23 replies to this topic

[Jason_Bourne]

bkkldby, on 15 April 2011 - 11:33 AM, said:

thanks JB.

for those who wish to have joiners, and are doing what you do, paying for a double (in TH most times the price is the same in this level of hotel regardless of 1 or 2 ppl in the room) BUT THEY DO NOT KNOW WHO THE OTHER PERSON IS simply tell them/write this - Guest: TBA (to be announced). then the joiner is a pre-booked guest, not a joiner. sure its all semantics, but it helps navigate the process and they will be hard pressed to say that you cannot have a different one every night. NOTE: they only need one name for the registration, the other can be the TBA. upon arrival they will need to show their ID possibly for security and safety reasons.

if a traveler is only into ST and will not be taking anyone LT, then they need to tell the hotel at booking they only want 1 coupon per day for the breakfast buffet, or none at all. that can save money too sometimes. it will depend on whether the hotel's pricing includes it in the overall price of the room in the first place. if the traveler then breaks the 3-day rule or gets lubbed up, and the LB's meter runs into LT, they can always pay for their tilac's breakfast after the fact.

for me, regardless of something being special or not, i list all my demands and preferences and ask for written confirmation of them all. you never know who will be at the front desk, or what time it will be on your arrival. the person who registered your reservation in a hotel of this class is most likely not their after hours, or possibly off site in an admin office and never there.

once again, get an email confirmation when booking in advance and print it out (see below).

NOTE: see a screen shot below of an email thread of mine asking for an up-grade that they know is a 2nd LB in my room.

sure, maybe we shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get stuff organized well, but i figure if its for my benefit who better to do the leg work that will assure me a nice time and my LB friend possible embarrassment. and for guys who save their holiday time and money all year, why not invest an evening in corresponding with your hotel so that you get the best f*ck for your buck?

another strategy i employ if i do not have a previous contact at a hotel is to contact the hotel and ask for the room division manager/front desk manager/ or GM's email address. i will then write to them and tell them how i surfed them up on the Internet, their hotel looks really nice, i am looking forward to being a guest and i hope they will please check to make certain that my reservation is all logged in and correct. i ask them to do this because, "i had a very unfortunate experience previously at some other hotel and i hope that will not happen at their property as i am traveling so far and simply want to have an uneventful check-in". 99% of the time they will do this so you cannot catch them out after if there is a problem. the onus is on the man at the top from the outset. no where to pass the buck from there.

Examples below are from the Woodlands, but this can be done with any hotel:

note in the 1st sample the response of the manager in the first sentence that he writes. i have previously pandered to his good side by asking him how his high-season is going, i have shown an interest in him and recognized that what he does is work, he replies in kind. i have gotten his attention in a way that is beneficial to me.

in the second example where i am asking for an up-grade i have written the email in a very matter of fact way, shown an interest in him, and it is not a demand, its a polite request. i have also told them to not waste time or resources on making up an extra bed. it is all plain for them to see. his response comes back to me confirmed within less than an hours time.

the trick is to think like them and make them happy to do whatever it is you want. never put them on the spot or ask them to change policy in front of subordinate staff.

"know thine enemy" or some Sun Tzu sh*t like that.

(DISCLAIMER: none of this stuff will work in a hotel of lesser class or if they simply do not care.)

BKKLDBY, You are a genius! Or at least a very smart, very experience professional. You have gone from being my "man in Bangkok" to being my "hotel guru." Decades of travel, and I am still learning. Thank you for my education.

[Lost In Loei]

bkkldby, on 15 April 2011 - 07:00 AM, said:

thanks. what location did you
work hotels? business or tourist class? TH?

Crowne-Plaza in the US. It was pretty fancy. Mostly higher level business travelers and middle aged couples. Did a lot of meetings and weddings. Executive wives were the worst. Nothing could please those bitches!

Long time ago. Don't miss it, weird hours and low pay. I am super nice to people that work in hotels though because I remember.

Since this thread has be derailed anyway: Has anyone ever had a problem being harrased for joiner fees or rejected by security for their registered guest LB tilak?

Edited by CJ-LPF, 15 April 2011 - 09:44 PM.

[bkkldby]

Jason_Bourne, on 15 April 2011 - 09:15 PM, said:

BKKLDBY, You are a genius! Or at least a very smart, very experience professional. You have gone from being my "man in Bangkok" to being my "hotel guru." Decades of travel, and I am still learning. Thank you for my education.

thanks JB.

its like any other profession. you put in your time, you have good mentors and lots of experiences, you're allowed to fall flat on your face (a lot), you ask yourself repeatedly "WTF just happened?", and you finally figure it out.

i was first mentored in TH hotels and the TH work place culture/HR management by the area GM of the Bayview and Bayshore Hotels and 2 TH executive chefs that worked there. (i did 14 years before that in the restaurant and catering business in the States.) these people are pros that have fine tuned the art of TH hospitality by tempering it with Farang business ethics and sensibilities.

final note: a strategy i have used in the last 3 years to help me get what i want from a hotel.

always mention to a hotelier in your emails that you saw them while surfing your TripAdvisor.com account (if they are listed there). this plants the seed that if you are happy, and they blow you away with kindness and service, you will write a good review of them. if not, possibly you will do the opposite, but its a very subtle way to use this leverage to achieve as seamless a stay as is humanly possible.

[Lost In Loei]

bkkldby, on 16 April 2011 - 09:03 AM, said:

thanks JB.

its like any other profession. you put in your time, you have good mentors and lots of experiences, you're allowed to fall flat on your face (a lot), you ask yourself repeatedly "WTF just happened?", and you finally figure it out.

i was first mentored in TH hotels and the TH work place culture/HR management by the area GM of the Bayview and Bayshore Hotels and 2 TH executive chefs that worked there. (i did 14 years before that in the restaurant and catering business in the States.) these people are pros that have fine tuned the art of TH hospitality by tempering it with Farang business ethics and sensibilities.

final note: a strategy i have used in the last 3 years to help me get what i want from a hotel.

always mention to a hotelier in your emails that you saw them while surfing your TripAdvisor.com account (if they are listed there). this plants the seed that if you are happy, and they blow you away with kindness and service, you will write a good review of them. if not, possibly you will do the opposite, but its a very subtle way to use this leverage to achieve as seamless a stay as is humanly possible.

Great idea on TripAdvisor.

When booking my latest outing, I also looked at Utopia.Com figuring that if they were already OK with Boy-Boy and Girl-Girl, I would be pretty sure of being OK with a LB. Sure enough, every place I talked to said no problem. There are some really nice places listed too.

Half the places I e-mailed from TripAdvisor did not answer. Guess they don't like saying no, not that I would have cared, that was why I was asking the question in the first place.