I get a lot of messages from people about their travel frustrations. Often people will directly ask me for help, which I try to provide when possible, assuming their complaint is reasonable (after all, consumers often feel powerless in the travel industry, when things go wrong). Other times I’ll just be CC’ed on complaints to…
Continue reading: Man Furious At Aman Over Late Check-Out Cost, Beautiful Girlfriend Comment
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Anything involving hotel fees is a disaster . Beware anything involving Vietnam .
Assuming the guest is from Korea, that’s a place that is highly hierarchical and defer to elders, not only to the eldlies, but if one is couple of years older, the person should command respect and receive favorable treatment. I think that’s why he mentioned age couple of times. He is upset because he felt disrespected. It’s not only about money.
Underneath the courtesy and service culture of east Asia, there is a lot going on in these countries tradition and social norms. Hard to outsiders to understand and comment on.
Well if the room was available they should have given it to him at that level.
It clearly wasn’t sold to anyone else.
No excuse to get ‘emotionally aggressive’. He could have easily had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Funny how he mentions at the beginning it wasn’t about money but clearly he could have just paid!
But I do think when paying this much it shouldn’t be such a hard ask unless it means other paying guests don’t get their rooms. Clearly they wouldn’t be offering the room for any amount of money in this case anyway.
Have to say this doesn’t look good on Aman.. there are plenty of difficult guests, but isn’t the point of being at the top; as Aman wants to be - being able to deal with them?
"It's not about the money."
Lol, of course it is.
And who cares what the other hotels charge, and "what my 28 year old friend was charged at a different property". What's here is here.
Regarding the mentioning of the age of those involved, it is common in some asian cultures, and especially in Korea, that those older than oneself should be treated with a greater degree of respect. This doesn't only apply to those of retirement age, but between people of any age, even when the age difference is relatively small. It is even reflected in the way they are spoken to, which vocabulary is used etc. One's age will come up very early on in conversation, when meeting someone new. So it probably stung a bit when someone younger seemingly got a better deal, under nearly identical circumstances.
Copying you on the email sure got his issue some publicity. So, maybe one of the news outlets will fall for it too.
The guy sounds unhinged.
Anyway, 9 PM isn’t “late checkout” anymore. At that point you’re tying up a room that will almost certainly not be able to be sold. They won’t be able to turn over that room until 10PM at least, and generally guests aren’t arriving that late. It’s entirely reasonable for the hotel to charge a night’s cost, and they were generous by offering 50% off.
Fox, ABC and NBC may not run this story, but I'll bet the Korean tabloids will be very interested in the identity of this girlfriend about whom he goes into far greater detail than he ought to.
Just because the room is available that evening doesn't mean it's ready to be used by him. Maybe they have it allocated for an early arrival the next day, with a guaranteed early check in. It's always a massive puzzle and you have no idea.
But 9pm is not "late checkout" anymore. That's booking a room for the night. A generous offer at that time is a half rate. It's extremely rare that you'll get a 9pm check out comped. This guy is clearly awful and looking for free press.
Okay, well, now I have to see what this guy's "beautiful girlfriend" looks like. You know, for research purposes.
Complimentary late checkout at Aman is at 4pm. But when Entitlement is in the mix, it may be pushed out to 9pm in this guest's case.
Sounds like a self-entitled twatwaffle who got offended when he didn't get special snowflake treatment. Oh, and the "it's fundamentally not about money" comment? Sure Jan, sure.
Ok but Aman should be able to clean a room quickly at any hour.
We’re not talking about Four Seasons, or even Peninsula (which do offer 10pm checkout), when charging Aman prices they should have the means to accommodate.
If they physically cannot - ie another guest is arriving - fine. If they want to charge, also fine $1200 is fair and he should pay.
For him to say it’s not about money then not wanting to pay kills the whole argument.
Not taking sides. Just making it clear if Aman wants to differentiate themselves they should agree. Especially when cheaper brands do.
East Asian countries share similar cultures. It is not difficult to understand --only if Americans and other westerners accept and respect them. Do not try to assimilate other people and their cultures but do integrate. Their cultures ae the most tolerant and peaceful compare to all other Western, African and Latin American cultures. But it is a tall order for American to take a baby step. When you are incapable to understand, refrain from spewing insinuation.
When you begin to make an exception for one guest, you must be prepared to extend the same courtesy to all others. Where do you draw the line and put your foot down? Do you expect hotels to hire extra housekeeping staff on standby for night shift? That is not American capitalism.
Most comments here so far seems to really not get it.
I'm with this middle age guest with a K-Pop girlfriend. After paying outrageous Aman rates, he has to deal with this stupid BS pulled on him?
This is no different than cabin crew or agents on a powertrip.
It's like dragging Dr. David Dao and citing only ambiguous "internal policy".
Or making up bogus "FAA regulation" and demand compliance.
These front line employees needs to be accountable.
Aman is a disgrace. This is like doing a Dr. Dao but when he's flying Polaris and being GS.
I now wonder how many Koreans have this Aman extort "name your own fees" by citing vague "internal policies".
If there is no policy, then don't make one up.
I agree. This issue is not fundamentally about money.
People trying to tie this with 9pm or the fees will never get it.
And paying top dollar means your expectations are higher and should be held to a higher standards not lower. So low to a point of making up policies thinking guests are just going to suck it up.
Demanding such expectations might rub people in the wrong way.
Remember that puppet who came in and ask for money and military aid but dress and talk disrespectful to the office.
Compare to the other war hunger extremists but being respectful (and a Nobel endorsement). He got money and aid right away and we're been fighting his new war every 60 days since.
When I saw "late checkout", I was thinking that this was over 4 PM.
Asking for 9 PM is just...not something I can imagine doing. I'd presume I was buying the room for that night at that point.
(I do think the "internal policy" thing feels like a bit of a fudge, but that's more due to seeing lots of BS at e.g. Marriott over the years.)
So 1% er wannabe from underdeveloped Asian country goes to undeveloped Asian country which is also a communist dictatorship and demands unreasonable special treatment? Ha ha ha. I hope he at least got all the hot water he wanted to drink, because that’s what those people do. He was probably Thai or Laotian.
Did you not read the article or having trouble to fully understand it may be ?
So, "this issue is not fundamentally about money", yet he goes on to bicker about money. If you knew you weren't departing for the airport until 2100, you should have paid for an extra night to ensure that your departure was stress-free and comfortable for both you and your escort. This is the same problem as turning-up before dawn, ten hours prior to check-in, and expecting to waltz straight upstairs to a room. Money talks, bullshit walks; and then complains about it on the internet when they get home.
Clearly the complaining party is Korean who’s huge about respect as he had mentioned about his age which is odd unless you are Korean and feeling disrespected by someone younger. They are a huge stickler for that kind of things. Go figure. Anyways, unless he’s staying at a Peninsula hotel, he can’t possibly expect to get a free 9pm check out. I have a flight coming up in India that flies out very late at night as well and I just went ahead and book the night so I don’t have to worry about vacating my suite and sit in the lobby waiting for a driver to come pick me up to airport. If you can afford to stay at Amanoi, you can afford to pay one extra night. What I would had done is ask for the cheapest room they have and move to that room and pay for it to avoid this situation. Or another option is just go to the spa and get some treatments between 4pm-7pm and then get dinner afterwards. Easy peasy. Amanoi is a lovely resort. Everyone I met was polite and kind. I think this guy has some anger issues.
He lost face in front of his GF, a self-inflicted injury which could have been easily avoided.
What a disjointed, winding, completely unhelpful, pointless comment. Thanks for contributing.
NINE PM?!?! Uhhh if the sun has set and you are still in the room, that's not just a "late checkout".
This guy lives on such a different planet that I'm a little impressed. How does one even depart this far from normal reality?
They offered him 4 PM with the spa available for shower and he could relax and have tea. That’s seems incredibly generous. I think 9 PM is a little ridiculous unless you are on a private island and the hotel arranged the transport.
If you mean by puppet the person currently in the White House and kissing Putin’s ass, then yes, this person seems as boorishly rude and entitled like the orange turd in the White House. Also seems the orange turd continues to be a puppet for Israel in a stupid war over the Hormuz.
Anthony doesn't get it.
Thank for being the average human stool for other better people to step on you.
You're also missing the point. All of you.
This isn't about leaving 9pm. It's about the Aman employee on a powertrip making up charges and can't even back up their bullsh*t.
This is Aman pulling a Tim Dunn then being called out for it. But the response you get is still exactly like what Tim Dunn would say rather than what JonNYC would clarify.
Wow. First of all hotels are in business to sell room nights. Unless you are in a city wide sell out, cleaning and selling a room at 9:00pm is a stretch and asking for a complimentary check out at that hour is way over the top.
Second, the hotel in it's communication with this guest clearly indicates his rudeness to staff.
Sir, you are IMHO, clearly out of line and quite likely an asshole. Bless your heart .
Nowhere in the article does it say that the guest was Korean. It only mentioned that he claimed to have Korean girlfriend. There's a lot of interspecie dating, so he could be from any ethno-racial group. The only reason why he wanted to check out so late is most likely because he was on one of those cheap tourist charters that depart in the middle of the night to save on airport utilization fees.
I am amused with the "late checkout" comments. Anyone who travels in Asia and the middle east knows that a great percentage of flights leave after midnight (because of temperature vs lift relationships). So a comped late checkout of 9 PM in a luxury resort is not unreasonable. Our flights from Bali almost always leave at 01:00 so leaving after happy hour in the lounge is the norm.
Actually, I agree that the manager should not have commented on the appearance of his girlfriend, one way or the other.
This man is ridiculous. General Manager Joy runs an beyond excellent operation at Amanoi, and demanding that the staff provide a 9 PM checkout is simply unreasonable.
Having visited the property three times myself and booked dozens of clients there as an advisor, I can confidently say the guest is being difficult and unfair. I genuinely feel bad that the staff had to endure this kind of behavior. It was disrespectful and completely out of line. In my opinion, this type of conduct should not be tolerated at Aman properties.
Entitled guests, stupid management.
Btw here's a list of non-Whites:
- The French
- Poles
- Africans
- Indians
- Arabs
- East Asians
- Anyone south of america
He asked the hotel about their policy but it seems to me that the hotel message answered his question . Late checkout to 4pm only which I think is reasonable . Late checkout to 9pm was offered at 50% discount , also reasonable . He needs to start respecting hotel staff who are only doing their job .
Great to see you commenting again, Adolf. How was the cross-burning last night?
No, it's common to book another night for flights that late, not receive late checkout at 11pm.
I stopped reading where he loudly proclaimed that his girlfriend is a famous Korean actress and pop star...
He sounds over-privileged and under-scolded...
9pm is another night , not a late checkout, typically anywhere. And as much as he says he's spending, why is he so upset at a marginal increase that they offered him?
It's certainly easy enough to pack up for 4pm instead of 9pm and hang around the resort facilities...
Seems like he considers himself over-important.
And does he not think his girlfriend is beautiful lol? When english is everybody's 2nd or 3rd or 4th language, nuance and tone aren't going to come across the same way. "lovely lady" could be a nice compliment or complete sarcasm- just take it at face value and move along if it's not egregiously inappropriate.
Koreans in southeast asia act like they own the world, if you asked any Vietnamese what they think about Koreans, 9/10 will tell you that they are unreasonable demanding with superior complex. I’m not surprised by this act, totally inline with how they act in SEA.
This is in total defense of Amoni. I have traveled to numerous Aman Resorts around the world including all three in Vietnam. My girlfriend is Vietnamese, and I am an American twice her age. We have never had any type of discrimination from any of our Aman visits. Our last trip to Amoni was this last February and Joy upgraded us to the most beautiful Villa in the world. Failure to read and know the hotel's policy in advance is the fault of this guest. It is certainly NOT the fault of the Resort.
The guy sounds like he needs to titrate back his testosterone dose hence the overly aggressive personality. Latest I have heard that he continues to bother the staffs at Amanoi weeks after he has left. Amanoi is my all time favorite Aman property and we have been back there three times and a fourth one has been booked. The staffs are beyond amazing. One asshole guest can put a damper on the entire front office team and suck the life out of my peaceful place. Whenever anyone said money is not an issue, it’s likely an issue. He’s probably over stretched his budget trying to impress his young girlfriend, otherwise he could easily book one extra night and checkout at 9pm.