This resort stinks. Not because of the facilities or the staff - they are more than adequate. But the management is in dire need of a complete overhaul. Managers make promises and then retract them, and then grant them again only to have them retracted again for no apparent reason. Managers refuse to talk to other managers while belittling their guests and feigning non-existent indignities directed at the guests. It’s a complete and utter crazy-house of abusive managers playing games with guests for their sick pleasure.
My family and I decided to try something different in addition to the four weeks that we thoroughly enjoy every year at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek and we booked the MLK weekend in what was told to me by the Ritz-Carlton staff to be the best four-bedroom residence on the property.
The property is located far away from Vail Village and is NOT ski-in/ski-out, requiring a shuttle to get to an off-village location known as Lionshead. You essentially need a shuttle or Uber to get anywhere in town, and Uber is NOT well represented here, often with “no available drivers,” as it is in such wonderful ski resort areas as Park City, Utah. There’s no store, no restaurant, just miles and miles of long hospital-green hallways.
Our elite status (Chairman’s Club) was never acknowledged by anyone, from checkin to checkout, like it is with SPG and Hyatt properties. The shuttle and porter staff were helpful during most of the stay, and I tipped them generously, handing out several hundreds of dollars over the three-day stay.
Our stay was pretty ordinary up until our checkout. At check-in we had been advised that checkout was at 11 AM, and unless we were provided with approval for late-checkout, we would be charged a $500 fee.
The evening before checkout we arrived back to the hotel from a wonderful meal at Almresi Restaurant and stopped by the concierge to ask for the late checkout. The kind gentleman said he would have to first ask the housekeeping manager and he’d call us back. We went to the lounge to grab some chamomile tea before retiring and as we walked back towards the elevators the kind gentleman called me over and told me that I was approved for a checkout time of noon. When we arrived to our room, my wife received a phone call and she was informed by a sweet-sounding woman that we indeed had been approved for a noon checkout.
Monday, checkout day, and all hell broke loose. Housekeeping rang at the door prior to 10 AM wanting to know when she could get the room and my wife informed her that we had planned on leaving at noon, since that is when the late checkout had been approved by the housekeeping manager. At 11:30 the housekeeping manager rang at the door and asked when we planned to vacate and we informed him that we had a late checkout for noon. He stated that he never approved a late checkout and left. We hurriedly packed and I called for a porter at 11:50AM. At 11:58AM the housekeeping manager called and said that he had approved the late checkout. The porter arrived at noon and we immediately left for the front desk.
Upon arrival at the front desk the Guest Services Manager (GSM), Levi, stated that I had to pay the $500 late-check out fee. I informed him that I was approved for a late checkout by the housekeeping manager and that he needed to adjust the fee off of the bill. He refused and I asked for the GM. He said that the GM Jack Diemar isn’t there but that he’s the the one in charge. I told him to check with the housekeeping manager and adjust the bill. Instead, Levi started to kick up a fuss and stated two different times that I was somehow “disrespecting” him while holding his open palm to his upper chest in some weird dramatic fashion. I was assertive without being belligerent, crass or loud; somehow, asking Levi for the GM, asking him to please call the housekeeping manager and telling him he needed to adjust the bill is “disrespectful”. Levi refused to check with the housekeeping manager and insisting that since it was 12:02 PM a the time he entered my checkout that I had to pay the “automatic hard fee”. He finally agreed that the account would be left in an open status until Mr. Jack Diemar contacted me.
I went to look for my vehicle and the porter didn’t even lift his head, he waived me over to my vehicle with his backhand and a flip of his nose, telling me as he stared at his podium that I could find the keys on the dash. Seriously!!! I have never been disrespected by any porter staff ever in my 6 decades of life until now; he left me holding my $40 tip like a stinkin’ idiot. Never have I not been escorted to the drivers door and asked if I needed directions - until now. My family and I are a blended family of Mexican-American heritage and I don’t know if it was our race or “The Levi Incident” that caused this level of disrespect, but it was totally unacceptable behavior.
We got into the vehicle at 12:12 PM and left that little slice of hell known as Ritz-Carlton Vail. As we drove away, my youngest son said, “Daddy, I don’t think that was a real Ritz-Carlton”. It’s amazing what an eight-year old child understands that Mr. Jack Diemar and his crew off conflicted managers don’t. It is a complete travesty what this management has done to completely tarnish the Ritz-Carlton brand.
