From the Sales Staff

"When things go smoothly at a hotel, there is really no way to judge how they truly operate. It is when a problem occurs, that you can tell what management's attitude is."

This is my new favorite hotel quote.  A guest recently stayed at our hotel and wrote about her visit on the blog 2 Wired 2 Tired.  Although we have many guests stay with us who may review their stay on Expedia, TripAdvisor and through Hilton's guest satisfaction survey, it really catches our interest when a guest posts something on their blog.  Blogging a review usually evokes more of a story-telling dialog and we can find out more in depth how things went instead of a simple satisfaction scale.

We had no idea "Tired Grandma Judy" was here to write about her stay and her trip to Indianapolis.  So when our General Manager came to the morning staff stand up meeting with her blog post, we were excited to hear what she wrote.  Of course we'd like it to be a glowing review of our downtown Indy hotel!  It wasn't.  As soon as we heard the quote above, we all took a deep breath, preparing ourselves for what we were about to hear.

Upon settling in to their room, Judy and Grandpa Randy had multiple phone calls from the Front Desk but no one could be heard on the line.  Then a knock on their door presented someone from our maintenance department to switch out the broken phone, which Grandpa Randy said wasn't needed.  Another phone call and Judy "was beginning to get irritated."

They opened the door again and there stood Megan Mills, our Guest Service Manager and Dave Kalbfleisch, Chief Maintenance Engineer.  Megan explained that one of the valet drivers accidentally scratched the bumper of their car on a wall and she wanted them to come down to look at it.  Maintenance was still there ready to replace the phone.

"The damage to our car was minor [but] the Hilton Garden Inn offered us a rental to get around the city the next day, while they got it repaired. I told them I just wanted to take it home to the person I knew. They agreed and asked us to get an estimate and they would mail the check out immediately."

After day two passed and they hadn't yet received the check, Judy was followed up with by our General Manager, Richard Letko.  The check was received the next day to cover the scratches.  "We were very pleased."

"Pleased with the valet for reporting it, he easily could not have and we probably would not have noticed until after we had left Indianapolis. We were also pleased with the front desk for being persistent and handling the incident in an appropriate manner."

PHEW!  What a relief!  Although we're never happy when a guest has an issue or inconvenience during their stay, we are pleased that we were proactive in contacting the guest, being completely candid about what happened and quick in following up and resolving what happened.

Judy goes on to say,

"The Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown would be my recommendation for those attending the Super Bowl in 2012, the Big Ten Championship Football Game, or those simply visiting Indianapolis."

Thank you, Judy and Randy, for staying with us this time.  I am SO happy to hear everything turned out all right and we handled your situation in an appropriate manner.  I hope you will stay with the Hilton Garden Inn Indianapolis Downtown again the next time you are in or through Indianapolis.  We would be pleased to have you stay with us again...sans bumper scratches.

*****

2 Wired 2 Tired is a blog run by Tésa Nicolanti, a writer well-versed in the field of blogging and social media.  She and the 2 Wired 2 Tired team write about tech, travel, family life and host giveaways, contests and write product and other reviews.  Check out the 2 Wired 2 Tired blog for some great reads, great suggestions and reviews!