips for how to deal with hotel problems.
This past week I accompanied a group of Brazilian tour agents on a trip through the Sacred Valley that included staying at five hotels and inspections of another three hotels. Each was great in some ways but also had its drawbacks.
My rooms were also mostly wonderful, but at Lamay Lodge the thermostat in my room didn’t work and my shower didn’t drain. At Huacahuasi Lodge one of my windowpanes was cracked and my room at Andean Wings had mosquitoes. I’ll add Lamay & Huacahuasi Lodges to my Brand Partnerships page so you can also see everything I loved about each lodge. Only places I love are featured on that page and Andean Wings doesn’t make the cut.
Travel long enough, and odds are you’ll experience a problem at a hotel.
I didn’t notice my room’s broken thermostat at Lamay Lodge until after I had unpacked. Rather than asking me to pack up and move to another room, the staff had a space heater in my room in less than a minute.
Here’s what to do when something goes wrong.
1. Is the problem fixable or not?
Assess if the hotel can reasonably fix the problem. Missing towels or shampoo and remote controls that don’t work should be a quick fix. Broken shades, leaky faucets and stained sheets are fixable, but take long enough that the hotel should move you to another room. Loud bars nearby or rooms that do not match website photos might not be fixable. Consider if you have the time and energy to ask for a refund and go find another hotel.
2. Address the problem asap.
Take a good look around the room when you first get there, because that’s the best moment to ask for changes or fixes. The sooner you tell the staff what the problem is, the more time they have to fix it. If you’ve spent a couple days in a room, then tell the hotel staff that it’s unacceptable, they’re likely to doubt your sincerity. If you accepted it for two days already, why complain now?
I was about to ask for a bigger room at this hotel in Medellín, Colombia until I double checked my reservation and saw the room size was clearly marked. This was my mistake, not theirs.
3. What do you want the solution to be?
Before you take the problem to hotel staff or management, think about what you want. Would moving to a different room make you happy? An upgrade to a better room? A free meal at a restaurant or free spa service? If you can tell hotel staff what would fix the problem, then they don’t have to guess what might work for you.
4. Communicate effectively with hotel management.
Consider who should hear the complaint. Most of the time the front desk staff can handle problems but if it’s something big then it should go directly to management. If you have an email address for hotel admin, consider first speaking to the front desk staff and then emailing admin what the problem is and if the staff already fixed it or not.
Patagonia Apart Hotel in Punta Arenas Chile advertises breakfast delivered to your room, but it’s just a basket left outside your door. I could barely eat the hard rolls and didn’t even try the questionable ham.
5. Document the problem.
Take photos with your phone and email them to hotel management. If the problem isn’t visible, try to document some sort of evidence, even if that’s just the email you send.
Problems happen, even at the best hotels.
Unless the problem is particularly egregious, try to give the hotel the benefit of the doubt. People make mistakes and problems that a hotel can fix should be regarded as opportunities for a hotel to show you how well they can deal with issues. You might get an upgrade or something free that will ultimately make you like the hotel even more than you would have if nothing had gone wrong.
My room at Arakur in Ushuaia, Argentina was loud but the food was great and I loved the infinity pool.
Try to not let the problem ruin your trip.
Accommodation is just one of many things that can go wrong on a trip. It’s not worth fixating on a problem at a hotel at the expense of not enjoying the rest of your trip. In most cases, the best thing is to ask the hotel staff to fix the problem, then go enjoy the place you’re visiting.
Blog
This week I went back to Ancasmarca, an archeological site I first visited in July 2020. It’s a beautiful and unique place less than an hour from Calca, in the Sacred Valley.
Article
Luxury Latin America published my review of Hotel B, which has the pros and cons of the hotel, plus tips for requests to make when booking.
