I’ve stayed at the St. Regis Deer Valley several times, and in past reviews I’ve called it my favorite ski points hotel in the United States. Well, I think I’ll be avoiding this hotel going forward.
We returned to the property this weekend for a ski getaway, and the stay was almost comically bad, as we moved rooms three times in two days. I’ll assume that we just had really bad luck when it comes to our issues, though the service recovery isn’t what you’d expect from a hotel charging rates like this (and that’s being very polite).
For what it’s worth, the hotel was charging over $4,000 per night for base rooms during our stay (we redeemed Bonvoy points). In fairness, it’s also Sundance right now, though you’ll see the rates are pretty consistently $3,000+ per night during peak ski season, which is wild, but also just reflects the current reality of “luxury” hotel pricing.
Let me share what happened, in chronological order…
Our fireplace was broken upon arrival
We arrived at the St. Regis Deer Valley at around 9PM. One of my favorite things about this hotel is how most rooms have fireplaces. Being used to warmer temperatures in Florida, there’s something so cozy about turning on a fireplace while looking out at the snow. The fireplaces in the rooms are one of my favorite things about this hotel.
The second we walked in the door we turned on the fireplace… and it didn’t work. Okay, stuff happens. So I picked up the phone next to the bed to let the hotel operator know, and that phone didn’t work either. Fortunately there was a second phone in the room, but it doesn’t exactly paint a great picture of the hotel’s quality checks when you pick up a broken phone to report a broken fireplace.
Anyway, the hotel sent up two friendly engineers, who tried to fix the fireplace. After about 15 minutes, they realized it was a bigger issue, as apparently the wiring in the fireplace had melted. They said they’d come back the following day to fix it. Okay, stuff happens, it’s not a huge deal.
The hotel ambassador reached out
The following morning, I received an email from the “hotel ambassador,” with the subject line “How Is Your Stay at The St. Regis Deer Valley So Far?” I imagine this is an email that goes to guests who have certain Bonvoy elite status, and had nothing to do with what happened the evening before. Here’s what the email said:
Good morning Mr. Schlapping– Allow me to introduce myself – My name is [name], and I serve as the Hotel Ambassador at the St. Regis Deer Valley. As a Titanium Elite member, we are honored to host you and will do all we can to ensure your time with us exceeds your expectations. Our goal and promise is simple: “To Make the Everyday Exquisite”. Please allow me the opportunity to assist with any needs that may arise. I am available via email or directly at [phone number].
Okay, so forgetting that she misspelled my name (is copying and pasting that hard?!), I appreciated the idea behind this. Fantastic, the hotel wants to exceed my expectations, and “make the everyday exquisite.” So I sent her a very nice email just expressing my experience the evening before:
Thanks so much for reaching out, I appreciate it!
I’m a big fan of the St. Regis Deer Valley and have stayed here several times before. We arrived to our room yesterday to find that the fireplace was broken. We called down and maintenance came up. They were very friendly, but said they needed more time to fix it, and would come back this afternoon. On top of that, the phone next to the bed doesn’t work. That’s not a huge deal since there’s a phone on the desk that does work, but I think there’s maybe room for some more attention to detail when it comes to ensuring room amenities are working correctly.
Anyway, if there were any way to fix the fireplace as soon as possible, that would be great. Thanks, and I hope you have a great weekend!
Here’s her response to my email:
I just checked with Engineering and the part came in today and Engineering will be coming up around 3:30 to fix. If the phone on the desk is not working, please let them know when they are there.
That was the extent of the response. There was no “I’m sorry,” or “I understand your disappointment.” Also, if she’s the point of contact who is supposed to exceed expectations and assist me with any needs, couldn’t she let engineering know about the issue with the phone, rather than telling me to let them know (since I wasn’t planning on being in the room when they were fixing the fireplace)?
The fireplace still didn’t get fixed
In the afternoon, I got a call from the front desk that the engineers were ready to fix the fireplace, so I asked them to take care of it while we were out for the evening. We returned to the room in the evening, and I tried to turn on the fireplace, but it still wasn’t working.
So I went down to the front desk. I explained the issue we had, and asked the front desk agent if he saw any notes about the fireplace having been fixed. He stated that the case showed as having been closed in his system, which meant that it should be fixed. I explained that wasn’t the case, and he said he’d send engineering up again.
About 45 minutes later, the front office manager called me, and said that they weren’t able to fix the fireplace because they wouldn’t have enough time to do so, as it would take two to three hours. He said the engineers could return the following afternoon to finish the work.
At this point I told him to just not bother. While a fireplace is a nice amenity, I didn’t want to coordinate our entire stay around getting a fireplace fixed. It’s a nice amenity to have, but I didn’t want to base my entire stay around getting this fixed.
What surprised me was the complete lack of any service recovery attempt by him. Look, I share feedback with hotels because I want them to know where they need to do better, and not because I want anything. I’m not a certain blogger who has a post every week sharing how he screws hotels out of compensation.
But you’d think that in this situation the hotel would offer some minor gesture. Like, maybe a round of drinks, or a small credit, or something, just to acknowledge the inconvenience being experienced. But there was no attempt at that.
Challenges with getting Advil
The following morning, Ford had a headache due to the altitude (we live about six inches above sea level in Miami, and the altitude here gets to us). So at around 7AM I went to the front desk to ask if they had any Advil.
They indicated that they didn’t, but that the hotel’s gift shop would have it, and that opens at 8AM. Okay, we’d have to wait, but fair enough. So at 8AM I went to the gift shop, only to find that they didn’t have any Advil. So I went back to the front desk just to make sure they didn’t have Advil anywhere.
Honestly, I’ve never stayed at a luxury property that didn’t have Advil available, either for purchase or just complimentary, let alone a property trying to charge $4,000 per night. The St. Regis Deer Valley claims to have “the finest service” and to desire to “exceed expectations,” and to promise to “make the everyday exquisite.”
The front desk agent recommended I could take the shuttle into town to find Advil. Honestly, for any half decent luxury property, the correct answer in this situation should be that someone from the hotel will go to buy it, since they’re missing a basic amenity. Never mind that I had already waited an hour for the gift shop to open, based on misinformation from the front desk.
So at this point I asked to speak to the front office manager, to politely share my overall experience so far. My issue wasn’t the Advil — it was just the crappy service and managing of expectations, and we hadn’t even been at the hotel for 36 hours.
At this point I talked to front office manager Lexi, who was very professional. She was the first person I interacted with who actually understood how customer service is supposed to work. She was apologetic and tried to find solutions without making excuses, rather than the apathy I experienced from everyone else (the front office manager the night before, plus the “hotel ambassador”).
She immediately offered to send someone into town to get Advil (though I think they actually ended up finding some on property, because it was brought to our room five minutes later). She also said she’d look into the fireplace situation.
She called the room about 30 minutes later, and explained that they realized it would take several days for the fireplace to be fixed, but she offered to move us to a similar room with a fireplace, which was much appreciated.
In hospitality, you just want to feel understood, and Lexi did a great job of that. She proactively said she’d waive our resort fee. I thought that was a nice gesture, at least (after all, these fees are sort of a scam to begin with).
Our new room had no hot water
We packed up our bags and headed to our new room. Indeed, the fireplace did work, which was much appreciated. We unpacked once again, and Ford went skiing. Meanwhile I got ready to get into the shower, only to realize that… the shower had no hot water. It wasn’t just that the water wouldn’t get hot, but it was literally ice cold.
So I went back down to the front desk to talk to Lexi. “Lexi, I really appreciate you moving us, you’ve been so professional. We love the fireplace in the new room. I hate to do this to you, but there’s another problem, as the shower has no warm water.” She was obviously horrified, and said she’d immediately send engineering up. I told her we would be at lunch, and asked her to get in touch with me regarding what they find.
During lunch, Lexi called me and told me that the shower couldn’t be fixed. At this point she offered to move us to a suite, and she said she checked the suite to make sure that both the fireplace and shower were working correctly. Hah. Sure enough, the shower and fireplace were working, and everything was fine.
An $11.88 apology for the issues
To cap off this mess, the hotel sent up an amenity as an apology. It was a bottle of sparkling wine. The hotel is known for its signature champagne sabering every night, and it even has a Moët & Chandon tent. Surely they’ll give us a decent bottle of champagne as an apology, after we’ve moved rooms twice in a matter of hours?
Well, you’d be wrong. Instead they sent up an $11.88 bottle of sparkling wine. Guys, Korbel costs more than that. If this were any cheaper, it would be the Duc de Paris I was served in China Southern first class (as longtime OMAAT readers will remember!). I mean, Air France pours significantly nicer stuff in economy.
The sad reality of some “luxury” points hotels
While I’ll dedicate a separate post to this, I just wanted to briefly touch on how luxury hotels are more expensive than ever before, while offering less than ever before. And it’s especially bad with the hotels belonging to the major global hotel groups that have loyalty programs, because they seem to get away with crappy service, but people still stay on the hamster wheel.
This hotel is regularly charging over $3,000 per night for base rooms in ski season. Now, I’m not a moron, I’d never pay those kinds of prices at this hotel. If I were to drop that kind of cash, I’d book Cheval Blanc Maldives or a Singita safari, where you’ll actually have a memorable experience.
But it’s tricky, because I have to imagine a huge percentage of rooms at this hotel are booked with points, and it makes it kind of tough to manage expectations. Like, if you’re staying at a hotel that’s charging $4,000 per night, should you expect decent service? When a hotel tells you that their goal is to exceed your expectations and to “make the everyday exquisite,” and then asks you how your stay is, should you believe that they actually care? Should those of us redeeming points just shut up and expect nothing?
For example, last ski season we stayed at Airelles Val d’Isère, which was less than half the cost. In Europe, the small luxury hotel groups still care about guest experience. They charge a lot, but they truly “make the everyday exquisite.” I mean, just as the standard welcome amenity, you get a bottle of Dom Perignon 2013.
Meanwhile while the St. Regis Deer Valley is charging $4,000 per night, you don’t get any sort of welcome amenity, and if they really screw up, they give you a sub-$12 bottle of sparkling wine.
How do you reconcile what the hotel claims to be, and what it actually offers?
Bottom line
We had a quick weekend getaway to the St. Regis Deer Valley to ski. Unfortunately our stay ended up consisting of being in three rooms over the course of two days, with the first room having a broken fireplace, and the second room having no hot water.
To me, the most basic thing that a hotel can offer is functioning room amenities. That’s not just something you expect at a luxury property, but even at a limited service property off the highway. The St. Regis Deer Valley fell short there.
I very much appreciate how professional Lexi was, though my other interactions with management staff really left a lot to be desired. For so many hotels nowadays, the only thing “luxury” is the pricing…
What do you make of this St. Regis Deer Valley experience?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.