Shocked Marriott Ambassador Guest Finds Housekeeper’s Boyfriend in Her Room: 30,000 Points an Insult?

Shocked Marriott Ambassador Guest Finds Housekeeper’s Boyfriend in Her Room: 30,000 Points an Insult?

by Gary Leff July 20, 2024

One Marriott Ambassador member, who stays more than 100 nights and spends $23,000 a year with the chain, reports that when he returned to his room, housekeeping was there — and the housekeeper had brought her boyfriend.

The customer found the cleaning cart outside his door. The cleaning lady was in the bathroom working and told him to wait outside until she was done.

However, he said he wanted to put the food he had brought back into the room refrigerator, so he “walked around it to see a random guy charging his phone on my charger.” The guest reported the incident to the front desk. They arranged a meeting with the hotel manager. They offered him 30,000 Marriott points and an upgrade the next day.

Many years ago, I walked into a room at the Ritz-Carlton where the bed was unmade and there was a used condom. I guess that’s not what happened here. The housekeeper simply gave access to the rooms to someone who doesn’t work for the hotel.

It was a stupid decision, like the cleaning lady who stole jewelry from a guest room and then called someone in prison — whose phone calls are recorded — to discuss the crime. She left the bed half-made and left behind cleaning supplies. Maybe you shouldn’t take life advice from someone who’s already in prison?

A hotel offers three basic things:

1. a clean place to sleep
2. a place to take a shower
3. security in space.

Here, the hotel failed on this last point. One of their employees gave access to the room to a third person! This person was using the customer’s personal belongings!

The hotel is responsible for this and should not charge for something (the basics of the stay) that they did not provide.

This is a business stay, but it is the customer (not the employer) who was wronged. The hotel should compensate the customer by giving him the same number of points to cover the free nights during his stay, rather than waiving the nightly fee. 30,000 Marriott points doesn’t go very far, especially compared to this member’s 10-night stay.

More View from the Wing