When XGFJ and I were dating, we went to Atlantic City several times and stayed at the Tropicana. In the past, I'd think this place gave good value for prices charged - even with the nonsense "resort fee" tacked on to the bill. Today, I have the exact opposite opinion, in part, because the hotel part of the complex is not user friendly.
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On Sunday, RQS and I decided to spend an overnight in Atlantic City, so that we could visit sites important to her and her late husband. As usual, I did the driving, and it took us roughly 4 hours to make it from Northern Westchester to Atlantic City. And that's where our problems began....
Arriving in AC, we didn't know where the self-park lot was for the hotel (they have two). Signage pointed to one, while we should have been directed to the other lot. (That was forgivable, but is another issue.) So we parked in the self-park lot that I was familiar with, and proceeded to the check-in area for the hotel. That's where our first frustration occurred. Instead of having a human at a check-in desk, they only had machines. It took a while for us to figure things out, but we got our room keys with some printed documentation.
At this point, we knew we had to go to the Chelsea Tower, but there was no signage from where we were to find our way there. We asked one person, and he only pointed us in a direction, as he was not fluent in the English language. So I ended up asking people at the next store how to get there, and they gave me the information needed. AARGH! Upper management has made the hotel a human unfriendly experience, and it started to leave a disgusting taste in our mouths. We did find our room, and then RQS went to the beach for the sunset.
Not everything was bad with the Tropicana, it was just second rate at best. For example, the grill surrounding the HVAC equipment was not secured correctly. But the AC unit did cool off the room to a desired temperature. We had an ice bucket for the room, but the ice machine was on the floor below us. We had a refrigerator in the room, but it was not working. Although the bed was comfortable, the mattress and bed spring slid around on the bed platform when I was getting dressed. No good thing was good in its own right, save maybe the restaurant we ate at. The Chinese restaurant in the Quarter was very good, and we'd both go there again.
The next morning, we had our next set of problems at the hotel. We had no information on how and where to check out. We saw no check-in/check-out kiosks. We saw no hotel lobby. We saw no information posted anywhere on how to check out. So RQS called the hotel staff for information, and they said to go to the main lobby. But where was that? No humans were in any of the expected places, nor was there adequate signage to direct us to that lobby. The person at the other end of the line spoke in heavily accented English, and had a hard time understanding RQS's simple request. By this time we were totally frustrated, and we went to the same check-in/check-out kiosks to check out - and couldn't complete the check-out process. At this point, we were totally frustrated, and decided to leave and let things sort themselves out. In the elevator, we met another couple who had the same problem we did. So we knew this was not a problem limited to us.
Later on, when we were in Ocean Grove, RQS checked her email - and they were billing her for 2 days' lodging. RQS was upset enough that we agreed to try to get this fixed at my place, when we've had a chance to rest. And we took care of RQS's business in Ocean Grove before meandering back home. Yet, this was not the end of the story. RQS called the hotel, and they referred her to the billing department, knowing it was closed for the day. AARGH! If RQS were prone to hair pulling, she'd have less hair than I do as a male. So, she let it all out in an inquiry form on the Tropicana's site, and I hope she'll get this fixed. Otherwise, she'll deal with her bank regarding the incorrect charge.
PS: The hotel contacted RQS a day later and fixed the problem. Although the problem was resolved, it still left a bad taste in our mouths due to the aggravation we dealt with that day.
