Let me start by acknowledging that in the scheme of things that matter, this doesn’t even rank. But OMAAT is also about covering the little details of the airline & hotel industry (I mean, I write about my favorite airline boarding music), so please indulge me for a moment.
Continue reading: My Petty Luxury Hotel Complaint: Minor, But Am I Being Unreasonable?
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
They're just trying to be real sneaky about how they don't want you to find out they know about your blog
Have this happen all the time. My last name is "Levin" and not the more common "Levine" I get a letter addressed to "Mr. Levine" on probably half of my stays with welcome letters.
I agree it can be a bit annoying, but I personally find the “Dear Mr and Mrs x” even more frustrating as a gay couple...
Ben, please stop triggering me. My first name is Denbigh and they've been writing Denbeigh, Denby, Darby, Declan, and who knows what else for twice as long a you've been alive. so yeah, my heart bleeds but I'll see you and I'll raise you.
We need more enforcement, not less, of consumer benefits, so, yes, Ben, and others, please do complain, get petty, louder, more!
I have a double first name and I frequently get called by just the second one.
My theory is this is because the first one is John, which can be tough for some non-English speakers to pronounce.
You are complaining about a hotel misspelling your last name? You should see my mail. LOL!!!!
I have a name like Phillip Owens and the amount of ‘Owen Phillips” “Mr. Phillips” I get are ridiculous. I think something about the human brain just seems to want to switch the S to the other name. Apparently the human brain really likes “ing” at the end of words. But I get it, as it has to be very annoyig.
Today on what grinds Karl’s gears: luxury hotels addressing welcome notes to Mr & Mrs when we are a same sex couple.
When John and Sebastian wish they were born with crazy spelling last names.
John Oplhebsjbeklheimersriksj
Sebastian Phhduwjgjkwhdhwjgfafjkkx.
They would each get a free night everywhere they stay because someone always misspelled their names.
It is not you Ben, human brains work that way. That is why even with typo you can extrapolate correct words. When they see i and ends with g common English auto-suggestion on brains make it -ing. I don't think any point to understand more. Happens with many other names 🙂
Complain about the 2 men who harassingly misspelled your name by pool and leave a bad TripAdvisor review about it after you 'think' you see the same person in the lobby few days
True John. It helps that we know Ben is German and say his name “in a German style” and hence leave off the “n”
I suspect many hotel staff - especially those outside Europe - will struggle to even say his name close to what it is too.
Why don’t people learn to read instead? The name is already spelled for them on the reservation.
In my first management job, one of my duties was responding to all the cases opened by corporate against the hotel on behalf of guests. I made some templates for common issues that I could copy and paste, then modify as needed. Once I forgot to change the guest name from the previous guest I'd sent an apologetic response to and it was the first time a guest ever CCed me on an email to the CEO of the entire hotel chain and the corporate escalations team taking over the case. Instead of a 5,000 points recovery it turned into an entire comped stay issue.
I was careless. People's names are important and if you aren't even going to spend the bare minimum of a few seconds to make sure you have the right name, it's a sign that you just don't care about that person. Which, to be fair to past me, I didn't particularly care about this guest or their made up issue, but you still can't show that.
Is it petty? Yeah, probably. But is it important? Yes, definitely! It’s your name. Without your name you’re nobody. Thus it’s important that whoever addresses you gets it right the first time. I have a similar problem with my surname where in the middle of the name it’s “elk” but often it’s misspelled as “lek”. I’ve gotten used to it over the years but it still irks me when they can’t get it right. To me is more irksome that they failed at attention to detail than it is they spelled my name wrong. I work in an industry where a lack of attention to details has consequences, often times severe. So I tend to notice these things. And when I see them I say something.
It's just the human brain at work. Mamdani got his name mis-spelled and mispronounced so many times while he was running for office. NY Times even wrote an article about it.
I have a name, that is so unique, that I get suspicious, when someone writes it down correctly. Like, are they spying on me? How do they know?
They even get it wrong on my degree, so I had to get it replaced. Also they missed it on my own wedding at the seating card.
Schlappig, Ben… you are needing to be heard so I hear ya’! Admittedly your name is not the easiest to write phonetically for us in the English language… but I get it.
Being at the end of the alphabetical water line in school rather than an A last name was annoying for me too. Now I just find it amusing. The name Hogg in some parts of the country is quite famous… Even one of the daughters was famously named Ima. Not saying to rebrand to something similar or anything Ben, but at least you are not an Ima Hogg. Hope you find this amusing and inoffensive cause no one is sure any more how people take things online.
Klima
I have a very unique first and last name (my last name also starts with an S) and I agree with you. I understand that I don't have a common name but they have my records with my full name spelled out so it does give me the impression that this property is not as detailed oriented as they could be. Same feeling when someone misspells my name in emails.
My last name is Hall. Pretty easy. The four seasons FLL had me as Hill. Petty, yes, but it annoyed me anyway.
some people get bent out of shape over the correct pronunciation or spelling of their names. While I think there are more important things...
you do you...
Ima Hogg, daughter of Governor James Hogg of Texas. A very wealthy, generous remarkable woman. She did not have a twin sister named Ura.
Why would you care? What I would really care is about the amenity packet. If you were a returning guest, maybe. If you just booked this one time or rarely book the property you may be a high paying guest but you're one out of many.
Send a link to your article to the specific hotel manager for that instance. He/She will get the point...or they won't. Nothing you can really do after that.
Attention to deetail isn't a strong suit for most people/businesses.
Funny enough it was a luxury hotel that tipped the scales and led me to take my husband’s name when we got married (I put a lot of thought into it too), but at least they addressed us as Mr. & Mr. We both have very typical and common male first names not generally given to women, so I presume that helps.
OTOH, I thought the days of my surname being mispronounced were over when I got married, but somehow even with a much simpler name it’s frequently botched. So it goes.
Maybe the property owner is Starbucks and they’re piloting a “Starbucks Ultra Reserve” program and seeing what the reaction would be to misspelled names in a luxury hotel… other than that scenario, it’s absolutely unacceptable that they can’t copy a damn name or identify genders (Mr./Ms./Mrs./Mdm) correctly. If they really can’t identify the gender because it’s neutral like Leslie or Jean, just skip the salutations.
It bugs me insanely as well because if they can’t even get this basic thing right, what else are they going to screw up on? And usually it’s a lot of other things.
Happens to me all the time. An infamous mafia family’s last name is one letter different than mine, and I constantly get that spelling
Only thing worse than the misspellings are the constant “are you connected?” jokes/comments when checking in
Names are one of the most important things to get right in any setting, and this is especially true in business - like, say, a hotel welcome note. It's a foundation of respect and a super-easy thing to get right. You can't pronounce the name? Ask the person who's name you can't pronounce, and then REMEMBER IT OR WRITE IT DOWN.
This is a big deal of mine (try getting clients' names wrong, and let us know how that goes), and one I impart on any juniors and new hires with whom I work.
"While I think there are more important things..."
LOL! That is so awesome and point-missing you should win an award!
Nobody said this is the most important thing, and Ben even said "Let me start by acknowledging that in the scheme of things that matter, this doesn’t even rank" IN THE VERY FIRST SENTENCE.
Yet you decide to say the SAME THING as a form of corrective condescension? Try harder, my dude.
I think what bothers me the most about this particular problem is the person writing the note is SURELY reading the name off a screen or a printout with the correct spelling. It’s not like someone walked in to the office and said “hey write a welcome note to Apu Nahasapeemapetilon“ verbally and walked out the door, leaving the scribe to guess.
So yes, though obviously minor in the grand scheme of things, there’s no excuse for misspelling something you’re just transcribing from one location to the other.
We all have our things. Mine is turndown service. Too many luxury hotels that include it 'forget,' and it drives me nuts lol
I feel the same way. My address, a county-maintained road, is always being written as "Country Road." There is even an abbreviation "CR" to make it short. Even the consulate cannot get it right.
I have a foreign name too
I have a collection -in writing- of some 35 different misspells of my first and last name, I actually wanted to make a collage poster with them.
What always impressed me
is that it mostly happened in the US and it happened even at the highest level
What continues to stun me is that its considered perfectly fine, while in Europe it is a mistake with almost offensive implications. I am in the service industry and deal with some 40 ppl a day directly. Misspelling their name brings me shame if they see it, while my younger collaborators seem not to give a crap about it.
Write them off your list, and write a polite letter telling them that you’re not going to stay with them again. Or threaten them of this action and remind them that you write a column that many people read and their good (?) reputation might be in jeopardy.
Would you rather a preprinted welcome note with your name spelled correctly or a handwritten note with your name spelled slightly incorrectly? At least one shows a tiny bit of effort.
It is very petty and small, agreed. You do have a legitimate right to be upset. written The note was probably written before you checked in, so no one verified the spelling of your name. I happens to my husband and me every so often, We laugh sometimes at the funny spelling of our name.
I once received a Welcome Note from the GM of a Regent hotel that says something to the effect of: contact me if you need anything else but did not provide any contact information. When I had an issue with my stay and requested to speak with the GM through the Front Desk, there was no way to reach that GM. I think that is way worse than misspelling your name.
I agree with you 100%. Looking at a screen and faithfully copying someone's name is not brain surgery but it does show that a customer is valued. My last name is very similar to a common last name but it's not a common last name. It differs by one letter. Paying attention is the sign of a good employee.
Hotels and people in general do not seem to understand hyphens. My first name is hyphenated. My passport has my first name hyphenated. People who read my passport or driver's license or my printed name 50%-70% of the time only call me by my first name, until I correct them.
Similar problem. My last name could also be a first name, e.g. William James, and in so many situations, it comes out like James Williams, often on important documents. On the phone, I'll spell out my last name just to emphasize what it is (or is not).
When it happens in the US, it's because most of the hotel employees are Hispanic, and lack English proficiency. That becomes very acute with non-English names. Ben already had an article about a hotel guest fighting with non English speaking employees in the US.
I didn’t know anyone actually looked at those notes. I guess I should pay more attention. They just seem like a huge waste of time and so insincere. Good service is remembering my coffee order in the morning or saving me the table I like in the restaurant. Or actually remembering me by name on repeat visit. That’s real service to me.
My surname is also a first name so I get called by my surname all the time. Frustrating but life does go on....somehow
As well travelled as you are, Ben, don't let a small detail diminish the experience. It's a right to have your name spelled correctly, but it erodes a need for you to enlighten it, to your readers, that you need to articulate it.
Wise people let things go, and you should, too.
I also have a foreign last name. If you switch 2 letters of the 5 letter last name it becomes a somewhat common western first name. Even some of my clients from the same country misspell or call me by the wrong name.
I have not paid much attention to how the hotel welcome letter is spelled.
I stay at the same hotel every six months in Europe. The welcome and hugs from the front desk manager and restaurant staff does tend to negate the name faux pas if it happens.
Probably says more about your personality than anything else. And I don't mean that in a bad or good way. It just is what it is. Plus it's part of what you do, so your mind is probably subconsciously on review mode. I also tend to focus too much on people's misspellings, and to a certain degree it is comparable to when I get a resume, and it has one single typo. Sorry, but I'm not hiring you. You're too careless to even bother to proofread your resume, so I don't want you emailing our clients. I don't like it too much when people misspell my name, but I also don't care much either. But I get it.
My last name is very simple - Dodd. It is spelled wrong more times than not: Dobbs, Todd, Dudd, Tubbs, Tibbs, Dido and even Dildo. My college diploma said "Dood" and my alma mater refused to correct it until I told them I would no longer make my annual contribution. All it took was one extra calligraphy stroke to turn the extra "o" into a "d"
I feel Ben on this. My last name is German as well and appears to have too few vowels for much of the rest of the world. So I see you your misspelled name on a welcome note and raise you actually having people argue with me about how my name „should be spelled“.
The obvious solution is to change your last name to Bonvoy. Then when this happens you can be bonvoyed.
Lucky, your name is a very important part of who you are. Your parents gave you your forename and your ancestors gave you your surname so it should be respected. Names have meanings so a misspelling of the name can not only be considered rude but downright offensive as well. In some parts of the world, if you misspell a part of the name it can totally make it mean something else which could be really bad.
You can take it as a training exercise. If you never speak up, the hotel staff would never know and have the chance to acknowledge and correct the situation. Also, if you are staying at these hotels that charge so much for a night it is comical how they cannot even copy your name correctly from the reservation details. Are they really at the point of cutting corners to the point of cutting polished services as it takes too much time for the staff member to write names correctly?
Classic George Nathan Romey Boomer pithy retort… “caring” is weak… right, Georgie… *sigh*
"Ask the person who's name you can't pronounce, and then REMEMBER IT OR WRITE IT DOWN. "
Even that doesn't work. I have a name, both first and last, that is difficult for non-Indians to both pronounce and spell. I've had it butchered pretty much any way you can imagine, both spoken and written. Later in life, I even started using a shortened version of my first name, and a good number of people still get it wrong. Yes, even clients. What's really funny is, I've got a few that say it wrong, they get corrected by someone else on a call or in a meeting - and then on the next call, they say it wrong again! About all I can do is laugh (though I do appreciate those like you that make an effort).
We received the welcome amenity for the next guest while we were still in the room. They brought it while we had breakfast. Also noticed that not everyone is the same. We had a room upgrade, the next guest must have had a paid room because their amenity was somewhat bombastic compared to ours. - Also hyper competitive hotel market, only if you mean competitive race to the service bottom. They offered me a bottle of water and 500 points if I forgo daily room service on ‘environmental grounds’, during a month long stay. Hyper competitive hotel market… lol.
As someone who has that happen a lot, what bothers me is that a human obviously took some time in writing this note to make me feel special - if you then can't even get the name right why bother at all?
That said, if I would have to write "Tskhdjflkdshjfrkjeshrklesn" (Bens examople), I would certainly have a 25% chance of misspelling it and would probably write a note without a name but put the date instead or something.
I am a single, female traveler. I am always slightly, while understandable... (or not quite understandable ..lol), annoyed to see my name as Mr. xxx on the hotel's TV screen or in the welcome letter/card. I don't necessarily think my first name sounds like a male name, though. Why do so many hotels assume that it's a male by default if one travels alone (especially quite frequently happening in the MENA)?
Maybe go down to the front desk and ask them to double-check the spelling of your name on your reservation. You're "concerned" because it was misspelled on your welcome note and you wanted to make sure that their records were correct. Once they confirm that, you can (or not) ask them to let the manager know.
Princess Lucky Momo Strawberry cheesecake,
Yes you have waaay too much free time.
Be thankful and appreciative the hotels wrote a HANDWRITTEN letter, in a language that is NOT their NATIVE tongue!
At last count, there are 3 WARS going on right now. Your last name misspelled is a minor inconvenience, Princess.
IF you’re going for a personal touch for a guest, the least you can do is spell - and pronounce - their name correctly, I’m closer to a 70% ratio of having my name misspelled and it actually has the opposite effect of making me feel recognized and appreciated. Better to just craft a nice welcome statement and leave my name out of it if you’re not committed to getting ‘Rian’ (not Ryan) correct. I’m 100% with you on this; not life-critical but very disappointing.
@W Ho; you are a jerk. But you know it and probably enjoy it. But I also had to say it, Jerk.
As a Jesse, I frequently get my name misspelled with an “i”, and also often get addressed via email or written notes as “Ms.” which I find pretty annoying. I did complain once about it and got a profuse apology but tend not to bother these days.
My LAST name is Ryan, not my first name. Couldn’t they at least put Mr. before Ryan. We’re not good friends. lol.
They probably think you misspelled your name. It has word ‘pig’ in it. Not many people have last name with pig. My last name has ‘corn’ in it. I might change it legally to Beet or Carrot.
Is that better or worse than a daughter traveling with her father? Mr and Mrs ___. We have requested separate beds. Why do people assume?
This happens to me a lot, so I get your irritation for this. However, I don't think I'd ever bring it up though.
I find it annoying that you have to ask for slippers now in most places. Yeah you still get them so it's not a huge deal but it's just annoying they are trying to save a dollar by hoping no one asks for them.
Not like you are offended but you wrote an entire article about it so you do care and you are offended
Hyatt Paris Vendome cracks me up. The fellow in charge of Paris raised up all his Hyatt hotels categories a few categories up. But he did not raise the standard or quality of the hotels. It is a Monopoly for him and to fool Hyatt USA. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. And that has definetly fallen down here.
Ok, I could still afford the points.
I am a Globalist and other hotels highest levels.
ALL THE HIGH END HOTELS HAVE FORGOTTEN, what it is to be at those levels. Probably they get away with so many mistakes, they think guests just accept them or are ignorant or resigned to today's lower standards because guest don't speak up about them.
And if you speak out about the services and quality or standards, you'll get VP Michel Morauw combing thru your account nitpicking and even making things up to get Chicago to come down on you.
Is that really high level hoteling? Not really. The Tech there is disgraceful.
Hyatt Vendome. The wooden doors squeak opening and closing. The telephone is from 1950. You can hardly see the TV thru the mirror cover. There are no channels to speak of. American/English news. No programs.
There is Youtube, that is if you can connect it and get it running, and when you do it freezes. What a place.
And the food quality has reduced in taste and quality. At the restaurant. Just unbelievable.
Doesn't Hyatt have any good management in the upper tiers, fresh blood with new ideas, intelligent to not shy away from technology?? Thorough supervising from the USA to expose the monopoly in France and Europe away from Michel Morauw? He will be 65 this year, isn't it time to go?
C'mon Mark H, get involved in your company, travel not as King, but as a person as a guest and see what Hyatt category 8-9 giving to your guest. See how it really is.
...they commented, on a post titled "My Petty Luxury Hotel Complaint". Kinda funny for someone complaining about others having "waaay too much free time." You wouldn't know irony if it jumped up and bit you.
Would you rather have a welcome amenity that includes something you are mildly allergic to and is noted in your profile or no welcome amenity at all? After all, bringing something to your room shows a tiny bit of effort.
It's sooo frustrating Ben. I feel your pain. My name is only six letters long. However, my spelling is less common. My name is misspelled 90% of the time on any hotel note. Often, my first and last names are misspelled, adding an "e" to my first name and misspelling my last completely. I will spell my name out loud, hand over my id and still have clerks say I don't have a reservation because they are typing in the wrong spelling. Yesterday I started to spell it for someone and they said "I remember" and, yep, my first and last names were misspelled. People don't listen and they don't read.
@clowndancer, One time on an old Unix mail system (where you can't see your own display name, IT misspelled my display name. I called them and said that they needed to change it because someone had reported my email showing up with my name misspelled. They asked if I was sure that the person knew how to spell my name and I informed them that I was pretty certain my mother knew how to spell my name. Must be friends with the people who think pig shouldn't be in Ben's name (and yes, I know you're joking).