I have been in a constant state of tiredness for the past two weeks but was able to take some time out to celebrate Nicholas’ birthday. He was given the choice of spending the weekend in Oklahoma City or Dallas, he chose the latter. While I will have a couple of reviews later, I wanted to speak on the hospitality at Le Méridien – The Stoneleigh.
Two days prior to arrival, I reached out to the hotel via the Marriott Bonvoy app about potential things the hotel or myself with the hotel could do for Nicholas to make his stay memorable. A representative responded hours later to provide a 1-800 number and the email address to a “Travis” at the hotel. There was nothing more. I was taken aback as Marriotts are usually great at communicating. Needless to say, I did not contact the toll free number or Travis…that day.
Fast forward to the day of the trip and I was contemplating who to contact: 1-800 number (and be stuck with someone calling the hotel for me) or email Travis and see what happens. I chose to email Travis. The initial message was sent at 10am and went like this:
Travis,
Good morning. I reached out to your property through the Marriott App in regards to my upcoming stay. My seven year old and I are visiting your property for his birthday weekend and I wanted to know if there was anything we could do for him. The associate who responded gave me a 1800 number and your email. I wouldn’t think an inquiry such as this would be a hassle from the staff, as it was merely a question. Any help would be appreciated.
Roberto
Once the message was sent, Nicholas and I made our way to Dallas to eat at his favorite restaurant: Kura Revolving Sushi.
Travis responded with the following, about four hours later:
We can certainly handle this! When are y’all coming in?
Me: We will be there at 5pm. Thank you.
Travis: We’re on it right now!
Me: Thank you so much.
We arrived to the hotel without any fanfare. The valets were awesome and quickly pointed us towards the lobby. Once inside, I was not told anything special about speaking with Travis but we were upgraded to a junior suite!
We made our way to the our room on the tenth floor and Nicholas nearly lost his mind at the gift waiting for him.
Thank you so much for the dessert tray and snacks! The only issue was Nicholas did not like the fruit (albeit two pieces) with his desserts but don’t worry, I took care of the blue and blackberry. He could not have been more appreciative.
I would be remissed if I did not give a huge shoutout to the valets for looking in car for Nicholas’ when it was in his snack bag all along. Also to Edgar in the restaurant, thank you so much for the hospitality and the care shown to my son. Lastly, I want to thank the assistant manager (short hair with glasses) for providing Nicholas with more dessert during the stay. It was all so great.
Final Word
I want to apologize to Travis Hayward and the team for jumping to conclusions during the initial interaction through the Marriott app. The conversation would have advanced at a quicker pace had I done what the message said. To that, I apologize.
I want to thank Travis, the two valets working (seemed like they were there all the time), Edgar in Perle on Maple, and the assistant manager for bringing Nicholas dessert the night before his birthday. You guys were wonderful, thank you so much.
