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| - Far and away, one of the worst SPG hotels we've ever stayed in and we are platinum members who regularly stay in hotels globally (my boyfriend is an airport developer; last year, his SPG number of nights was over 300).
Before moving to Charlotte, we made a couple of visits to stake out living accommodations and decided to stay at the Le Meridien because it is the most newly renovated and seemingly modern SPG property in Charlotte. While the lobby and general aesthetic is pretty modern and whimsical, very reminiscent of the W Hotel vibe, the actual rooms leave much to be desired.
The rooms. We usually automatically get upgraded to suites, which are very large rooms but the setups are not well thought out. There are little kitchenette cut outs but there's nothing you can do with the empty space. The rooms are extremely dimly lit, even with the lights on. The remodel speaks to that old adage: you can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig.
Noise. The walls are extremely thin. We could hear very clearly the calls of our neighbor and likely they could hear ours. So much for privacy.
Bathrooms. The bathrooms have modern finishes, back-lit mirrors, walk-in showers, rimless glass enclosures but being a remodel, they are extremely small. Two people cannot fit comfortably even in the suite bathroom. The glass enclosure isn't well placed so water gets everywhere after a shower. You literally have to wipe the floors yourself. The first suite we stayed in had a missing shower shelf so you had to just put the toiletries on the floor during your shower. Seriously? I'm pretty sure that's a less than $40-$50 fix.
Service. Although the front desk staff, the waitstaff and the bellhops are very friendly and courteous, the maid service leaves a ton to be desired. First, the bathrooms appear not to be cleaned well in the first place. Second, I called for maid service to clean our room before we left for about 1.5 hours. She appeared as we were leaving and was STILL there, only about halfway done when we came back. She didn't clean it spotlessly so you can't call her the world's slowest cleaner because to at least garner that title, you actually have to do the cleaning to a modicum of success.
Shady staff. As regular travelers, you expect that eventually you'll forget something that the hotel will have to mail back to you (I once left a Beats headset behind that a hotel overnighted to me at my next destination). I left my iPad Air 2 inside the bathroom, which I listen to while I'm getting ready. I NEVER EVER turn it off unless I'm resetting it on very rare occasion but it always gets turned back on nearly instantaneously. Further, I'm borderline OCD -- I never misplace or lose things.
When I realized that my iPad was missing late in the evening after we checked out, we called the hotel, who promptly informed us that it was not in the Lost and Found and had not yet been recovered. They questioned whether I had, in fact, left it in the room. Even my boyfriend questioned whether I had left it behind because hotels notoriously do not take guest items without properly cataloging it in the Lost and Found.
I looked up my iPad's location in the Find My iPhone app only to see that it couldn't be located because the iPad had been turned off. We immediately called the hotel back and demanded to speak with a manager. We informed them that we are platinum SPG members (we even have a designated SPG ambassador) and said that we are certain the iPad was left in the room and if they don't find it, we would escalate this through the necessary corporate channels. The security manager informed us that perhaps it hadn't been turned in yet and left in their basement, where there is no reception. An hour later, we received a call from the manager who informed us that they had found the iPad.
It is plausible that if there is no reception, the Find My IPhone app would not be able to locate it or register that it is off. However, the next day when I went to retrieve my iPad, it was off. Again. I never turn my iPad off so there's absolutely no reason why it would be off unless someone actively turned it off. Further, why was it sitting in the basement instead of the Lost and Found?
I could forgive the small bathroom, small fixes, slight uncleanliness, noise, slow service but it is absolutely unacceptable for hotel staff to take guest possessions. I routinely travel with high-end belts, purses and jewelry -- all of which are left in the room during the day. If I can't trust a hotel, especially one that is blatantly dishonest, I'll never return again.
The last time we came to Charlotte, we stayed at the Ballentyne Luxury Collection, which was very traditional, but it was spotlessly clean, the service was impeccable and the bathrooms were a very good size -- the kind of benchmark attributes that you expect from SPG properties.
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