Is it even spring break if at the end you don’t find yourself disputing surprise hotel charges? That’s what one man says happened to him. Now he’s determined to get Marriott to set things right.
Hottie D (@_hottieD) says he recently found himself entangled in one of those endless corporate escalations in a fruitless attempt to solve a dispute. After a Miami spring break trip with friends, Hottie D says he’s been trying to get a “room restoration” refund for over two weeks.
In a TikTok about the situation, Hottie D calls for a boycott of all Marriott hotels and their associated properties. He says he’s being charged a $339 smoking fee by the Four Points Marriott in Miami, Florida.—for smoking he says never took place in the room.
“The f—- is you talking about?” he says of the accusation.
As a longtime Bonvoy member, Hottie D says he’s aware of Marriott’s rules and insists he abides by them. And while he does smoke, he says he never smokes in his hotel room. Instead he says he abides by Marriott’s rules. “On Marriott’s website it says their inside facilities are smoke free. But anywhere outside the building you can smoke,” he says.
The hotel’s policy actually says that there are “designated areas” on the property for smoking. A small difference, but one that may have impacted Hottie D. He says their room was on the first floor near an exterior door. This matters because he alleges that other guests were smoking near the door to the room.
“Upon check in, they let us check in a little early. [Then] five minutes into the stay, we’re unpacking, the manager comes to the door. ‘Oh we’re just doing a courtesy check, we want to make sure everything is okay,” he recounts.
Hottie D says he and his friends told the manager that everything was great and asked for more towels.
The manager purportedly continued, “We want to let you guys know this is a non-smoking hotel, and we just want to make sure no one is smoking.”
He says the trip went well until the final night. Hottie D and his friends woke up at 2:30 am to hit the club, and didn’t return until 11:30 in the morning.
“We went to Klub 24. We went from Klub 24 to Chick-fil-A downtown, then we went to the beach,” he says. He’s even posted a TikTok with Steven Meiner, mayor of Miami Beach, telling him, “Enjoy Miami Beach. It’s clean, it’s safe, we’re having a great time.”
After that, Hottie D says he headed to the airport only to discover his flight had been cancelled. While dealing with this, he also got an email notification that he’d been charged the “room restoration fee” for alleged smoke damage.
At dawn the next day, he went back to confront the hotel manager. He claimed the manager said, “If I enter your room and your room smells like smoke, I will charge you.”
This may seem arbitrary, but it is in line with the company’s smoking guidelines, which state, “All associates have been trained to respond to potential violations of the policy. For example, housekeepers are trained to observe signs of smoking in the hotel.”
Hottie D did not respond to a direct message sent via TikTok or a comment on the original post.
Hottie D largely takes issue with the “observe signs of smoking” ambiguity of the policy. The fee he says Marriott charged him reflects the subjective nature of how it determines someone broke the no-smoking rule. Because, according to him, he’d been on the hotel manager’s radar since he checked in.
He says the hotel presents as evidence that he or someone else smoked in the room that there was one empty cigarette packet inside and the smell of smoke. Hottie D claims the smoke smell probably clung to him. “We’ve been at the club and you know what they do at the club; it’s all types of atmosphere and all types of things, right?” he says.
As for the empty cigarette pack? He says that’s not evidence of in-room smoking.
Marriott did not respond to an email.
Now the internet is offering advice. Many suggested going around the hotel entirely and contacting his credit card company to dispute the charge. “Did you file a dispute with your bank? That should at least provide a provisional credit and give you a little cushion to enjoy your birthday while it gets investigated,” advised Indiayahaira.
Hottie D replied, “Yes today they just applied the provisional credit. I’m just really scared and worried that the bank won’t have my back.”
Another said the same thing happened to them. “Ended up calling corporate, talking to a supervisor, sending proof and they gave my money back. It took two weeks,” said Yk.Im.Kb.
Another user suggested taking your trash with you. “This is why I always out my items in my own trash bags and throw the bag in the hallway garbage,” they said
As it stands, Hottie D says his bank is on his side. But there’s no certain outcome. As a self-identified hotel general manager said in the follow-up video’s comments, “All the hotel needs is the pictures you just showed, and the evidence that it’s a non-smoking hotel. How a hotel wins a dispute like this isn’t about what the smell is, it’s what pictures they can collect in the room as evidence.”
@_hottied @Marriott Hotels @Marriott Bonvoy I’ll be posting a PT. 2 with the converations and marrriots so called “evidence”. 🤯 I refuse to let you and your leadership team, disrespect, and insult me. This has been the worst customer service and hotel experience of my life. I’ve been a Bonvoy member for many years and have but many hotel stays without any issues and your customer service team and corporate office has failed to have my back as a value paying customer who’s done nothing wrong! I want my $339 back immediately and I will contact an attorney if this issue isn’t resolved promptly I’ve been too nice and waited 2 1/2+ weeks for you guys to reconcile this issue and you’ve failed to do that #review #hotel #marriott #helpme #falseclaims
