COMPLAINT - PITTSBURGH HILTON

COMPLAINT - PITTSBURGH HILTON

October 7, 2005

September 27, 2005 Hilton Hotels: Since 1989, I have spent approximately 1500 nights in hotel rooms traveling for business. And last evening (September 27, 2005) I experienced by far the most reprehensible, disgusting, and atrocious situation of all. I had a confirmed reservation (confirmation #3217319466, guaranteed for late arrival) at the

downtown Pittsburgh Hilton. I arrived at the hotel at approximately 11:30 PM due to a delayed flight. Upon check-in, I was advised by the agent on duty that the hotel was oversold, my guaranteed reservation for a double/non-smoking room could not be honored, and that my only option was a “parlor” room, where the sofa sleeper counts as a bed. In recent days, I’ve been suffering from severe back spasms, and advised the agent that due to my

condition, a sofa bed was not acceptable, I wanted the room that I reserved and guaranteed with Hilton

hotels. But I was again told that the parlor room was my only option. So I checked into room 2223, which is a large meeting room. I examined the sofa and immediately noticed that it was so filthy, it looked like it had come from a college fraternity house. I then lifted the cushions off the couch to see about extending the mattress. Underneath the cushions, there was an empty chocolate bar wrapper, a half-eaten pretzel rod, several large, dark stains, and a lot of visible dirt. Furthermore, when I went to find the bedding, it was stored in a clear plastic bag in the closet, and the bag was covered with some kind of a sticky slime. I was simply outraged that Hilton would think that it would be acceptable to deny a customer a guaranteed reservation, and then place them into a room with a filthy sofa as my sleeping accommodations. As I said, in my 15 years of travel, I’ve never seen anything so reprehensible as Hilton selling this room and couch as a legitimate accommodation for a paying business traveler. So I was provided another “parlor room” – room 609 – which was almost as dirty. The tiled entry way floor had many spots and stains. Worse, there was a family of large spiders who apparently had already checked in to the room, and were living on the ceiling in the corners, and had spun webs between the desk lamp and the walls. Unbelievable! Again – how could Hilton in good conscience sell these rooms????? I was advised by the night manager, Mr. Joe Leone, that this hotel regularly oversells its capacity and

denies customers with confirmed reservations their confirmed room type, and instead places them into

these “parlor rooms”. I find this to be a disgusting business practice, and the individuals responsible for

it should be fired. It is simply unacceptable. For future business travel, I will seriously think twice about ever again setting foot into a hotel with

the name Hilton at the top. Michael