Never Again at the Coast Hotel

I probably spend 7-10 nights a month in a hotel so I have some strict criteria for selecting a hotel.
I want it to be as comfortable as possible, conveniently located, with good and free wifi, a refrigerator, and a good fitness room.

If I am in a particular city frequently, I like to stay at the same hotel on each visit. Familiarity reduces stress and there’s plenty of stress for Road Warriors. I am in Bellevue often, and on this trip my preferred hotel was full so I ended up at the Coast Hotel.

Monday morning I hit the fitness room at 6 am. What? No tv? The rack for the tv was in place with wires and cables hanging from it, but no tv. After I finished my workout, I went to the front desk and reported that the tv was missing.

“Really?” said the receptionist with a look of surprise.
“Could you make sure there’s one there tonight?” I thought that was a reasonable request. Dave and I were in a hotel this summer where the tv in our room didn’t work. The manager went out and bought a replacement.

The receptionist gave a non-committal response. And, no, there was no tv in the fitness room when I worked out Monday night. Or Tuesday morning. So, after my Tuesday morning workout, I again went to the reception desk to log my complaint.

“This is my third time to come to this desk and complain that there is no tv in the fitness room.”
“Oh, my, ‘said the receptionist. “I wasn’t here the last two days so I didn’t know. I was told that a tv is on order,” said the receptionist.
“Well,” says I, “would you tell your manager when he comes in?”

That triggered the entrance of a man in a white shirt and a tie. “Are you the manager?” I asked.
“At the moment,” he answered. Hmm, what does that mean anyway. Not a very confident sounding guy. And it got worse. “Somebody stole the tv within the last month,” he said as if that were an explanation.
Really? It’s been gone for up to a month?
“Why don’t you go buy one?” I ask. Go for the gusto I always say.

“Well,” says the sometime manager, “the problem is no one watches the tv.”  I guess that makes me a  nobody. Is that really how he wants his guests to feel?

But it’s kinda circular reasoning, right? Far fewer people are using the fitness room now that the tv is gone which equals fewer people watching the tv.

Never mind that maybe half the people in a fitness room are listening to their ear buds and not watching the tv. The point here is the defeatist attitude on the part of this manager and the lack of interest on the part of the rest of the staff as well as the total indifference to the needs and cares of a guest. And those attitudes are reflected in the overall condition of the hotel.

Now, of course I have to point out that all of this revolves around something highly significant. I was working out!!! That’s enough of an event to celebrate and nothing should be allowed to detract from a near earth shattering effort.

Tuesday evening when I got back to the hotel I went to check the fitness room before going to my room. Not only was there no tv, but the rack, cables and wires had been removed as if they were evidence. But the level of attention to detail was once again visible as the tv remote that sat in clear view on the radiator underneath the spot where the tv had been.

Just looked at my calendar. I have 8 nights left this year that I will spend in Bellevue. They won’t be spent at the Coast and the loss of those fees is far greater than the cost and installation of a tv.