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Most of us have probably stayed in hotels with friends at one point or another. You usually have a good time together, either catching up with each other if you haven’t seen each other in a while, celebrating a special event, or heck, just shooting the breeze and enjoying each other’s company.

But where’s the line between your group having a good time and your noise encroaching on others? It probably varies from group to group. That’s what four women in Australia discovered while they were staying at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne.

A woman, Vanessa, was looking forward to a luxury weekend away to celebrate her birthday. Her friends Kathy and Sue were also staying at the hotel, as was Vanessa’s mom, Francisca. The four were staying at the 5-star luxury resort for 2 nights, at a cost of $2000.

The four women were in the hotel’s Grand Club Lounge around 9pm on July 21st. “We were talking and having a little laugh, like regular women would do when you’re having a light drink,” said Sue, 56.

“I noticed that the staff were speaking to someone on their laptop on the other side of the room, and one of them came over to us and said to ‘keep it down,’” Sue continued. “And we were thinking, ‘Keep down what?’”

Vanessa continued the story from there, saying the group continued as they had been, talking at a ‘normal, respectable’ level, similar to how they’d speak in a restaurant. But then they were admonished again.

“Another staff member came over and asked us again to ‘keep it down’ and to ‘stop laughing’,” Vanessa said.

“We actually thought he was joking. We were in shock. We had no idea what was going on, then the guy on the laptop walked past us and said, ‘bloody women’. That’s when we left. It was rude, awkward and uncomfortable.”

There were no issues the rest of that evening and the next day. But on the next evening, July 22nd, the foursome went back to the Grand Club Lounge for the complimentary drinks and snacks that were included in their room package.

Vanessa said, “Within 10 minutes, they came to us and said, ‘You’re being too loud.'”

“We didn’t even have any alcohol – we were drinking tea. Our friend cracked it and said, ‘This is ridiculous’. Even the table next to us looked shocked and said, ‘What are you girls doing that’s so wrong?’”

The four women decided to leave the lounge and go to Kathy and Sue’s room.

They put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door and continued their conversation. Then there was a knock on the door – it was a hotel staff member.

Vanessa reported, “They said there had been a noise complaint about us from the room next door and that we needed to keep it down.”

“When we complained, they actually offered to put us in a ‘laughing and talking room’ for a few hours,” she continued. “It was so bizarre. We didn’t have any music or the TV on, there was no alcohol being consumed. We were just relaxing in our own room. If they had an issue, they should have called the room, not knocked on our door since we had the sign out.”

But wait – it gets better!

The group was scheduled to check out of the hotel the next morning. They had filed a complaint of their own and requested a refund; not only was that denied, but the group was charged an additional $400 for Grand Club Lounge access for two extra guests.

“They said they checked security footage that we entered with two extra people, but we literally met these people in the lift and they just walked in at the same time,” Vanessa said.

“They were not in our group at all, yet we were charged for them. We asked how we could prove that they weren’t our guests but there were no options. The ordeal put a whole downer on the weekend. We couldn’t believe it.”

Vanessa put in a complaint to the hotel and they offered her a $500 partial refund. She’s since requested a full refund of $2400 ($200 for the hotel stay and $400 for the alleged 2 guests who didn’t exist) through the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) (it sounds as if it’s similar to Small Claims Court in the U.S.).

Vanessa claims she’s stayed at other 5-star hotels around Melbourne four or five times a year and was never treated like the Grand Hyatt treated her and her friends.

“We have been unfairly overcharged and what we paid for, we didn’t get. That was our first time at that hotel and we’ll never go back,” she continued.

A spokesperson for the hotel said: “The comfort and satisfaction of all our guests is of the utmost importance to us. Therefore when other guests alerted us to noise complaints on two separate occasions, our team politely addressed this with [Vanessa] and her party. This increase in volume occurred both in the Grand Club Lounge and later in their room.

“The Grand Club Lounge charges that were applied for the access of two additional people were based on our discussions with the party that night. We have been in touch directly with the guest and explained our position in these matters.”

Whether or not it will help or hurt her case with VCAT is unknown, but it appears that Vanessa also took to TripAdvisor with her complaint:

Worst experience ever

Review of Grand Hyatt Melbourne

1 star out of 5

Not a 5 star Hotel
Girls weekend away trying to have a great time but kept being interrupted by staff saying we were laughing too loud . Four women laughing enjoying our time remoniscing . Just couldn’t get the laughing quietly right.. Accused of being disruptive and we weren’t. Accused of being a group of six at the club access we were group of 4 two other women walked in the same time and they assumed we brought in another two guest.
The stay just got worse and worse.
Worst customer service l have ever experienced. Rude staff and as for the Mangers they don’t care at all.
We have never experienced such humiliation . We will stay in the future at Crown Towers from now on. A true 5 Star with impeccable outstanding service

To their credit, a representative of the hotel replied:

Fredrick Arul, General Manager at Grand Hyatt Melbourne, responded to this review

Dear Voyage08845954524, thank you so much for providing us with such valuable feedback. I am very sorry to hear that your experience wasn’t as expected. In our exclusive Grand Club Lounge and across the hotel, the comfort and satisfaction of all our guests is of the utmost importance and therefore when other guests alert us to noise complaints, we must get involved to ensure the enjoyment and tranquility for all parties. I have personally followed up with you on this matter via email, and I thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Our thoughts

So, who’s right and who’s wrong? Who knows?

I have no idea what’s going on with being charged for 2 extra people entering the lounge; that just sounds silly and like mistaken identity.

As for their speaking too loudly, well, some peoples’ voices do tend to naturally carry louder than others, and there’s little you can do about that, short of whisper or go outdoors (and it’s chilly in Melbourne in July!). And if it was a particularly small room, where their voices carried, sure, that could be an issue.

Then again, they said they were talking at a ‘normal, respectable’ level, similar to how they’d speak in a restaurant. Well, what kind of restaurant was she talking about? I mean, it’s OK to be louder at, say, Red Lobster or Olive Garden than at Ruth’s Chris or Melting Pot. Actually, you kind of have to be louder at the former two, if you want to be heard.

I do think the fact that the people next-door to Kathy and Sue’s room complained about the noise is a little more telling.

And Vanessa’s comparison that she’s stayed at other 5-star hotels in the area – was it with these same women? If not, who knows, maybe she may have been more quiet, so there wouldn’t have been a “noise” or “laughing” issue.

I know when Joe and I stay at hotels with friends, one of us usually winds up saying, “SHHHHH!” starting around 11 pm or so. I don’t recall staff ever having to “shush” us, at least. 😉

What do you think?

H/T: NTNews
Feature Image: freepik

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