What happens when a five-star hotel that runs over $1,000 night doesn’t have any food or beverages? That’s what happened at the famed Plaza Hotel in New York City (and still is…).
One of my best Award Expert clients took her granddaughter from upstate New York down to New York City for a couple days. She offered to take her granddaughter anywhere in the world and she chose NYC and the Plaza Hotel, an iconic hotel with a rich history in American culture. She wanted to eat in The Palm Court and Oak Room.
At check-in at 2pm, they were informed their room was not ready. They went out and returned about 7pm. In addition to their room key, they were handed this letter:
Summary: no food and beverages on the premises.
They promptly checked out. The stay was ruined.
Culprit: Labor Issues…in Canada
I called the hotel this morning and asked if food and beverages were still unavailable. Still no food. I was told simply that “hopefully” the “issue” would be resolved in a few days. What issue, I asked? The agent I spoke with said, “Well, to sum it up: labor.”
Indeed, the Wall Street Journal reports this morning that The Plaza has turned away most guests over the last week due to an ongoing labor dispute.
But here’s the interesting thing. The Plaza is part of the Fairmont hotel chain. Fairmont is encountering labor unrest at its Royal York property in Toronto. The New York labor action was initiated to help resolve the Toronto dispute!
Per the WSJ:
The hotels got into trouble after members of the New York Hotel Trades Council union who work at the Plaza and Sofitel raised health and safety concerns related to staff training and other issues, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.
…
By raising health and safety issues at the New York hotels and disrupting their business, the unions hoped they could apply additional pressure on Fairmont to reach an agreement in Toronto, these people said. Fairmont is owned by the Paris-based hotel company Accor, which also owns the Sofitel brand.
Note that the Sofitel New York, down the street from the Plaza, is also encountering labor unrest.
Refund
My client requested a refund and was issued one today:
Sad that her special trip to New York was ruined due to labor issues in Canada…
CONCLUSION
I’ll follow-up on this post once the issues at The Plaza and Sofitel have been resolved.
how odd to check out b/c of F&B issues. trip ruined? I would ask for a discount but hardly be put off by F&B issues. Now cleaning and room service is obviously another issue. great food is plentiful in this town. why order room service? to each his own.
Hold on, you’re saying that they checked out and demanded a refund because the restaurants were closed??? If it was something like “no water for bathing” or “not room temperature controls,” ok, fine, check out. Why go all the way to NYC only to eat all your meals in the hotel anyway? In that area, there are plenty of other highly priced (aka ripoff) hotel restaurants just down the street. Take a walk!
It is my understanding that the labor unrest spread to housekeeping as well and that for many days the hotel turned away all guests and had to walk them to other properties.
I’d say it’s expected that a 5 star hotel has food and beverage on site. Even room service was unavailable. At $1,000 per night, these should be available for guests. You can’t sell someone a room at a 5 star hotel and not have any food or beverage available.
My question is why don’t they just hire temps with restaurant experience to step in while this is going on?
“temps with restaurant experience”
I believe the word you are looking for is “scabs”.
If it was a hotel priced at UsD 50 a night, I would say you’re correct. Not at this price point.
I’m guessing that the “Package Charge” likely included some sort of food in addition other stuff? At least I hope it did.
Correct. I should have clarified that.
@tri n + Tom:
Think about a little girl who watches Bride Wars. Who wants to have tea in the Palm Court and Oak Room. The stay in New York was CENTERED on The Plaza and its restaurants.
Maybe you should have advised your client that the Oak Room hasn’t been in operation for almost a decade…?
I just book her flights.
That was mean, but also probably the funniest comment so far this year!
Is your client named Debbie Downer? I can’t imagine that the inability to dine on hotel premises ruined this person’s entire trip. If it really did, they need to wake up smell the roses. Were they planning on doing anything else on the trip other than eating/drinking at the Plaza? I can understand requesting a discount, but to ruin the trip seems an exaggeration.
I’m guessing in addition to the paucity of your imagination that you have never stayed at a property just for the sake of enjoying being at that property. You should try it sometime.
OMG, is the girl going to be OK?
Another lawsuit in the work possibly?
# Matthew — They should definitely sue the Royal York.
Yeah, I get it. Wouldn’t ruin a trip for me, or most readers, but yeah. That’s what was important to the kid. Trip was for her. I have a daughter. If that is what she was focused on, it would ruin the trip, in her eyes.
I know New York is home to some of the best food in the world, but if you wanted to stay at the Plaza to be at the Plaza, this would suck. When I was little I used to read Eloise a lot, so when my mom had to go to a trade show in NYC my dad booked a room for us at the Plaza so I could be there. Of course we did plenty of other things, but I was most excited to be at the hotel. Also, the “poor little rich girl” comments are tedious and unnecessary.
Guys – why all the criticism? There are like no good restaurant outside of the hotel anywhere in the entire city.
“I called the hotel this morning and asked if food and beverages were still unavailable. They are not.”
They are not still unavailable?
Yep. Poor. Very poor language….
I don’ Know why the South Park song “Blame Canada” was playing while reading this.
At least they offered a full refund. Was that difficult to obtain?
Not sure why many of the comments on here are so critical of the guest – I would check out and change hotels if no f&b service at all were available there, even more so if housekeeping was also facing disruption. It’s clear in this case the granddaughter had her heart set on the Plaza specifically.
Is f&b service essential? No, but at $1k per night we have moved way, way past focusing only on essentials. Good for the hotel for giving a refund.
In any case, while it’s iconic, the Plaza has not been the best hotel in the city for a very long time. The Pierre just across 5th Avenue is generally a better experience as are the St Regis and the Peninsula, in terms of the “grand hotel” vibe.
How awful. I keep meaning to go there for a drink but never get around to it. Cary Grant went to the Oak Room for a quiet drink in North By Northwest. His experience wasn’t great either, IIRC
Unions… I get that they are for and by employees… but at what point does the customer come into the equation?
Ruining the sales and reputation of another location (which negatively affects the employees there) just doesn’t make sense. But anything to stick it to the people who pay you, right?
Unions are the downfall of most great hotels.
Well at least they didn’t give her a hard time or penalty for checking out.
related:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/03/nyregion/plaza-hotel-sale.html
The hotel should be contacting guests by phone or email prior to check-in notifying them of the situation. Maybe even offer some sort of discount for a future reservation if they decide to cancel.
There’s no “stay” if you don’t stay there.
They had a bad experience, which ultimately cost them nothing, but no stay.
I am surprised nobody is criticizing the fact that the hotel did not give them the letter at 2 pm instead of only telling them that the room was not ready yet. This would have angered me far more than the labor dispute itself!
Sadly, the Plaza has suffered from such overexposure in our culture that it’s become more of a tourist attraction. They need to turn it into a condominium and open the bottom as a museum, shops and restaurants. It’s practically that already. When a property like the Plaza changes international corporate hands with such regularity, after awhile it loses its “soul.”