Sofitel Philadelphia at Rittenhouse Square — Hotel in Philadelphia

Pierre Jotterand : Directeur général du Sofitel Philadelphie 120 S 17th St., Hôtel de Philadelphie USA

5 octobre 2024

Cher Monsieur Pierre Jotterand :

Objet : Réclamation n° CLM00106172

Dans votre réponse à mon avis, vous avez déclaré, et je cite : « Chez Sofitel Hotels & Resorts, nous nous efforçons de fournir un service et une expérience de qualité supérieure à chaque client ; et nous espérons que vous nous donnerez l'occasion de mieux vous servir dans un proche avenir. »

Votre lettre d'excuses n'est que des mots en l'air. Si vous exprimez vraiment vos sincères excuses, vous devez prendre une décision proactive et proposer de payer les 2 500 USD de dommages causés par le personnel de votre hôtel à ma voiture pendant qu'elle était sous votre garde dans le garage du Sofitel.

Soyez assuré que je publierai vos excuses non sincères sur plusieurs sites de médias sociaux. Les gens doivent savoir le très mauvais traitement que j'ai reçu de l'hôtel Sofitel.

Salutations, Docteur Habib Jabagi

B. Sc., M. Sc., MLP, FRCSC Chirurgien aortique et cardiaque, Valley Hospital Professeur adjoint clinicien École de médecine Ichan , Mont Sinaï

English Version

Pierre Jotterand: General Manager of Sophitel Philadelphia 120 S 17th. St., Philadelphia Hotel USA

October 5/2024

Dear Mr. Pierre Jotterand:

Subject: Claim # CLM00106172

In your reply to my review you said and I quote: “At Sofitel Hotels & Resorts, we strive to provide a superior service and experience for every customer; and it is our hope that you will give us the opportunity to better serve you in the near future.”

Your letter of apology is nothing but empty words. If you are truly expressing your sincere apology then you would take a proactive decision and offer to pay for the USD 2500 damages your hotel staff inflicted on my car while it was in your care at Sofitel garage.

Be assured that I will be posting your insincere apology on multiple social media sites. People need to know the poor treatment that I received from Sofitel Hotel.

Yours Truly, Dr. Habib Jabagi

BSc, MSc, MLP, FRCSC Aortic and Cardiac Surgeon, Valley Hospital Clinical Assistant Professor Ichan School of Medicine, Mount Sinai

Sofitel Philadelphia Arrived at Sofitel Hotel September 5-7/2024. The valet service at Sofitel Hotel parked my car. I asked to park my car myself (since my car was brand new) but that was not a choice. Upon receiving my car on September 7/2024, I noticed that the back rims of my car tires were scratched badly. I promptly went to the front desk and reported the damage. There was no manager on site!! The employee at the front desk said: "do not worry, just fill in the report and the claims department will pay for any damage". So I filled the report that was signed by the employee on duty. I received a letter from the manager apologizing for the damage and was told to submit a formal report at the Claims department with the estimate of the (damage US 2500.00) from Audi car dealer. I submitted all the reports to the Claims department. Sofitel Hotel refused to acknowledge that the damage was done by their Valet staff and thus refused my claim. Sofitel Hotel and their staff are dishonest and they avoid telling the truth at all costs. Sofitel does not care about their guests; once they get their money they do not give a care. They charged me US 139.66 for the Valet parking plus damage to my car at US 2500.00 “as an extra thank you for staying at our hotel!” My advices to everybody do not stay at Sofitel Hotel nor use their Valet service. Sofitel Hotel service is despicable to...

So excited to spend my birthday at this hotel and have a luxurious room. I made reservations online and called the hotel 3 different times to make sure everything was perfect.

My requests consisted of: 1- mini fridge 2-Early check in 3-high floor 4-nice view for my birthday and first visit to a “Sofitel” hotel Not going to lie. First and probably last visit was very disappointing….

Valet staff was very attentive and friendly. While waiting to check in both ladies at the front desk were on the phone. Nobody made eye contact or even acknowledged that we were standing there. Our valet had enough time to help someone else and came back while the ladies were still on the phone helping people. He stood at the end of the counter waiting for them as well. Once available, there was no “thank you for waiting” or acknowledgment of my birthday during our conversation. We were told not to move anything in the mini fridge because it’s weighted and we’ll get charged. I had to re-confirm all of my info including show her my drivers license and credit card. I have checked it online 2 days prior and wasn’t sure why I had to do all of this again!! Got our keys and the room was on the 7th floor… not a high floor (which I would have been willing to pay for).

Valet helped us to our room and I was the first one to enter. I looked out the window to the ugliest view of the top of buildings. Another request not met. There was a mini fridge already brought to the room but it was randomly plugged in a horrible location blocking the desk. My husband and I had to move the fridge across the room to a spot that made more sense and didn’t block anything.

Here’s a list of the bad experience with our room:

Disgusting stains on the wall in the bedroom and above the sofa that me and my husband cleaned off. My pillowcase also had a mysterious brown stain which was rather disgusting. Bed has no sheet between the comforter. (Not sure if this just isn’t offered but found it odd) The TV remote in the bedroom was dead. Almost a full on hand print on the door and smudges everywhere. No liners for the ice bucket which we didn’t find sanitary at all. We washed the bucket out ourselves and dried it with a towel. Toilet is loose so when you sit on it and get up it makes a loud noise at it rocks back and hits the flooring.

Paid over $800 for a luxury room for 2 nights!!!!!!! Should NOT have to had deal with any of this. With all the stuff that was a missed being cleaned I am fearful of what was not cleaned properly.

The positives:

I was extremely happy that our early check in was honored. Valet staff was great (expensive though $67). Lounge and bar staff were amazing. They were friendly and personable are what made our stay at the hotel not a total disaster. Shower has good water pressure and temp.

Conclusion.

There’s way too many hotels in the area to be mediocre. In March we stayed at another hotel in the area for my husbands bday. Our first stay there and they wished him a HBD, gave us a free room upgrade, $50 credit, and a beer while we checked in. Literally treated like a million bucks. Wish I would have picked somewhere else. Come here for drinks but skip the...

We just spent two nights here. The location is superb next to the main shopping street. Rooms are big and clean. Housekeeping services are quick and thorough.

Furniture is angular and covered with glass, which is moving after the original glue wears off and poses a great hazard to kids. The mattresses are sagging and the pillows are of odd shapes and varying hardness. Hands down the worst beds we ever slept in. AC directly blows on the tops of the beds and whoever is sitting in the bar stools, which are odd to say the least in a hotel room. Showerhead has low water pressure. The fridge is stocked with overpriced sodas and locked. It is extremely inconvenient for people traveling with kids or whoever would like to have their own fresh fruits or cold drinks. You would have to call the front desk to ask for another fridge. What a nuisance!

Sofitel seems to skimp on a lot of things. For a room with two double beds, only one paper coffee cup is provided in room. Are we supposed to share a cup while drinking coffee?

We included breakfast in our booking package. On Friday it's a la carte. You got one option from a long list of fancy-sounding items, but you have to choose between fruits or oatmeal or regular breakfast fares such as eggs and bacon instead of having the usual combination of them at such a high price. The buffet today was little better. The fruits were not fresh or sweet. So so much worse than Grand Hyatt in Washington D.C.

The restaurant is small and pretentious. The servers there welcome a certain kind of customers and like to chat them up and would bend over backwards to ingratiate themselves with them. However if you don't fit the profile, they care more about chatting with each other in half-baked French than being attentive to your needs. A case in point, I finished my morning sandwich and needed clean knife and fork for my fruits. They were all chatting with each other and no one was paying any attention to me. After failing to find cutleries near the buffet table, I had no choice but to grab the cutleries from the table next to me. Then a snarky server suddenly appeared from nowhere and placed a pair of knife and fork on the next table with a thud and lectured me about asking for them from him next time I needed them. Every time I tried to make my point, he talker over me and condescended me. I was very much upset and refused to be snubbed by this and ended up speaking with the manager and making a complaint.

It's a sad coda to our otherwise perfect 4th of July family tour of Northeast. Would never go there again. Avoid it if you look like a regularJoe...