Help--contact name and email for Grand Californian??

[GeneralTso]

Hi,
I'm getting the royal runaround on the phone trying to get a contact and email address for a general manager or guest experience manager from the Grand Californian.

You guys have all the hookups

Can anyone provide me with that?

Had a few odd situations that have added up enough that I want to communicate them with management. We just checked out yesterday. The stay was great, save a few glitches. Some no big deal, one was totally irritating.

***Unexpected Update***
The guest experience person just called me. I was not looking for her to verify my concerns or check back with me but that's exactly what she did. She followed up with concierge/check in/housekeeping. I didn't need that at all. I know what happened. Didn't need anyone to tell me that it was in fact, what happened. She was very nice and understood why I didn't want to bring up concerns during our visit. She said they like to compensate while on site with meals, attraction passes, etc. Since we are long gone, she said she credited $500 to our credit card. I was stunned. I didn't ask for anything, nor did I expect anything. I was truly passing information on that I thought management would want to know. I know I would. I'm still quite shocked. That's a lot of $$. One comment I did make was that when you spend that kind of money at concierge level, service and amenities should match. She agreed with me.

 

[Nonsuch]

Had a few odd situations that have added up enough that I want to communicate them with management. We just checked out yesterday. The stay was great, save a few glitches. Some no big deal, one was totally irritating.

You might want to send a letter (snail mail) addressed to the General Manager (or even the president of DLR).

Just curious: what was "totally irritating" ?

 

[Malcon10t]

Hi,
I'm getting the royal runaround on the phone trying to get a contact and email address for a general manager or guest experience manager from the Grand Californian.

You guys have all the hookups

Can anyone provide me with that?

Had a few odd situations that have added up enough that I want to communicate them with management. We just checked out yesterday. The stay was great, save a few glitches. Some no big deal, one was totally irritating.

Actually, your best bet is go to the Disneyland.com website. At the bottom, choose Contact Us. Follow the directions. They do read these and respond. Your first response will be automated, but it is followed up by a more personal interaction. Leave your phone number and they will call you. I have had much success using this method.

 

[FlameGirl]

You might want to send a letter (snail mail) addressed to the General Manager (or even the president of DLR).

Just curious: what was "totally irritating" ?

I'm not the OP, but we checked out last Saturday; we were there for six nights and we also had a few incredibly frustrating issues. We chose to address them with management while we were still there, and they were able to make things right. We did waste a LOT of time trying to get things straightened out, though.

The first issue was when we checked in, we had a rental car that we were not parking; simply unloading our baggage with the bell service, then going straight to the rental car agency to drop it off. We were told this was totally fine, and they would leave the car where it was for us. When we came back out, the car was gone, nobody knew what had happened to it, and then they couldn't find it. For like an hour. That was maddening.

The second issue was the phones in our room didn't work. We went down to the front desk five separate times to ask them to fix them, were told someone from engineering would be up to the room to take a look at them, and then nothing. FIVE. TIMES. The sixth time I spoke with a very nice manager who was very apologetic and got us moved to a room with working phones. Normally the phones wouldn't be an issue, but I had a FedEx package being delivered to the hotel that I needed to track down, and then of course we couldn't call in for room service, bell service, etc.

Not going to lie - by the sixth time we had gone down to the front desk, we were this close to scratching the GCH off our list. The manager, Ken, was wonderful and totally made things right for us. We will be back.

 

[GeneralTso]

Thank you!
I did use the web form and also called the hotel directly. I was put in touch with a "guest experience" (??) person who was lovely.

She's forwarding our conversation to folks that oversee those parts of the operation. I don't need any follow up. It was stuff that I think they would want to know that affected our trip.

I purposely did not want to talk to anyone about this while we were there. I wasn't going to bring any negativity or drama into our vacation. I wanted to wait until we got home and then, very nicely let them know a few things that happened.

Most irritating to me was their complete lack of follow through to let us know our room was ready. They were supposed to text or call and told us it would be about an hour. Well, finally around 7pm I decided it was time to go back to the resort and ask. Response? "Oh yeah, our system messes up a lot. We should have texted you hours ago. Your room has been ready."

Well, gee. Thanks. I think that is a training issue or a systems improvement issue.

Other minor things---previous guest's used beverages left in the fridge. Not clearing out dishes or dirty cups.

Asked about purchasing Fairy Tale sparkling wine and told I could only get it at Disneyland Hotel. Turns out, you can get it at Napa Rose.

We found the concierges not helpful at all. Some were very nice. Extremely wonderful. There is an older guy there, just a snot. A rude snot. I didn't say anything about him because I think he's part of the furniture there now. Probably been there 20 year.

So, overall, all manageable and the trip was great. We can't wait to go back.
The nice lady on the phone was pretty mortified (her word) that this happened. I told her we had stayed at Disneyland Hotel Concierge and it was just perfect. Above and beyond perfect. She said GC should have been a notch above that.

Christmas at Disneyland is nothing short of magical. It just fills me with holiday spirit. The lobby at GC is so stunning. Nothing could take any of that away or ruin it for us.

 

[FlameGirl]

Oh gosh, you just reminded me...we also didn't see housekeeping until day three when we let the management know. And then when we did, they did a terrible job - left dirty glasses laying around, and a few other things.

Maybe they're having some staffing issues or something - it was definitely not what we had experienced in previous visits. Weird.

 

[bumbershoot]

I purposely did not want to talk to anyone about this while we were there. I wasn't going to bring any negativity or drama into our vacation. I wanted to wait until we got home and then, very nicely let them know a few things that happened.

Most irritating to me was their complete lack of follow through to let us know our room was ready. They were supposed to text or call and told us it would be about an hour. Well, finally around 7pm I decided it was time to go back to the resort and ask. Response? "Oh yeah, our system messes up a lot. We should have texted you hours ago. Your room has been ready."

Well, gee. Thanks. I think that is a training issue or a systems improvement issue.

Other minor things---previous guest's used beverages left in the fridge. Not clearing out dishes or dirty cups.

FWIW, WDW's system has sent me a "room ready" texts MAYBE one time. Now, we haven't been out there that many times, but we have always had seriously split stays so there are multiple chances to get such a text, and I actually can't even remember getting one. Oh wait! At Saratoga Springs once. Just before they called us to tell us we had to come back to have all (8) of our KTTWs remade because they supposedly wouldn't work.

It's not just the Grand, it's not just Disneyland. Disney's computer systems are horrid. And they already know it (as you found out).

When I've had Housekeeping problems, I call Housekeeping immediately. Why let a bothersome situation get even more bothersome, that's my thought on the matter.

 

[Nonsuch]

Most irritating to me was their complete lack of follow through to let us know our room was ready. They were supposed to text or call and told us it would be about an hour. Well, finally around 7pm I decided it was time to go back to the resort and ask. Response? "Oh yeah, our system messes up a lot. We should have texted you hours ago. Your room has been ready."

This is an ongoing issue that has existed for years

I sometimes start calling the hotel at noon to check if my room is ready, just in case it is ready early. Starting at 3PM (or 4 for VGC), I call every half hour. I only make these repeated calls when I've checked in very early in the morning.

 

[larina]

...I purposely did not want to talk to anyone about this while we were there. I wasn't going to bring any negativity or drama into our vacation. I wanted to wait until we got home and then, very nicely let them know a few things that happened.

Most irritating to me was their complete lack of follow through to let us know our room was ready. They were supposed to text or call and told us it would be about an hour. Well, finally around 7pm...

I get not wanting to add drama to your trip, but there is much they can do to "make it up to you" (special Fastpasses, free meal(s), merchandise and/or gift cards) while you are still at the resort, but not so much after the fact.

Also, you are WAY more patient than I would ever be. You waited until 7 for a room that is supposed to be ready by 3? I would have been back at the hotel at 3:30 (what time had you originally gone in to register for the room?) wanting to know why my high dollar room wasn't ready. You should have been given a discount or free concierge for that day.

Oh gosh, you just reminded me...we also didn't see housekeeping until day three when we let the management know...

You waited three days to tell management that housekeeping hadn't been in your room? Really, three days? On the first day I would have called and had them come. Didn't you need clean towels and cups? Like a said above, way more patience than I have, way more.

 

[FlameGirl]

You waited three days to tell management that housekeeping hadn't been in your room? Really, three days? On the first day I would have called and had them come. Didn't you need clean towels and cups? Like a said above, way more patience than I have, way more.

Well, Day 3 isn't the same as three days. We checked in on Day 1. Day 2 we got no housekeeping service, but got in so late that we just went to bed (no phones, so we couldn't just call down there). On Day 3 I got up and noticed that there was a linens and towels basket next to every single door except ours, which indicated they wouldn't be stopping by our room that day either, so I went downstairs and talked to the about the phones, as well as housekeeping.

 

[DisneyFan0304]

I was there last week and had no problems. I checked in around 12:30 on December 1 and my room was ready. Housekeeping came every day and did a great job. The sound on my TV kept going off. I called before I left to go to the parks around 5:00 and when I got back around 9:00-9:30 the TV was fixed.

The hotel is beautiful. This was my first trip back to DL in probably 35 years. I loved it. I think I might be going back next year or 2015.

 

[GeneralTso]

Unexpected compensation from GC! Update in OP.

 

[wallawallakids]

Unexpected compensation from GC! Update in OP.

Wow! That is awesome CS. Glad you got something for your troubles.

 

[Sherry E]

I was there last week and had no problems. I checked in around 12:30 on December 1 and my room was ready. Housekeeping came every day and did a great job. The sound on my TV kept going off. I called before I left to go to the parks around 5:00 and when I got back around 9:00-9:30 the TV was fixed.

The hotel is beautiful. This was my first trip back to DL in probably 35 years. I loved it. I think I might be going back next year or 2015.

DisneyFan0304 -

You mentioned your TV's sound going off and I had to comment!

I just got back from several nights at the PPH, and this was the first time I've stayed there (or any other DLR hotel) when the TV was acting crazy. It kept turning itself off and then back on again, maybe every hour or so. It was very annoying as I was trying to listen to news when I got ready to head to the parks, or watch a bit of TV during a rest break. At one point I began wondering, is this TV on a timer of some sort? Maybe it's set to turn off after a certain point...except that the timer should be set for longer than one hour, if that were the case!

I never bothered calling or actively complaining about the TV while I was there -- maybe I felt a bit guilty because I was given a great room with a fantastic park view (free upgrade) and because my trip was otherwise going so well. Also, it wasn't that big of a deal since I wasn't really at DLR to watch a lot of TV.

However, on the Comment/'How Did We Do' card that the hotels want us to fill out when we leave I wrote something about the TV -- so hopefully they fixed it before the next guests moved in.

When I got back home, however, I discovered that there had been a billing snafu, of which I was unaware while I was at the PPH. I called them. At first they didn't seem to want to take the blame, but then I think it finally registered after I explained it a couple of times. I only wanted to let them know that they caused some inconvenience for me with this billing snafu and they need to be more aware of how this sort of thing is handled with future guests. That was all I wanted to do -- bring their attention to the issue so they prevent it from happening to other people.

But, the PPH person with whom I spoke told me she was going to credit $100 back on my card. That was more than fair, and not at all what I was looking for. It wasn't the $500 that GeneralTso got for the GCH problems, but it showed that they were at least trying to make things right, and it was totally unexpected.

I've noticed that the attitude from Guest Services/Experiences/Communications/Relations towards hotel issues has improved in the last several years. About 5 years ago or so, they were not nearly as concerned if a guest complained after the stay was completed. Now, they are more concerned. True, it is better to complain about something while onsite if a problem is noticed at that time, but I can also understand GeneralTso's desire to not want to drag down the trip and take time away from other activities by complaining in the middle of it.