Sky Hotel Los Angeles

Terrible Hotel

Going to LA due to business I booked a room over the phone at Sky Boutique Hotel beginning on 9/30/10 for 4 nights at a standard room rate of $ 149.75 plus tax. After the phone call I received an email with confirmation number R-9668. The email got me a bit concerned however; as it stated that no cancellation or modification is allowed.
The additional parking fee of $15/night was not mentioned in the email and was added on when I arrived.

When checking in on 9/30/10 the room was not satisfactory due to no window in the room, and being claustrophobic I asked to switch to another room with a window. I was grateful it was possible to move me to room 209.

When taking a shower the next morning 10/01/10, the tub was not draining properly and I reported it to front desk when going out for breakfast. Coming back from breakfast I wasn’t able to get into my room due to the battery in the magnetic key was worn out...! The man in the front desk did the best he know how to; trying to get into the door with screwdrivers etc. but not being successful. I didn’t want to be late to my meeting the first day so finally I went down to ask if any of the girls in the coffee bar had a knife or a nail file that I could borrow to open up the lid that covered the keyhole and that worked better. I let him know I was not comfortable with the arrangements so far and he promised the problems would be taken care of. This incident made me late to my meeting the first day.

That morning (10/01/10) I called Wells Fargo Customer Services to get advice as I felt I needed to leave the hotel, and they informed me that no charges can be denied and I have to wait until the time period is run out and see what’s charged to the account.
However, I did not get advised from Well Fargo’s dispute department that I needed to have a signature from the front desk about my concerns and that a confirmation on my cancellation on the early check out is needed.

That morning the front desk mentioned that they would fix the key or give me another room. However, coming back that afternoon I got a temporary key to the same room and when taking a shower it didn’t drain properly again.

I let the night clerk know that I wasn’t comfortable and that I would like to do an early check out and would stay one more night due to short notice.
The next morning clerk #1 told me there is a 48 hours cancellation and Carl at the front desk said that they had a lot of people leaving and rooms was opening up and offering me to switch rooms. At this point I preferred to leave, as I did not have time to pack and unpack and take a chance it wont be satisfactory again.
After the first night I let them know I would be checking out after the second night; over 24 hours in advance. Due to the unfortunate incidents and by letting them know plenty in advanced it only seems reasonable to not charge me for the following two nights.

On the morning of 10/5/10 when speaking on the phone with the manager/owner Irit Winter (who was not available over the weekend), she informed me that she reviewed the records and that I was a difficult and unreasonable guest that can’t be pleased and that there is no cancellation or modification to the booking allowed. She also informed me that the guest who stayed in room 209 after me had no complaints about the tub not draining properly and said I was making it up. Her statement left me with several questions: Is she serious? How can she possibly be successful in the service industry with her no sense of customer service skills? How can she put someone in room 209 if she is charging me for it too? Does she double charge- is that legal?
According to front desk clerk Carl there was plenty of other rooms available the day when I decided to check out due to circumstances on 10/02/10, so it wasn’t like I held up a room that otherwise might be rented, and I left over 24 hour notice with the front desk.

In the end of our conversation I asked her to email me a breakdown of the charges, and when not received any email by noon, I decided to stop by Sky Hotel to see her and pick up the break down. I was told she had left for the day, so I talked to the front desk staff and asked for the breakdown. It took him a while and then he said there was a problem with their computer so he wouldn’t be able to print me the bill, but promised it would be emailed later. I asked him if someone stayed in 209 after me, and just like Irit, he said: “yes,..eh.., or, what do you mean?”. I asked how that was possible they could put another guest in the room if I was being charged for the room, and he said he didn’t know and that Irit moved everything around and I needed to talk to her.

Terrible Service Sub par accomodations.