Sometimes, travel plans don’t go quite right. Maybe your flight arrives late, or the weather is bad at your destination, or your preferred experience is sold out. None of these are fun, but the one thing that can really sour a traveler’s mood is receiving a sub-par experience or service at a hotel.
While hopefully rare, sometimes your chosen lodgings won’t meet the standards of service that any customer, whether they’re paying with points or cash, should choose to accept. Today, I want to explore some effective and polite ways to complain with grace about a hotel stay so you feel like you’re getting the stay you paid for.
When Should or Shouldn’t I Complain to a Hotel?
It can go without saying that not every minor detail should turn into a major issue. If a hotel offers you a welcome glass of sparkling wine, and it’s a bit too sweet for your liking, then this is what we call a “first-class traveler” and should just be smiled away.
On the other hand, if something is seriously affecting your stay then it’s probably worth complaining. Good examples would be unfriendly or unhelpful customer service, a lack of room cleaning (assuming the hotel advertises they do this daily), or non-functioning room amenities. If you need your laptop or cellphone to work and the power outlets don’t work, this is a more than legitimate reason to raise your concerns.

Speaking of loyalty, one of the key areas you might run into issues could be with what you are entitled to as part of being an elite status holder. For example, the Marriott Bonvoy chain of hotels offers Elite Guarantees, such as the choice for Platinum Elite members and above of either 1,000 welcome bonus Marriott Bonvoy points or a $10 food and drink voucher.
In the case of the Marriott Elite Guarantee, If this choice isn’t offered by the front desk, you may be entitled to up to $100 USD in cold, hard cash by bringing up that the Elite Guarantee wasn’t met.
Effective Complaining 101: Summarize, Request, & Be Realistic
Whenever you have a complaint about a hotel, make sure you have your facts in order. Ensure you have a basic summary of events noted down so you can explain them clearly.
For example, imagine that you had hundreds of ants at the base of your bed when you woke up in the morning after the first night of your stay. While this is frustrating to experience, it is an easily resolvable problem for the hotel.
Next, have a clear request for what will make you a satisfied customer: probably moving rooms, and maybe having a staff member double-check the new one is ant-free. By having a realistic complaint without over-dramatizing, and having reasonable expectations, you maximize your chances of a good outcome.
If this sounds like a real story, it was. It happened to our very own Josh on his latest sojourn to Japan during a stay at the Roku Kyoto LXR!
Josh got his problem resolved though, in a simple and minimally disruptive manner. How? By not being this guy with the hotel staff:

For another example, I stayed at the JW Marriott on Grosvenor Square in London, England back in the fall of 2022. This hotel commands upwards of £500 a night, or over $850 CAD, and the toilet proceeded to overflow. When I called the front desk, nobody came. I had to go downstairs and ring the bell at the front desk to send maintenance up.
Needless to say, this wasn’t a luxury experience so I made sure to tell the manager the next day what happened. I summarized the issue wasn’t just the mechanical failure, but that I couldn’t get assistance without going downstairs myself. I further told her that I’d prefer Marriott Bonvoy points to her proposed bottle of wine, and she added 10,000 to my account later that morning. All’s well that ends well.
What Methods Do I Have to Complain to the Hotel?
There are a few avenues you can pursue if you feel like you need to complain about your stay and we’ve identified them in the preferred order of escalation below.
Via the Front Desk & Hotel Manager
If you’ve had a bad experience at a hotel, then the first line of defense is the front desk or potentially the manager. Whilst you should always be respectful, this doesn’t mean you have to be a doormat: if your concern of lack of hot water in your room is being dismissed, feel free to insist on having the problem fixed quickly.

Remember: most hotel front desk staff want you to have an excellent stay. This goes doubly for the manager, who is likely under pressure both to get repeat guests and to maintain a decent online review rating.
This also means staff will often be authorized to compensate you in small ways for egregious errors. As in my example above, staff might try to placate you by offering you free drink tickets, complimentary amenities like wine or flowers, partial refunds, or even extra bonus points for your loyalty account.
If you want any of the above, one of the best ways to maximize your chance of receiving them is by not losing your temper. Having the problem resolved at the hotel level during your actual stay is always the best outcome, since it gives the hotel the chance to resolve the issue and will ensure that you leave a happy customer, without the annoyance of a negative stay hanging over your head.
Via Corporate Customer Service
If the hotel front desk doesn’t provide you with a satisfactory outcome, you can always consider calling the hotel’s corporate affiliate customer service line if it does have one. Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG, the biggest hotel players, all have a corporate line that you can call if you’ve had issues.
Apply the steps from earlier in this article by summarizing the issues plaguing you and requesting a specific outcome, and the corporate call center or email box may just make your day. If you’re an Elite member, you’ll likely have received a special phone number with priority calling that you can try to use.
Remember: this only applies if you booked directly with the hotel chain instead of another service like an Online Travel Agency (OTA), so this is all the more reason to avoid booking with OTAs and instead book directly.

Don’t forget that the corporate call center or helpline represents a money-making business. They won’t authorize a free yacht trip because the manager was rude (although if they did, I’d let that manager be rude to me four times a year).
Finally, be mindful that while Elite status in the company’s loyalty program can be important, it doesn’t guarantee the hotel will actually treat you significantly better than other customers. They probably should, but in this era, many folks hold elite status purely through points redemptions or credit card perks. They aren’t that profitable to the chain, and so may not get ideal service on the basis of status alone.
Via Written Reviews
Before we proceed, I’d like to note neither this method nor the next few higher steps, are guaranteed to work and should only be used as a last resort. While many of these tactics can produce results, they certainly have some risk attached as the responding hotel chain, or even local jurisdiction, may not look on these kindly.
If you are not satisfied with the service you receive, and if you have tried to resolve this via the front desk, the manager, and a hotel’s corporate affiliation, then you are more than entitled to write a negative review on Google or Tripadvisor.

Know that this is fair if you’ve had bad service and no resolution. It’s not fair if you’re doing this as a way to try and extract freebies or apologies. However, just like with restaurants, hotels are in the hospitality industry and take guest complaints, especially public ones, quite seriously.
How High Can Your Hotel Complaint Go?
If none of the above methods work and you’re so dissatisfied that you still want a resolution, there are a few methods left to you, though be careful about using them.
The first method is to complain to the hotel’s corporate headquarters’ Office of the President. This is a high-level office that will answer complaints to the company on behalf of its most senior executive. If you really want to guarantee a response, you can even physically mail your grievance to them in an envelope instead of calling or sending an e-mail.
If that doesn’t work, you can always go to third-party reviewers. For example, consider filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, which usually can at least get you a callback from the hotel. There’s also the Department of Tourism for whatever country or city you’re in; depending on where you are they can take tourist concerns very seriously.
Of course, be mindful of where you do this as not everywhere has organizations controlling tourism that are 100% benevolent to outsiders!

As an aside, filing a chargeback against a hotel with your credit card company can be notoriously difficult and is typically not recommended. This is because the front desk collects your signature on a document binding you to agree to the hotel’s rules and policies and to pay all reasonable charges.
Chargebacks can be granted in exceptional cases, but even Amex’s legendary client care is unlikely to comp your wedding party just because the floral arrangements weren’t up to snuff.
Conclusion
It’s never fun when travel plans go awry, and it’s definitely even less enjoyable when a hotel you’re supposed to be relaxing at doesn’t live up to expectations. Of course, you as a customer have the right to get what you paid for, so don’t be afraid to complain so long as you have a clear way to resolve the issue. The hospitality industry, after all, wants to accommodate you.
Until next time, swig some welcome amenity beverages for me the next time you check-in.

Kirin Tsang

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