A Bum Trip

Is this any way to run a hotel?

The other afternoon I checked in at the Sheraton at Stapleton Airport in Denver where, because I had no credit card, I was told I must pay in advance. This was understandable because airport hotels in particular have a fear of being ripped off by guests who might slip away without paying.

I got the impression, though, that Sheraton was overstating its case when the receptionist asked for an extra $20 as a “buffer” against incidental charges--something I’d never experienced in 25 years of travel.

But things got worse.

Later, after taking business guests to dinner at the hotel, I was awakened by a call at 10 p.m. It was a hotel employee who said she was sending someone to my room “to collect more money.”

My $20 deposit, she said, hadn’t covered the restaurant tab and apparently Sheraton wasn’t taking any chances.

To conclude this essay, I told the auditing department not to bother; I didn’t wish to be disturbed and the incidental charges would be paid the following morning--and I explained that I intended to complain to Sheraton’s corporate headquarters in Boston.

As I checked out of Sheraton’s hotel the next day (for the final time, I might add) I wondered how many other business and pleasure travelers suffer similar abuses after responding to glowing travel promotions by hotels, airlines and others?

Later I called Sheraton’s headquarters in Boston. The friendly vice president was dismayed. I explained that this, naturally, wasn’t an indictment of Sheraton in general, which in most cases takes excellent care of its guests.

I was mentioning this incident for one purpose, I told him: a concern for the guest who doesn’t happen to have a vice president to complain to.

As for Sheraton’s people in Denver, a final word: Don’t look for me back.