I stayed at the Knickerbocker Hotel the last time I visited Chicago. I lived in Illinois during college, and as I was on a college budget, most of my trips up to the city involved sharing a room at one of the cheaper hotels away from downtown. For my visit back, I decided I would treat myself to a nicer stay than I was used to, so I booked a room at the Knickerbocker. Everything looked nice when I got there, but for the price I paid, I was really expecting something far above and beyond what I got. Maybe I wasn't dressed right, or didn't carry the right luggage, but the front desk clerk was unnecessarily snooty when I checked in. Shouldn't a hotel try to make its guests feel welcome? When I stayed at the cheap hotels in college, the front desk employees were always friendly when I checked in and out, and they would give me good tips on the best way to get to the fun things in the city. Here, I didn't even want to ask for any tips at the front desk because I didn't want to deal with the eye rolling and "too important to be bothered" attitude I got when I checked in. I guess the location was more convenient than the hotels I used to visit, but I really thought that part of the money I was spending on a nice hotel would pay for a pleasant customer service experience. Look, obviously I can afford to stay at your hotel, I already booked and paid for the room. Even if customer service isn't your number one goal, making money should be pretty high up on the list, and making a paying customer feel unwelcome isn't a very good way to secure return business. I doubt I'll stay here again.
