"Marriott withdraws claim in rape case" [ConnPost via Negais]

Update: Thanks to our readers who continue to follow up on this story and post links to more detailed articles, we now know a lot more about the situation. We thought, considering how scandalicious the accusation is, the fair thing to do is to repeat Marriott's side of the story—which is that the hotel's lawyers never made the claim directly, and that they tried to get it removed from their defense well before anyone else heard about it.

Here's what Marriott has claimed in this Associated Press article:

• Marriott says they did not subpoena anyone yet, and have not disclosed the woman's identity:

  Marriott attorney Donald Derrico said the company was trying to determine the effect of the crime on the victim and that subpoenas have not been issued. The hotel will decide whom to subpoena on a case-by-case basis, he said.

  "Her name was never, ever, ever disclosed to anyone," Derrico said.

• Derrico "said that Marriott officials asked his law firm to withdraw the claim in July, but that his associate had not done so because his mother died."

  In this article from Greenwich Time, Marriott's lawyer says pretty much the same thing:

  "From its inception, the legal case involving this tragic incident has been handled by the insurance company and its lawyers under the terms of the hotel's insurance policy, as is customary where an insurance company bears the risk of loss," said Stamford attorney Marc Kurzman in a statement from the hotel. "Interestingly enough, when we recently learned of this defense we requested that it be withdrawn."

(Photo: vale_blos)

The woman, identified in court papers only as Jane Doe, claims in the suit that Fricker had been in the hotel and garage acting suspiciously days before the attack, as well as the afternoon of the attack, and the hotel failed to notice him, apprehend him or make him leave. During the attack, security personnel did not see or stop him, the suit claims.

"Stamford Marriott claims woman was negligent in her own rape" [Connecticut Post Online] (Thanks to Ryan!)

Update: Thanks to our readers who continue to follow up on this story and post links to more detailed articles, we now know a lot more about the situation. We thought, considering how scandalicious the accusation is, the fair thing to do is to repeat Marriott's side of the story—which is that the hotel's lawyers never made the claim directly, and that they tried to get it removed from their defense well before anyone else heard about it.

Here's what Marriott has claimed in this Associated Press article:

• Marriott says they did not subpoena anyone yet, and have not disclosed the woman's identity:

  Marriott attorney Donald Derrico said the company was trying to determine the effect of the crime on the victim and that subpoenas have not been issued. The hotel will decide whom to subpoena on a case-by-case basis, he said.

  "Her name was never, ever, ever disclosed to anyone," Derrico said.

• Derrico "said that Marriott officials asked his law firm to withdraw the claim in July, but that his associate had not done so because his mother died."

  In this article from Greenwich Time, Marriott's lawyer says pretty much the same thing:

  "From its inception, the legal case involving this tragic incident has been handled by the insurance company and its lawyers under the terms of the hotel's insurance policy, as is customary where an insurance company bears the risk of loss," said Stamford attorney Marc Kurzman in a statement from the hotel. "Interestingly enough, when we recently learned of this defense we requested that it be withdrawn."

Stephen says:

I recently relocated across country for a new job and have been staying at the Marriott Residence Inn in Boulder, CO for the past month. It has been a great stay and I really enjoyed the place, but upon checkout I noticed my credit card would be charged for several "billed extras" I wasn't expecting. A $50 charge for an outside restaurant food delivery, a $3.50 for a bottle of water from the room and a $0.52 charge for a local phone call.

At the checkout I asked the front desk person about the charges, and she whipped out a receipt for the restaurant delivery charge. I said I didn't recognize the signature or any of the handwriting. We both looked at the chicken scratch with my scrawled room number on it. Apparently someone can just charge a meal to any room they want. I also explained I never touched the bottle of water that was still in the fridge. (Those things are a trap.)

They apologized and immediately took all the charges off my bill without questioning me. And issued me a new bill with a Zero balance. It was nice not to have to defend myself like a criminal on trial and just have some caring people trust the customer for once. Kudos, Residence Inn of Boulder, you made my day.

(Photo:Marriott)

Reader Jay says:

I thought this email was particularly funny... Hi, we aren't allowed to send you e-mails, so we're sending you an e-mail to ask you if we can send you e-mails even though you told us not to...

Here's the email:

Dear JAY [Redacted]:

Because you are a valued customer and your opinion is important to us, we would like to periodically ask you to provide feedback regarding your experience with our hotels. The feedback we collect from our customers is used to make improvements to our hotels and processes so we can better serve you.

However, our records indicate that you have not given us permission to send customer survey invitations to you at this email address. If you would like the opportunity to provide occasional feedback, please give us permission to contact you at this email address to complete future surveys. This permission is for research purposes only and does not give us permission to send you any marketing or promotional information.

Thank you in advance for your feedback and for spending your time away from home at Marriott.

Sincerely,

J.W. Marriott, Jr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Marriott International, Inc.

(Photo: genetic.drift )

Eric says:

I recently stayed in a suite at the "Crowne Plaza Hotel In Kansas City" for a wedding. I made my reservations long in advance and everything seemed fine. I arrived and checked in, gave my card for any liabilities I incurred while staying there. Got to my room and was very happy with the cleanliness and space the suite offered. I almost immediately left after dropping my bags, running around town with the groom to be.

I have my checking account setup to send SMS messages to my phone for any purchases over 50 dollars. My wife likes to spend a lot of "little money", but I digress. I get an SMS message saying I had a pending charge of 547 dollars. Well through the package the new couple had setup with the hotel the suites were 89 dollars a night with taxes and such my bill was supposed to be 311.87 (per the reservation line l called to confirm the price). When I finally got back to the hotel I asked for the manager and inquired about the additional 235.13 pulled from my checking account. She stated it was for incidentals and that it would be placed back in my account after my stay. I've stayed at some pretty high-end hotels and never have heard of such a thing. Usually the hotel keeps your account on file and then charges you at the end of your stay your room and any room service, additions etc.

I didn't make a huge deal out of it because it wasn't really about the money, I had plenty of money in the account to account for, well honestly a 235 dollar purchase I didnt plan on. Because when it comes down to it, that was money that was not available in my account. If for some reason I came with only 311.87 in my account, the hotel would have overdrawn me.

I've heard of gas stations doing this to the tune of a few bucks, but 235 dollars? I was never told this would occur, even though the front desk is supposed to tell you about this before check in.

Really what it comes down to, is how much power do these companies have over our own money. Money we don't even designate them to take or "hold" in the first place. Ironically 30 mins after I left the desk, I get another SMS saying 160 dollars had been deposited into my account. Still not the whole amount just really odd. Something to think over.

Eric, you're not alone in being upset about this. We found a thread over at FlyerTalk where people are debating whether or not these types of holds should be standardized or disclosed to the customer. The problem, as the Marriott Concierge explains, lies in the fact that each hotel (even within a chain of hotels) calculates the incidental hold amount differently:

The hold is determined by sum of three factors, the length of stay, room rate and tax, and something called the incidental factor. The first two are simple math, you take your room rate and tax and multiple it by the number of nights you will be staying. However the incidental factor is less constant. This amount is based on the typical spending habits of the property’s guests. This means you can expect to have a much larger hold at a resort location than you would typically have at an Airport location because guest tended to spend a lot more on incidentals. Likewise guests typically spend more at certain international locations than at many domestic locations.

Once the incidental factor is created, like Socrates said, there is no human determination of what the hold amount will be. The hold is determined and processed by the hotels system based on the factors mentioned above.

As far as we can tell, the best thing to do is to ask how much the hold will be when you check in. Then, if you can, give the hotel a credit card, rather than a debit card, to use for incidentals. That way you're less likely to run into overdraft fees and other debit card related nuisances.

Of course, if the hotel doesn't end up returning the correct amount to your checking account within a reasonable period of time, you should contact your bank and dispute the charge.

Is there a consistent incidental hold policy? [FlyerTalk]
(Photo: Chrispitality )

It costs Marriott over $1,000 to scrub the smoke-stink off a room, a charge they happily offset by smacking smokers like Dan with a $250 fine.

Some hotels seek out actual physical evidence before they levy a fine. The New York Marriott Downtown first started charging people $250 for simply leaving the smell of smoke in their rooms after the brand went 100% nonsmoking in Sept. 2006. Within a few weeks, they realized they had too many complaints, says Anna Cervenyak, the hotel's office manager. Security started taking pictures of butts or ashes when housekeeping found them. Though they still make "plenty" of refunds, they now show people physical evidence, which usually is enough to draw a confession, Ms. Cervenyak says.

Physical evidence also plays a role when a guest tries to protest against the charge through a credit-card company. Sam Patel, who owns the Quality Inn Brick Town in Oklahoma City, says, "A lot of times you have to argue with the credit-card company" to have a smoking charge accepted. "If you don't find a cigarette," he says, the charge will not go through, and "we lose money." he says.

At least one hotel gives employees an incentive to catch illicit smokers: Swissotel Chicago awards housekeepers a $10 bonus for every smoker they catch.

Where were we?
Right, smoking in hotel rooms.

Please don't.

Now at Hotels: The $250 Cigarette [WSJ]
(Photo: Getty)

Dear Consumerist:

I have platinum status at Marriott, and my girlfriend and I recently took a vacation to San Juan, Puerto Rico. The hotel we chose - La Concha, owned by Marriott - was brand new. And despite them promising us that the hotel was completed, and the guest rooms no longer under construction, we were awoken to the sound of jack hammering every single morning. When we went to the pool... heavy construction vehicles drowned out the sound of the ocean. When we sat on the resort's beach, heavy construction in the background interrupted our conversation. The worst part was that the cleaning staff left our door wide open for an entire day while we went to a more remote and much quieter beach.

I wrote this letter informing Marriott of the problems that existed at this hotel a few weeks ago. I CC'd a number of executives, as well a few managers at the La Concha, in San Juan Puerto Rico. I haven't heard anything back - no apology, no phone call from the executive customer service team, no compensation, nothing! And it's a little surprising considering that in order to achieve platinum status, you need to stay 75 nights per year in their hotels.

I just want you to warn readers of the consumerist.com that if a hotel is brand new, they should be very skeptical even at large reliable chains such as Marriott.

Below, and attached, is the letter I sent.

-Allan [redacted]

December 26, 2007

Marriott International
Attn: Mr. William Shaw
Marriott Drive
Washington, D.C. 20058

Dear Mr. Shaw:

For over two years, I have been a loyal Marriott guest, choosing the Marriott brand wherever and whenever possible. I have achieved platinum status with your hotel chain, and after well over one hundred stays, have experienced nothing but exceptional customer service. I called the Camden Yards Marriott in Baltimore, Maryland home for nearly four months during the Summer of 2006. I called the Courtyard Marriott in Lowell, Massachusetts home for nearly four months after convincing my client that the Marriott, and its premium price, offered better service than the local Hilton chain. And on multiple occasions, I have written letters to the managers of these hotels noting how pleased I was with the courtesy, professionalism, and service of it's staff, reassuring them that they were doing their job well. Therefore, it is with deep regret that I write this letter.

I recently moved to New York City, and immediately began working long hours at a large academic hospital. Known as "the city that never sleeps," my girlfriend and I were long overdue for a vacation, a chance to retreat from the horn honking, the construction, and the winter weather. We chose Puerto Rico for our vacation destination, and more importantly, we chose La Concha, a Marriott Resort, for our accommodations from December 13 to December 17. I have never experienced a business this disorganized and a staff so nonchalant about guest concerns as the La Concha resort; simply put, you failed us, and should be embarrassed.

When we checked in, we were told that our room was upgraded to the twelfth floor, and included a balcony, but was inconveniently located right next to the elevator. Normally, this would not be a big issue, but every morning (excluding Saturday and Sunday), we were awoken by the sound of constant jackhammering starting at 8:00AM in the adjacent service room. This came as a complete surprise, because I had recently received the annual Marriott mailing noting that the La Concha was open and taking reservations. I also called the hotel and was assured that construction had been completed on all guest rooms; clearly I was misled since heavy construction started daily at 8:00AM on the upgraded floors.

During check in, I asked to cash a personal check, in the small sum of $25, and was informed by Michelle, the young lady who checked us in, that the La Concha lacked any means to cash checks despite this service being one of the perks of achieving platinum status. While not a big inconvenience, I had to walk to the other Marriott resort, located three blocks away, to cash a personal check.

Immediately after checking in, I called the front desk for assistance with the digital in-room safe. Michelle, the front desk associate, was unable to offer assistance, but assured me that her supervisor would call back with instructions on how to operate the safe; no one called back. Most concerning, on December 16, my girlfriend and I left the resort to visit another beach in Old San Juan. Gone for nearly twelve hours, we returned to find our door was left wide open by the cleaning staff. Luckily nothing was missing, but the hotel staff's inability to provide directions on using the safe, coupled with the maid staff's inability to secure our door, puts the enjoyment of our trip at great risk. This should not happen at any hotel, especially a Marriott. I can only imagine the unnecessary inconvenience if my work laptop was stolen or our passports missing.

On the night of December 15, the shower lacked any hot water; the water was room temperature at best. We notified the front desk staff, and on December 16th, we again had no hot water. In addition to lacking hot water, the bathroom door was difficult to open and close because the air-conditioning closet door had not been properly secured. We asked four times before this closet door was secured.

I do not want this letter to be completely negative, and I do want to recognize the bellhop staff for a job well done. I do not think that you could have recruited a nicer group of young men, willing to go above and beyond what is expected. On December 15, we asked for a bellhop to call a taxi. When we inquired about the bus, he chased down a bus, and after finding that the bus only took coins, proceeded to shake himself down for the exact fare. This is not the service I expect or demand, but was a prime example of a Marriott employee going above and beyond what is expected. That young man should be applauded, the bellhop staff envied by the rest of the La Concha staff who miserably failed - on multiple occasions - of delivering value to guests.

The La Concha Resort, clearly still undergoing heavy construction, should not have been booking guests. It is flashy, it is modern, and at first sight, I liked it. But spending the night in an upgraded room, and being awoken by jackhammering in the early morning hours while on vacation spoiled the Marriott experience; that noise was thprecise reason that we left New York City in the first place. The stay was stressful, and I now feel that I am returning to New York for a much needed vacation from La Concha. In closing, I want you to know that I will still remain a loyal Marriott customer, but will unfortunately need to do a significant amount of homework before booking a room in another Marriott Resort. I trust that you will investigate, address, and resolve these concerns. If you have any questions concerning this letter, I invite you to contact either by email ([redacted]) or telephone ([redacted]).

Sincerely,

Allan [redacted]
Marriott Rewards #: [redacted]

CC:

Mr. A. Bradford Bryan, Jr.
Executive Vice President
Architecture and Construction
Marriott International

Mr. Edwin D. Fuller
President and Managing Director
Marriott Lodging - International
Marriott International

Mr. David J. Grissen
Executive Vice President - Lodging Operations
Marriott International

Mr. Norman K. Jenkins
Senior Vice President
Lodging Development - North America
Marriott International

Ms. Kathleen Matthews
Executive Vice President
Global Communications and Public Affairs
Marriott International

Mr. Robert J. McCarthy
President
North American Lodging Operations and
Global Brand Management
Marriott International

Mr. David A. Rodriguez
Executive Vice President
Global Human Resources
Marriott International

Mr. Luis Forty
Director of Guest Services
La Concha Resort

Ms. Johanna Lopez
Front Desk Supervisor
La Concha Resort

I keep trying not to think about my father in the lobby waiting for a shuttle that never came, or what might have happened to friends and family who decided to drive after drinking because there was no shuttle to the hotel. These thoughts are overshadowing my memories of our otherwise perfect wedding, and I'm furious!"

Congratulations on your wedding, Natalie! Marriott's executive officers should hear your story. Ole J.W. is pushing 75, so you may want to direct your complaint to his direct subordinate, Marriott President William Shaw. Call (301) 380-3000 and ask for his office. Tell your story to whoever picks up, though don't be surprised if they're less than willing to offer free lifetime stays.

(Photo: egvvnd)

Larger icons received more calls.One of the venues, a Holiday Inn, is only 3 blocks from the White House. There seems to be a confluence of activity in and around the K Street area, where lobbyists, advocacy groups and think tanks have their offices. In one case, two high-volume locations, the St. Regis and the Capitol Hilton, are right across the street from one another, which we suppose is something like competing gas stations next to a busy highway.

DCHOtellalls [Map Builder] (Thanks to Veffekt!)
PREVIOUSLY: Top 10 Most "Ho-Friendly" DC Hotels, Based On The DC Madam's Phone Records

We took the DC Madam's phone records, (she allegedly ran a high-class prostitution ring. It was part of her operating procedure to call the client once to confirm the appointment) converted them to a text file with a OCR (optical character recognition) program, had a batch program run the numbers through a free online reverse number look up service (you enter a phone number and it gives you an address) sorted by call volume, then extracted all the hotel results.

1. Marriott: 489 (18 numbers)
2. Hyatt: 168 (6 numbers)
3. Hilton: 151 (5 numbers)
4. Holiday Inn: 132 (5 numbers)
5. Ritz-Carlton: 118 (4 numbers)
6. Embassy Suites: 117 (3 numbers)
7. Renaissance: 84 (3 numbers)
8. Double Tree: 59 (2 numbers)
9. Westin Grand Hotel: 40 (1 number)
10. Willard Inter Contiental Hotel: 36 (1)

Full listing of all the hotels, inside...

Hotel Name | Number Of Calls | Unique Phone Numbers
Marriot: 489 (18 numbers)
Hyatt: 168 (6 numbers)
Hilton: 151 (5 numbers)
Holiday Inn: 132 (5 numbers)
Ritz-Carlton: 118 (4 numbers)
Embassy Suites: 117 (3 numbers)
Renaissance: 84 (3 numbers)
Double Tree: 59 (2 numbers)
Westin Grand Hotel: 40 (1 number)
Willard Inter Contiental Hotel: 36 (1)
St. Regis: 33 (1)
Four Seasons Hotel: 28 (1)
Washington Court Hotel: 25 (1)
Key Bridge Hotel: 20 (1)
Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel: 19 (1)
Red Roof Inns: 19 (1)
City Center DC Hotel: 18 (1)
Melrose Hotel: 17 (1)
Capitol City Hotel: 16 (1)
Churchill Hotel: 14 (1)
Harbor Court: 14 (1)
Hotel Madison: 14 (1)
Fairfield Inn: 13 (1)
Jefferson Hotel: 13 (1)

The results for the Marriott chain are astonishing. With that call volume and number of locations involved , you gotta wonder if the hotel staff isn't in on it somehow.

HOTEL NAME| VOLUME | PHONE | NAME/ADDRESS | ZIP

Fairfield Inn 13 301-572-7100 Fairfield Inn 4050 Powder Mill Rd Beltsville MD 20705
Holiday Inn 13 202-479-4000 Holiday Inn Capitol At Smithsonian 550 C St SW Washington DC 20024
Jefferson Hotel 13 202-347-2200 Jefferson Hotel 1200 16 St NW Washington DC 20036
Churchill Hotel 14 202-797-2000 The Churchhill Hotel 1914 Connecticut Washington DC 20009
Harbor Court 14 410-234-0550 Harbor Court Hotel 550 Light Baltimore MD 21202
Hilton 14 703-418-6800 Hilton Crystal City 2399 Jefferson Davis Hwy Arlington VA 22202
Holiday Inn 14 202-338-4600 Holiday Inn 2101 Wisconsin Ave NW DC 200074
Holiday Inn 14 301-652-2000 Holiday Inn Bethesda 8120 Wisconsin Ave Bethesda MD 20814
Holiday Inn 14 703-807-2000 Holiday Inn Rosslyn Key Bridge Alexandria VA 22301
Hotel Madison 14 202-862-1600 Hotel Madison 15 & M Sts NW Washington DC 20036
Marriott 14 703-818-0300 Marriott Hotels & Resorts 14750 Conference Center Drive VA 20151
Ritz-Carlton 14 202-835-0500 Ritz-Carlton Hotels 1150 22 St NW Washington DC 20037
Hilton 15 703-528-6000 Hilton Arlington & Towers 950 Stafford Arlington VA 22203
Marriott 15 301-670-6700 Courtyard By Marriott 2500 Research Blvd Rockville MD 20850
Marriott 15 301-590-0044 Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian 9751 Washintonian Blvd Gaithersburg MD 20878
Capitol City Hotel 16 202-737-1200 Capital City Hotel Washington DC 20001
Embassy Suites 16 202-362-9300 Embassy Suites Hotel 4300 Military Rd NW DC 20015
Marriott 16 202-785-2000 Doubletree Guest Suites 801 New Hampshire Ave NW Washington DC 20037
Ritz-Carlton 16 202-293-2100 Ritz-Carlton Hotels 2100 Massachusetts Ave NW DC 20008
Hyat 17 202-638-5900 Hotel Washington 15 St & Pennsylvania Ave Washington DC 20001
Melrose Hotel 17 202-955-6400 Melrose Hotel 2430 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington DC 20037
City Center DC Hotel 18 202-775-0800 City Center Dc Hotel 1143 New Hampshire Ave NW Washington DC 20037
Marriott 18 703-471-9500 Dulles Airport Marriott 333 W Service Rd Chantilly VA 20170
Double Tree 19 703-893-1340 Double Tree Hotel 7801 Leesburg Pike Falls Church VA 22043
Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel 19 202-682-0111 Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel 14 & K Streets Washington DC 20001
Hyat 19 703-713-1234 Hyatt Crystal City Corp 2300 Dulles Corner Blvd Herndon VA 20171
Marriott 19 703-549-3434 Courtyard By Marriott 2899 Jefferson Davis Hwy Arlington VA 22202
Red Roof Inns 19 301-498-8811 Red Roof Inns 12525 Laurel Bowie Road MD 20708
Holiday Inn 20 202-483-2000 Holiday Inn Central 1501 Rhode Island Ave NW Washington DC 20005
Key Bridge Hotel 20 703-524-6400 Key Bridge Hotel 1401 Lee Hwy Arlington VA 22209
Marriott 20 301-670-0008 Courtyard By Marriott 805 Russell Ave Gaithersburg MD 20879
Hilton 21 703-845-1010 Halyard'S-Hilton Alexandria At Mark Center 5000 Seminary Rd Alexandria VA 22311
Hyat 21 301-657-1234 Hyatt Hotel & Resorts 1 Bethesda Metro Ctr MD 20814
Marriott 21 410-962-0202 Marriott Hotels & Resorts 110 South Eutaw Street MD 21201
Hyat 22 703-818-1234 Hyatt Fair Lakes 12777 Fair Lakes Cir Fairfax VA 22033
Hilton 23 202-483-3000 Hilton Hotels 1919 Connecticut Ave NW DC 20009
Marriott 23 301-897-5600 Bethesda Marriott Suites 6711 Democracy Blvd Bethesda MD 20817
Marriott 24 703-849-9400 Fairview Park Mariott Hotel 3111 Fairview Park Falls Church VA 22042
Embassy Suites 25 703-883-0707 Embassy Suites Hotel 8517 Leesburg Pike VA 22182
Hyat 25 703-709-1234 Hyatt Hotels & Resorts 1800 Presidents Street Reston VA 20190
Renaissance 25 410-547-1200 Renaissance Harborplace Hotel 202 E Pratt St Baltimore MD 21202
Washington Court Hotel 25 202-628-2100 Washington Court Hotel On Capitol Hill 525 New Jersey Ave NW Washington DC 20001
Four Seasons Hotel 28 202-342-0444 Four Seasons Hotel 2800 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington DC 20007
Double Tree 29 301-468-1100 Double Tree Management Inc 1750 Rockville Pike Rockville MD 20852
Marriott 32 703-413-5500 Crystal City Marriott 2980 Fairview Park Falls Church VA 22042
Embassy Suites 33 202-857-3388 Embassy Suites Hotel 1250 22nd St NW DC 20037
St. Regis 33 202-638-2626 St Regis Hotel Washington DC The 16 K Sts Washington DC 20006
Marriott 35 703-734-3200 Marriott Hotels And Resorts 8028 Leesburg Pike VA 22182
Willard Inter Contiental Hotel 36 202-628-9100 Willard Inter Continental Hotel 1401 Pennsylvania Washington DC 20004
Hilton 38 202-393-1000 Capital Hilton The 1001 16 St NW Washington DC 20036
Marriott 40 410-859-8300 Bwi Airport Marriot 1743 W Nursery Rd Linthicum Heights MD 21090
Westin Grand Hotel 40 202-429-0100 Westin Grand Hotel The 2350 M St NW Washington DC 20037
Marriott 41 202-737-2200 Marriott Hotels & Resorts 775 12th Street NW DC 20005
Ritz-Carlton 41 703-506-4300 Ritz Carlton McLean 1700 Tysons Blvd McLean VA 22102
Marriott 47 301-897-9400 Bethesda Marriott 5151 Pooks Hill Rd Bethesda MD 20814
Hyat 53 202-789-1234 Hyatt Hotels & Resorts 1201 24th St NW DC 20037
Ritz-Carlton 54 703-415-5000 Ritz-Carlton Hotels 1250 South Hayes Street VA 22202
Marriott 61 202-393-2000 Jw Marriott Washington Dc 1331 Pennsylvania Nw Ave Washington DC 20004
Renaissance 66 202-898-9000 Renaissance Hotels & Resorts 999 Ninth Street NW DC 20001
Marriott 71 703-920-3230 Crystal Gateway Marriott 1700 Jefferson Davis Hwy Arlington VA 22202
Renaissance 80 202-347-3000 Renaissance Mayflower Hotel 1127 Connecticut Ave NW Washington DC 20036
Marriott 82 202-328-2000 Marriott Hotels & Resorts 2660 Woodley Road, NW DC 20008

Download [XLS]
(Photo: Spreegurke)

A commenter identifying himself as the Marriott hotel manager, Tom, said they shut down the server and are resolving the issue.

GTS seems convinced that Will has a rootkit, a malicious program that conceals its processes from the operating system, installed on both his PC and his mom's MacBook. As proof, they offered up a broken link to a Windows troubleshooting forum where a user experienced the same issue. However, at the end it turned out he had no rootkits. So we're not sure what that's for.

Now, correct us if we're wrong, but if there was a successful rootkit virus installed on a MacBook, that would be like, the front page of Digg with 9999 comments. Even more if it was the world's first inter-operating system root kit...

This morning Tom and GTS were on the phone checking out multiple guest rooms with several different laptops to see if they could verify the issue. According to Tom, they were not able to duplicate the problem that Will was experiencing. This could be because GTS has already fixed the problem.

Kudos to Marriott for staying on top of the story, and Will for reporting it. Jeers to GTS for the smokescreen, and for writing us, "Please call me to discuss how we have this "story" removed."

Keep yours open for a forthcoming post, "How To Win Friends And Influence People With Scarequotes." — BEN POPKEN & THOMAS MOORE

PREVIOUSLY: Marriott Server Compromised, Rerouting Guest's Internet To Casino Scam Site?

When Will changed around the server settings to use a public DNS server instead of Marriott's, the problem disappeared, leading Will to think someone had "poisoned" Marriott's DNS servers to drive traffic to their casino scam page(s). He then reported this to Marriott's techs. We've spoken ourselves with Marriott's server people and they confirm that the secondary DNS is wacked but they need to investigate further.

Could this be Cisco 4400 series virtual gateway IP address being 1.1.1.1 and getting taken advantage by malicious forces unknown? Next time you're at the Courtyard Marriott on Cerrillos Rd in Santa Fe, NM, run a traceroute and tell us.

We have no idea, but even if this turns out to have an innocuous explanation, travelers should be extra-cautious when using unknown internet connections. — BEN POPKEN

Free wifi everywhere! According to HotelChatter, Marriott tops the list of hotels offering free Wifi, but even they don't offer it in all of their properties. Argh! Get with it, Marriott! You're so close!—MEGHANN MARCO

Best WiFi Hotels 2007 [HotelChatter]
(Photo: mandj98)

(Corporate hotels have little to worry about because if they foul up, Marriott will just send in a glut of extra labor to fix the problem.) So how to keep labor costs way down and keep the scores way up? Easy.

Based on logs of guest problems kept by the "At Your Service Agent" (the hotel operator) and the on-property comment cards, the franchise managers know in advance which guests are likely to give the property a low score. Before or soon after the guest checks out, the list of problem guests gets copied to the hotel's reservationist, the person responsible for updating records in Marriott's massive guest database called OSCAR. The reservationist opens each problem guest's file and "updates" the guest's e-mail and postal addresses—actually changing them to invalid or just plain fake addresses. This way, if the guest gets selected for a GSS survey. . . the survey never arrives. This way, only happy, satisfied guests ever get the surveys, and the franchisors can run a hotel into the ground while laughing all the way to the bank.

Marriott, "the leader in brand loyalty," prides itself on having some of the best customer service in the industry—so much so that the corporate Quality Assurance group uses some really tough metrics. And the stakes are high: these QA metrics determine whether a given franchise hotel gets to keep the Marriott "flag," or the right to use the brand. Guest surveys are split into two types: on-property comment cards, which alert staff to problems while a guest is still around, and "Guest Satisfaction Surveys." As the name suggests, the former is just a bellwether, it never gets seen by anyone outside the property. The latter, however, is a corporate metric.

After any given stay, a guest may be randomly selected to receive a "Guest Satisfaction Survey" by e-mail or post. Guests are asked to rank nearly every aspect of the hotel, from breakfast to meeting room temperature, on a scale from 0 to 10. What the survey doesn't mention is that there are really only two valid scores: 0-7 counts 0, 8-10 counts 1. A hotel's GSS "Score" is calculated as the percentage of all responses that are 8 or above. Precisely because the stakes are so high, franchise hotels are willing to do anything to keep their scores high. (Corporate hotels have little to worry about because if they foul up, Marriott will just send in a glut of extra labor to fix the problem.) So how to keep labor costs way down and keep the scores way up? Easy.

Based on logs of guest problems kept by the "At Your Service Agent" (the hotel operator) and the on-property comment cards, the franchise managers know in advance which guests are likely to give the property a low score. Before or soon after the guest checks out, the list of problem guests gets copied to the hotel's reservationist, the person responsible for updating records in Marriott's massive guest database called OSCAR. The reservationist opens each problem guest's file and "updates" the guest's e-mail and postal addresses—actually changing them to invalid or just plain fake addresses. This way, if the guest gets selected for a GSS survey. . . the survey never arrives. This way, only happy, satisfied guests ever get the surveys, and the franchisors can run a hotel into the ground while laughing all the way to the bank.

I doubt Toyota and Marriott franchisors are the only ones who have found the holes in the system....I'm not surprised. It's the culture of modern business.