Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, went on quite the rant about his stay at the Tampa EDITION (this is the same guy who flexed his balance of 45 million Amex points at Rite Aid). I’m curious where OMAAT readers stand on this one (thanks to @NDH330 for flagging this).
Dave Portnoy not happy with $5K per night EDITION Tampa suite
Dave Portnoy posted a roughly three minute video on Twitter/X, ranting about his stay at the Tampa EDITION. He needed to be in Tampa for work, and asked a friend where to stay, and he recommended the EDITION. For those not familiar, EDITION is one of Marriott’s luxury brands — think of it like a younger, more modern version of Ritz-Carlton.
In fairness, Portnoy’s friend is right. The EDITION is objectively Tampa’s best hotel, which isn’t necessarily saying a whole lot. So when he had his assistant book the property, she told him that suites ranged anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 per night. He wanted the “middle of the road” option, so he booked a suite costing $5,000 per night.
Well, suffice it to say that he wasn’t happy with the suite he received. While you can watch the video for yourself below (note that there’s quite a bit of bad language), here are a few of the highlights:
- “For the money, it is the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in.”
- “This is what $5K a night gets you in Tampa? This hotel room is okay, for $5K per night in Manhattan you can be at a suite in a Four Seasons, which is a thousand times nicer.”
- “This hotel in Tampa should be $1,200 maybe max, and that’s a lot.”
- “Whoever is pricing the EDITION Tampa should be thrown in prison.”
- “I thought I was going to walk up, get my d*ck sucked for $5K per night in Tampa.”
- “I guess I’m the idiot, ha ha, joke’s on me, because I still stayed here.”
- “$5K for Tampa, I’m going to have an infinity pool, overlook the water, gonna have a masseuse, this is an average suite.”
- “Put it down, whatever book you have, the EDITION in Tampa, for the money, is the worst hotel in the United States of America, and if you stay here after hearing this, you are a moron and an idiot, and they deserve to steal your money. Shame on this hotel. Disgusting.”
For some context on the Tampa EDITION, pulling up rates for a random upcoming date, entry level rooms at the hotel seem to start at around $600 per night.
Entry level suites do indeed start at around $2,000 per night.
It would appear that Portnoy was in the Bay Suite, which retails for around $5,000 per night, and is the hotel’s second highest suite category.
The highest category is the Penthouse, which retails for nearly $10,000 per night.
Is this frustration justified?
Oh boy, where do we even begin with this? I’m conflicted on this topic, so let me share my take, and then I’m curious to hear how y’all feel.
On the one hand, I think Portnoy is being ridiculous here:
- A large part of Portnoy’s argument seems to be predicated on the belief that Tampa is a dump, and that Tampa hotels should basically pay people to stay in them; Tampa has seen a significant increase in hotel rates over the years, and he’s booking the second nicest suite at the nicest hotel in the city, so of course it won’t be cheap
- Portnoy seems to be conflating staying at the Tampa EDITION at all, and booking a $5,000 per night suite at the Tampa EDITION; those are two totally different things, yet he’s saying no one should stay at the hotel because the $5,000 per night suite isn’t a good value
- Portnoy suggesting this suite should cost $1,200 max is unfair; the suite he booked is about three times the size of a base room, is a specialty suite, has premium views, and is on a high floor
- Premium suites are often priced significantly more than base rooms per square foot since they aren’t as consistently sold; rather they exist for those where pricing is no object, and they just want the best option available in a city, and they’re priced accordingly
- I know Portnoy was probably being hyperbolic regarding the expectation of an infinity pool and masseuse in his suite, but it doesn’t seem like the hotel was false advertising in any way, as the suite looks exactly as marketed
- Portnoy also complains that his sheets weren’t changed every day; even top luxury properties don’t change sheets every night, unless you specifically request it, or they’re dirty
Now, all that being said, I agree with Portnoy on a major point — the suite he was in isn’t at all good value for money. I’ll take it a step further, and say that on balance, the luxury travel industry doesn’t really offer much in the way of value nowadays.
The demand for luxury travel has increased so greatly post-pandemic, so just look at how much inflation we’ve seen to hotel rates. It’s now not unusual to see a base room at a luxury property in Hawaii or Kyoto or the South of France retailing for over $2,000 per night. And that’s just a standard room.
Of course I wish hotels made an effort to offer better value for money, but many don’t. That’s especially true for properties belonging to Marriott, since many Marriott properties just don’t have to try, given the size of Marriott’s portfolio, and the Bonvoy membership base. Just look at my recent stay at the St. Regis Deer Valley, where a night would have cost $4,000, yet the fireplace was broken in my first room, and there was no hot water in the second room.
This whole episode feels kind of like booking an outrageously expensive American Airlines business class ticket, and then being surprised to learn the value isn’t great. Well, of course not.
Bottom line
Dave Portnoy stayed at the EDITION Tampa in a $5,000 per night suite, and called it the worst hotel he has ever stayed at in terms of value, and suggested the hotel’s revenue manager should be thrown in jail.
I totally agree with Portnoy that the hotel room he booked doesn’t represent good value. However, I think this is part of a much bigger issue in the hotel industry, whereby value isn’t really something we can expect anymore. The demand for luxury travel has increased greatly, and rates reflect that.
What do you make of Portnoy’s Tampa EDITION rant?
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