With all the devastation of Harvey and Irma, things haven’t been looking good in Texas and Florida. I kept careful watch on Houston in particular, as my wife and I were traveling through IAH on our way to Costa Rica to adopt our kids.
Another worry was the hotel. My wife and I had booked the Candlewood Suites Houston IAH / Beltway 8, a hotel at which I overnighted at a couple years ago on my way home from Guatemala. As as aside, that stay didn’t go so well. But I wanted to give it another try, mainly because we’ve liked the amenities at other Candlewood Suites and because it fit perfectly into maximizing our IHG Accelerate fall promotion.
I wondered if the hotel was impacted by the record flooding in Houston at all. After seeing pictures of highways covered in several feet of water, I wondered if some hotels were put out of commission.
The hotel never emailed us, and I figured that no news was good news.
“Flooding killed our shuttle”
Things started off on the wrong foot immediately after collecting our FOUR bags from the terminal C baggage claim at IAH. Typically, that is when the hotel is willing to send their shuttle to pick you up.
Except the Candlewood Suites IAH doesn’t have a functioning shuttle anymore. The lady on the phone kindly explained that the flooding caused some damage, specifically citing that engine now quickly overheats. She was nice, but it was immediately obvious they hadn’t made other arrangements. We would have to fend for ourselves.
Now I *was* kicking myself that I didn’t call the hotel a few days before.
Better call Uber
I pulled up the Uber app. It would cost us about $18 one-way to the hotel. At this point I was a bit disgruntled, as I would have booked elsewhere (probably the closer Holiday Inn) had I known there was not shuttle. There wasn’t much of a price difference at time of booking.
To top things off, we got the worst Uber with which I’ve ever ridden. The van smelled of smoke, and the guy’s driving unnerved me. He glanced at his phone incessantly, which he conveniently kept in his palm the whole time. Is this not illegal in other states like it is in California?
[The time my Lyft driver went the wrong way down a one way street]
Now that tipping is a thing with Uber, I decided to pass on my first opportunity to do so.
Indifference doesn’t help things
When we finally reached the hotel, I handed the desk agent my ID and credit card to check in. As he started clicking on the keyboard, I mentioned that it was a bit of a surprise and an inconvenience that they hadn’t communicated the shuttle issue.
All I got was silence. Ok, then. Moving on.
Should I have more sympathy?
I’m really split on this situation. In general, I think hotels ought to do the best by their guests that they can in all ways. It was a bummer to spend an extra $36 for our “cheap” overnight. This is over a third of the total hotel bill.
I think the right thing for the hotel to do would have been to send an email blast to all guests that would be staying with them in the near future. Who knows? Maybe there wouldn’t have been any cheaper options at that point, and we would have decided to stick with the Candlewood Suites.
Then again, Houston was just devastated by a hurricane. The hotel really can’t help the fact that their shuttle needs maintenance, except maybe finding another one, or another service, to cover in the interim.
Ultimately, it looks like I just have to chalk this one up to unfortunate timing.
What would you do? Would you expect the hotel to meet you in the middle? Or would you chalk this up to unfortunate timing and situation?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Is this a serious post?
Seriously? Houston is suffering, and nearly everyone has been affected.
The fact that you’re unhappy because you had to spend an additional $36 is really unfathomable and SO unattractive in light of what Houston residents are currently facing. You so need to get over yourself ..
A nuisance for sure. But maybe lower your expectations and chalk it up to a (one of the worsts) hurricane. Adopting children show you have a big heart–maybe the staff need some empathy. Who knows what the staff went through personally and professionally? Hotels generally treat shuttles as a luxury and not something I’d imagine they considered emailing about.
You could have requested free cancellation at Candlewood due to the shuttle problem and then booked another hotel with shuttle service.
I think sympathy is in order for sure. This is a unique and sad/difficult time in Texas.
That being said I’m surprised they didn’t offer/arrange to get you back to the airport and pay for it.
So many times a hotel has a free shuttle and at certain times of night/day they have opted to pay a cab to get me to airport then send free shuttle. And they pay for it.
Your fault. Totally. You know they sucked. Yet you crave for ponts and status. You got what you deserved.
You can talk to the manager and get the uber charges reimbursed (once they offered me that option) or call IHG customer care and get some points as compensation
Given the overall devastation in Houston id say let it go
All this whining because shuttle is out of commish? Try showing up in Luanda or Lagos without a ride. At least you have safe options here
Not only was their shuttle down but probably all the employees had damages to their own homes but had to work to earn a paycheck. In a perfect world you would have been notified but in a perfect works they wouldn’t have flooded. Enjoy your trip and when you return think about making a donation to others less fortunate.
The last conservative estimate I saw from State Farm and Geico was that just over 500,000 vehicles would be a total loss from flooding. They very well may not have options for a replacement at this time OR repair.
Acknowledge to yourself that you had expectations of transport while publically being thankful that you and your family weren’t impacted by the storm.
I love your blog but I agree with the others to just let it go.
I have a lot of friends that truly suffered from the Hurricane with damage to their cars, homes, businesses. Your post comes off as really insensitive considering the events of what happened.
This hobby of yours has gotten to your head. Step away from your Award Wallet account and think about what you just complained about…a damn shuttle. We have friends that were stranded in Houston, we have business contacts whose firms were damaged and you have the nerve to write a post about the lack of a shuttle? Or an email? How many businesses are still trying to get up and running? How many families are trying to figure out their living situation? And you’re on a blog venting…you self centered idiot. Get your head out of a hole and get a life. You make me ill.
It is this sort of issue that separates the men from the boys. We all have every sympathy with those affected by Harvey and Irma but this does not mean that things that can be done to ensure as normal as possible service as possible in service industries, like hotels, should not be done. The hotel was up and running; they were taking their usual prices so why couldn’t they have sent out email advising booked clients that there was no shuttle due to the impact of the weather. Why should the client be the one ignored? I would not expect Candlewood properties to dig deep into their pockets and provide private cabs although I would expect that of an Intercontinental.
I’m guessing that management and staff had other things on their minds.
It’s possible (likely) that some, perhaps many, of the staff weren’t able to even get to work. I also expect that just remaining open had its own challenges … so
have some compassion and stop whining about $36!!
Hmmm…I’m not sure how to feel. I get that they were just in a major storm but from a customer experience standpoint they owed you communication. Outbound contacts aren’t complicated anymore and could have been automated. Hilton as the parent should have a standard for this.
If I bought a new car that was routed through Houston and it was water logged because it was in a flood – should I just understand because it went through a storm?
You bought a product. For reasons outside of your control the product wasn’t available as-is. It’s the job of the vendor to make things whole. This isn’t insensitivity to damage from the storm – it’s an expectation of delivery of the product you purchased. If Uber cost $38 I’d attempt to collect from the hotel and ultimately dispute that amount to have it taken from the hotel charge.
This cannot be a serious post …. People in Texas are DEAD from this hurricane ….. I think this is the most self centered post that I gave ever seen … Donate to the Hurricane relief fund ….
I enjoy reading your blog but this one really disappointed me on several levels. There was an opportunity to take the story and your actions in a compassionate and caring direction, and you chose entitled and Arrogant. Priorities and expectations are out of line on this one.
I get everyone’s point and I think it is something very important. Would I want the hotel to pay for the Uber or what not at that point in time. No way. The area is devastated. People have lost their lives, their homes, and their way of life.
Yes it would have been nice for the hotel to email you, but in these circumstances I wouldn’t expect the hotel to do be doing that. I think it relies on the traveler in a case of a natural disaster. A good point to remind travelers if they happen to be traveling to an area that has been hit by a disaster.
I hope the rest of the trip to adopt your children is smooth sailing.
This is a bit hard to understand. 1st, you must have a big heart to adopt children, but then 2nd, alot of hurting people in Florida, Texas, Georgia, Carolinas right now and those folks in Houston got hit so hard. You get to travel for free most of the time. Just suck it up and realize things don’t go well all the time.
We just got a foot of water in our house and we are OK. My heart goes out to all of those that are much worse off than me.
While I commiserate with the people of Houston, as my business was in the path of Irma, I don’t see any reason why this hotel could not communicate with their upcoming guests. We had our staff out checking for damages as soon as we were permitted by the authorities and where we found issues (primarily power outages) upcoming guests were immediately informed and moved or allowed to make changes to their plans and we don’t have the systems in place that a candlewood suites would have. I can think of no reason (especially two weeks after the event) why they could not have advised their upcoming guests of any issues they were having and most guests would have been sympathetic and understanding. They are in the hospitality business, they need to think of their guests first.
Having said that, I completely understand that they could not, given their market position and all that is going on in Houston, provide alternatives to their shuttle and weren’t particularly sympathetic to this problem. In the scope of what they are dealing with, this is a pretty minor inconvenience.
In short, lack of a shuttle is minor but failing to advise guests so that they could make alternate arrangements was an unacceptable oversight.
In a related note, when I was at IAH during the floods last year, there was a hotel that was still taking reservations online when I got stuck there last year. I made my reservation, then called for their shuttle. Only then was I told that they were surrounded by water and there was no way to get to them. By time I was given this information, all the other hotels nearby had been booked and I was forced to get a hotel far enough away that they didn’t even have a shuttle because they didn’t expect anyone from the airport to use them. I did not expect the first hotel to reimburse me for my additional costs, but I certainly did expect them to stop accepting reservations which they had no ability to fulfill. And it was a major hassle when I cancelled the first hotel as well. That is not how the hospitality industry should work.
I also should mention that we also adopted from overseas, so understand the extraordinary level of stress that Ian is experiencing and would hope that commenters take that into account when deciding on their level of criticism. And for those who suggest that he needs to show some compassion for Houstonians, keep in mind that he is on his way to a place where people would happily take Houston on it’s worst day compared to how they live every day. Some perspective is in order. Everything Houston lost are things that most of the world never had in the first place, so if you are going to donate, maybe look a little further afield than Houston. I suspect that some of that luggage space that Ian mentioned is filled with donations for those who need it more than Houston.
Show some sympathy please! I am fortunate to live 35 miles north of Houston in a master planned community. My house was fine. I don’t intend to brag, as I consider it my duty to help those who did flood, so I made a large $ donation to the Walmart / Red Cross matching gift program and a smaller one to a local food bank. Also, I bought cleaning supplies and clothing then volunteered for 3 days at a relief center in my community, as some people nearby did flood. While I’m sorry for the $18 lost on Uber, thousands here lost their houses. That possibly included some of the people working at the hotel.
What if the shoe was on the other foot. You reserved a hotel with a 24 hr cancellation. You had a mechanical breakdown on the way. The cancelation period has lapsed. Do you believe the hotel would have compassion and not charged your c.c.? Dont they realize what you went through! Finding a tow truck, a mechanic and alternate accommodations. Been there, done that, they don’t!
@Bigfoot That’s a valid comparison.
Actually it’s not at all a valid analogy …
My point exactly. Any reasonable person can see the that.
Sorry, but you had to catch a ride after Houston just had its worst natural disaster ever????
Uh, I’d say…..this is truly the definition of
neit·pick·ing
ˈnitˌpikiNG/
informal
adjective
adjective: nit-picking
1.
looking for small or unimportant errors or faults, especially in order to criticize unnecessarily.
“a nitpicking legalistic exercise”
Quit your whining and have some understanding. Did the extra cost bankrupt you? If it did you should have cancelled your cable tv and cell phone. Would anyone from Guatemala complain about your situation. I bet not.