pascaleschmidt
Senior Insider
I would not stay there....
Nightmare experience at the Hotel Berrière Carl Gustav
- Thread starter callisto
- Start date
[FONT=arial, sans-serif]Dear Sir,
Thank you for taking the time to write about your experience.
We have indeed exchanged several times in the following morning of the incident, an incident which was absolutely not representative of our services nor our image. Le Carl Gustaf has been recognized for its services and attention to clients and details since our opening, and I am truly sorry to read that we failed here.
We have 2 agents every night to do rounds in the property and check the premises and unoccupied rooms, and to also make our guests comfortable, even though St Barth is extremely safe.
Unfortunately that night they made a mistake and entered an occupied room, yours.
They were so ashamed and confused that they left the room quickly instead of explaining.
After your call to the front office, the agent should have come to you personally, but she did not want to disturb you even more. They thought that to leave you to continue the night was appropriate. For this lack of follow up I sincerely apologize and as per my follow up early the following morning, I really thought the incident was solved, again I am deeply sorry if this was not the case.
Since the incident, training with the security and our team at night was done and the process revised in order to avoid any situation like this.
I have indeed offered for you to visit our spa on your last day as a thoughtful gesture to make you forget about this interrupted night. Our spa has quite a reputation and I really wanted you to enjoy it.
On a last note, I understood from our conversations that your stay had been delightful and that Benjamin and the entire Concierge team were absolutely exceptional, I truly hope that this part of your stay will remain the best memories and that we will be able to welcome you back soon.
I personally remain at your disposal should you wish to get back to me for any additional questions or concerns and rest assured that all negative feedback is taken seriously as our goal is to always improve to make sure to reach our guests' expectations.
Warmest regards,
Emmanuelle Cipriani
General Manager Hotel Barriere Le Carl Gustaf
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Thank you for taking the time to write about your experience.
We have indeed exchanged several times in the following morning of the incident, an incident which was absolutely not representative of our services nor our image. Le Carl Gustaf has been recognized for its services and attention to clients and details since our opening, and I am truly sorry to read that we failed here.
We have 2 agents every night to do rounds in the property and check the premises and unoccupied rooms, and to also make our guests comfortable, even though St Barth is extremely safe.
Unfortunately that night they made a mistake and entered an occupied room, yours.
They were so ashamed and confused that they left the room quickly instead of explaining.
After your call to the front office, the agent should have come to you personally, but she did not want to disturb you even more. They thought that to leave you to continue the night was appropriate. For this lack of follow up I sincerely apologize and as per my follow up early the following morning, I really thought the incident was solved, again I am deeply sorry if this was not the case.
Since the incident, training with the security and our team at night was done and the process revised in order to avoid any situation like this.
I have indeed offered for you to visit our spa on your last day as a thoughtful gesture to make you forget about this interrupted night. Our spa has quite a reputation and I really wanted you to enjoy it.
On a last note, I understood from our conversations that your stay had been delightful and that Benjamin and the entire Concierge team were absolutely exceptional, I truly hope that this part of your stay will remain the best memories and that we will be able to welcome you back soon.
I personally remain at your disposal should you wish to get back to me for any additional questions or concerns and rest assured that all negative feedback is taken seriously as our goal is to always improve to make sure to reach our guests' expectations.
Warmest regards,
Emmanuelle Cipriani
General Manager Hotel Barriere Le Carl Gustaf
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le_reve
Senior Insider
Actually, if you ask many residents of Anguilla, including the ones that were at Maliouhana that day, that is not how things went down. There are 3 sides to every story: the first person, the second person, and the truth. Unfortunately, the truth will never be known since one person is dead, and the other refuses to come back for a trial before the court, even though he said he would when they allowed him to leave Anguilla.
Jeanette
Senior Insider
I followed this quite closely. The American you are referencing actually returned to Anguilla three times to appear before a magistrate. He refused to return a fourth time when it was discovered a toxicity report was withheld by Anguillan officials that later changed the cause of death, original witness statements were altered after-the-fact and proven false, Anguilla refused to guarantee his safety, and it was becoming obvious there was little chance of a fair trial. At this point, it looks like he may be extradited for trial because of the US/UK extradition treaty.
Getting back to the original topic of hotel security, it's mind-blowing to me that Malliouhana had an employee on staff at a family resort who was on bail for rape and had a criminal history.
garykool81
SBH Insider
This all sounds like an incredibly unfortunate incident at Le Carl Gustaf. That said, it does sound like there is some disconnect between the hotel's version of events and the guest's version of events.
I think it is important for us all to understand that mistakes happen, even at luxury resorts with world-class prices. Some mistakes have serious, life-threatening consequences, such as incorrect application of insecticides within a hotel room that are intended for outdoor use only and ultimately lead to a guest's death. Other mistakes, such as two apparently very inexperienced and possibly poorly trained security personnel entering the wrong hotel room result in extraordinarily unpleasant surprises and raised anxiety levels.
Sometimes, though, it is important to focus purely on the facts.
Two hotel employees made a mistake and entered the wrong room. They then responded to this mutual shock between themselves and the guests in an unprofessional manner (not by being rude) by quickly fleeing without further explanation.
Was anyone harmed? No.
Was anything stolen? No.
Did the hotel seemingly take ownership of the error, apologize, and offer what they felt was a meaningful gesture of goodwill? Yes.
No question that the incident was unacceptable for any hotel, let alone a five-star property. Do I personally think that I would have made an offer slightly more generous than what the hotel made in response to the incident? Absolutely. I likely would have offered a refund of that day's room charges and coupled it with the complimentary spa treatment or perhaps a meal at the lovely restaurant on the house. Surely, what would likely amount to $1,000+ in compensation is quite fair for a single (albeit serious) mistake that resulted in no harm outside of an unwelcome sense of surprise or anxiety.
The notion that this single mistake somehow translates to a full refund of the stay or legal action against the hotel, as some have suggested, is particularly representative of one of the major things that is wrong with customer service culture these days...
I think it is important for us all to understand that mistakes happen, even at luxury resorts with world-class prices. Some mistakes have serious, life-threatening consequences, such as incorrect application of insecticides within a hotel room that are intended for outdoor use only and ultimately lead to a guest's death. Other mistakes, such as two apparently very inexperienced and possibly poorly trained security personnel entering the wrong hotel room result in extraordinarily unpleasant surprises and raised anxiety levels.
Sometimes, though, it is important to focus purely on the facts.
Two hotel employees made a mistake and entered the wrong room. They then responded to this mutual shock between themselves and the guests in an unprofessional manner (not by being rude) by quickly fleeing without further explanation.
Was anyone harmed? No.
Was anything stolen? No.
Did the hotel seemingly take ownership of the error, apologize, and offer what they felt was a meaningful gesture of goodwill? Yes.
No question that the incident was unacceptable for any hotel, let alone a five-star property. Do I personally think that I would have made an offer slightly more generous than what the hotel made in response to the incident? Absolutely. I likely would have offered a refund of that day's room charges and coupled it with the complimentary spa treatment or perhaps a meal at the lovely restaurant on the house. Surely, what would likely amount to $1,000+ in compensation is quite fair for a single (albeit serious) mistake that resulted in no harm outside of an unwelcome sense of surprise or anxiety.
The notion that this single mistake somehow translates to a full refund of the stay or legal action against the hotel, as some have suggested, is particularly representative of one of the major things that is wrong with customer service culture these days...
didier
Senior Insider
when I said I thought that the guests should be compensated, I did in no way mean that they should get their whole stay refunded. I did think it was a nice gesture for the hotel to offer the massage, it would have been an added treat for their trip here, too bad they refused.
Since they refused the massage, it would have been nice of the hotel to offer a small discount on their stay. Mistakes happen everywhere, until we start having robots take care of security, maintenance, maid service etc. hopefully I will no longer be around when that happens....lol.
Since they refused the massage, it would have been nice of the hotel to offer a small discount on their stay. Mistakes happen everywhere, until we start having robots take care of security, maintenance, maid service etc. hopefully I will no longer be around when that happens....lol.
Dennis
Senior Insider
No. Why?
andynap
Senior Insider
It seems everyone is ignoring it and no one has acknowledged it.
pascaleschmidt
Senior Insider
apology or not it should not have happened....
le_reve
Senior Insider
I'm not going to go tit for tat here, as this is not the place, but I also know this story quite well due to knowing people personally on Anguilla, and some of the things you reference were actually put out by the American's crisis PR firm, friends in the states who posted all over social media, and high-priced lawyers. Some of these things just do not add up to what eye witnesses at the scene reported at the time, and again later when questioned.
It is a horrific and very unfortunate story all-around, and I doubt we will ever know the truth.
Again, this is really not the place for this, so this is the end of my comments about it.
Totally agree.
Jeanette
Senior Insider
None of what I stated came from the defendant's PR firm, but rather from someone who spent significant time on the island researching the case, interviewing witnesses and reviewing statements, altered statements and later denied statements.
Agree it is horrific. One split second in time can alter lives and families forever.
le_reve
Senior Insider
This we can agree on.
