AC Hotel Denver Downtown — Hotel in Denver

• STOLEN KINDLE / HOUSEKEEPING LETDOWN * (Positive update at bottom resolving the situation)

My girlfriend treated me to a weekend in Denver for my birthday and this is the hotel we stayed at. The hotel itself is nice enough, but the way the staff handled an issue we had at checkout was a significant letdown…

Our stay was Thursday thru Saturday and my gf ordered some simple decorations from Amazon for the front desk/housekeeping to hang up as a surprise for me when we checked in. Despite reviving the package from Amazon and confirming with my gf that they were going to be able to hang them up, the decorations were nowhere to be found. However, they did leave a ‘happy birthday’ platter out that they didn’t charge us for, which was very kind - so this isn’t that big of a deal. Combined with the second issue we experienced, though, it highlights a subpar experience from the housekeeping perspective.

• KINDLE DISAPPEARS/GETS TAKEN *

We checked out on Saturday afternoon around 1pm. Around 6pm we realized that our kindle was left sitting on the headboard of the bed. I called the hotel ASAP (4 hours after checking out) to see if they had the item in lost and found.

I was put on hold for over 20 minutes only for the staff member to return to the line and tell me he simply submitted a request to housekeeping and we would receive a call once they checked. We did not receive a call back Saturday night or Sunday morning.

I called back mid-morning on Sunday to try and follow up. This time I was put on hold for nearly 30 minutes only for the lady working the front desk to tell me that housekeeping had no notes about picking up the item.

Our flight wasn’t until Sunday evening so we decided to just drive to the hotel before taking off to see if we could check in-person. They did not have the Kindle in their lost and found so we asked if we could run into the room to see if it was somehow still sitting on the headboard (it somewhat blended in with it).

Although there were no guests staying in the room, they refused to let us run in and look even with a staff member escorting us. On top of that, they wouldn’t send anyone from housekeeping by themselves to look. Instead they insisted that housekeeping would look when they went next to clean the room and that we would get a phone call regardless of if they found it or not (discussed getting a PHONE CALL three times in person to make sure they knew to please call us).

You guessed it! We did not receive a phone call. I called back this evening (Tuesday) to check one more time and see if they just forgot to follow up with us and was told that there weren’t any notes on our reservation about missing an item in the first place…

As much as I don’t like to accuse anyone of wrongdoing, the only possible answer to this scenario is that HOUSEKEEPING STOLE OUR KINDLE and even after MULTIPLE attempts from us to retrieve it, denied ever having it in the first place.

Both these situations put a large damper on an otherwise lovely birthday weekend.

I am aware that occasionally mistakes are made and it’s possible the item turns up or IS in lost and found but not connected to our room or something, so I WILL edit this review if the situation ends up getting resolved.

||||| UPDATE ||||| -We received a call from the manager who was very gracious and ended up refunding our stay for the amount it’s going to cost to replace the Kindle. Very much...

I stayed here from December 26th to December 28th. I arrived rather late and the Night Audit and Valet team were very welcoming upon arrival. They quickly assisted and ensured I was situated with my accommodations and valet. The next day I had a concern surrounding my AC-unit and the engineering team, quickly assisted after 2 calls to the front desk. Being in the hotel/hospitality industry for over 20 years, you understand the makeup of operations and service training. The front desk is lacking service training and the basic fundamentals of guest services. Calling the front desk was a struggle as they did not pick up the phone after 3-5 rings, had to call twice for engineering to fix AC and when I wanted to retrieve my vehicle. Also, when I asked for directions to Giordano's restaurant they sent walking the wrong way.

What tipped the scale with front office service was Veronica- the Front Office Manager. I am not sure how this individual is in position she is in. After receiving my daughter from her father over the Christmas holiday, I wanted to give her a thorough bath before traveling back to Houston. I asked Veronica if she could allow me additional time- not an hour and certainly not 2 hours, but to give me time to give my child a quick shower. I was quickly denied and she repeatedly stated I needed to check out. This was 10 mins prior to official checkout time. She was rude, curt and inflexible. I proceeded to my room and gave my child a shower regardless because she needed it. We all left the hotel with wet hair with 20 degree weather because of Veronica's lack of empathy to the my situation. The automatic email went out prior to my departure from the GM- Ebrahim Ansari stating, "Was your stay a perfect 10?" I emailed him shortly after my departure experience with Veronica, in which we coordinated a call. Lets just say, the General Manager of this hotel did not CARE. I explained my situation and he disregarded everything I had to say. Its no wonder Veronica is allowed to interact with guests the way she does, seems as though its the culture the GM allows. You would think after a conversation with the GM you would feel somewhat validated and reassured this is not the core values of the company and follow through would take place. What I received from the GM was- yes, you should have checked out and went in to explain how I should have known of the big group/convention that was taking place on Sunday in Denver. Why should that even be part of our conversation? NO empathy from the General Manager either. If you stay here, avoid interactions with Veronica and her front office team, General Manager does not follow through with basic service standards. Still have not received the Marriott survey, I am sure they deleted my email out their PMS system to ensure I did not receive a standardized survey. Night Audit, Engineering, Valet and Housekeeping-Amazing- front office needs basic service...

Hotel management refuses to take responsibility for putting public safety at risk. I commute by bike every day and my route takes me by the front of this hotel in the afternoon. There is a protected bike lane that is separated from the street by stanchions and is clearly painted and marked. Unfortunately the entrance and exit to the AC Hotel valet stand goes right through it. Making this worse, the valet staff would regularly park cars in the bike lane causing me and other cyclists to have to leave the protected bike lane and merge with traffc. In late September, I was fed up with this and stopped to talk to the hotel about it. I've worked in the industry in the past and I know that if you really want something done, talk to the general manager. This wasn't just a simple problem, this was the hotel staff and valet putting public safety at risk due to laziness and a lack of empathy. After a significant wait, the first person to come talk to me was a woman who identified herself as the Front Desk Manager. She was clearly very annoyed at having to talk to me at all, this was evident in her posture, her tone of voice, and her choice of words. I asked her why she was annoyed and she attempted to excuse it as taking my issue very seriously. This was a lie as she quickly tried to absolve the hotel of responsibility because the valet is a contractor. I reminded her that the valet represents the hotel, regardless of who they are paid by. She asked for my business card, which I don't have, and I asked for hers which she said she would get for me. Soon the valet supervisor arrived who was very pleasant to talk to and said he understood the problem and would try to "be better". Putting public safety at risk is a big deal and I advised him that being better isn't good enough, they need to not block the bike lane. The front desk manager told me I was dealing with the valet now and walked away. I asked for her card and she repeated that I was dealing with the valet now. I contacted the local enforcement and the hotel was issued a warning. Thankfully, I haven't seen this problem again since, but I have a feeling that it's only a matter of time. I contacted corporate about the rudeness and annoyance of the front desk manager and they promised someone would contact me in 5 to 7 business days. I'm happy that this seems to have been resolved, but not at all impressed by the crassness and cowardliness of the hotel front desk manager and the refusal of the hotel to contact me to discuss this issue. If this is how the hotel treats a public safety risk that they created, I would hate to see how they treat paying customers. I'll choose a chain other than Marriott next...