How to Complain About Your Hotel Stay

Co-authored by Tami Claytor

Last Updated: January 3, 2023 References

Complaints about a hotel can and should be made to management when your experience is not up to normal standards. If you have a subpar hotel stay, you can direct complaints to hotel employees, like the front desk worker or manager. You can also complain to higher managers if the hotel is a franchised company. While you may not be able to have the problem fixed during your stay, the hotel may offer you a consolation for your troubles, such as a meal voucher or a few complimentary nights. By dealing with hotel staff appropriately, by escalating your complaint, and by sharing your unhappiness with the broader community, you’ll be able to make sure your complaint is heard and the problem is well on its way to being fixed.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Dealing with Hotel Staff On Site

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Contact the person at the front desk. Your first step in complaining about a hotel stay is to talk to the person at the front desk of the hotel. This person will serve as your initial point of contact for lodging a formal complaint or seeking some sort of rectification. You can do this during or after a hotel stay. When speaking to this person, Etiquette Coach Tami Claytor explains, "you want to be very clear about what you're dissatisfied with. And only state the facts, not the emotion."
- Approach the front desk calmly and politely. Say: “Hello, I stayed in room 304 this last week and I experienced problems during my stay.
- Clearly state your problem or issue. Say: “During my stay, bed bugs infested my suitcase.”
- Explain what will give you satisfaction. Be realistic about what you want the hotel to do to make you happy. Rather than demanding that the hotel compensate you for replacing your wardrobe (after all, you can’t prove your accusation), request a refund for your stay and/or vouchers for the future.
- Avoid cutting the person off when they are responding. Always listen carefully and attentively until it is your turn to speak.^{[1]
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Ask for the manager on duty. If the front desk person is unwilling or unable to rectify the problem, you need to request to speak to a manager. Very often, managers have the ability (and knowledge) to rectify problems that other staff cannot. It's important that you remain specific and polite when you speak with the manager. Etiquette Coach Tami Clayor suggests, "whatever specific complaint you have, I would put it in bullet points." She shares the following example: “I dined at your restaurant yesterday. Typically, I have a wonderful experience. However, on this particular evening, I had trouble with my server Kate. She took a long time to bring us our food. She was very curt with us. She took a long time to bring the bill.”
- Politely ask for the manager on duty. Say something like: “Thank you so much for your help, but I would like to talk with a manager.”
- If you’re not on site, call the location and ask for the manager.^{[2]
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Request to talk to the general manger. After speaking to the manager on duty, you may still need to escalate your complaint. In the end, the general manager should be open to hear your complaint and to taking steps to resolve any outstanding issues.
- Politely ask the manager or staff member for the general manager’s contact information.
- The staff member or shift manager may be hesitant to provide the general manager’s contact information. Make sure to be polite and insist until they relent. Follow up initial phone calls or personal inquiries for this information until you get the general manager’s contact information.
- Explain to the nature of the problem to the general manager. Be polite and compliment the customer service of their employees, if appropriate. Insist that you are unsatisfied and you think the problem needs to be addressed in a different way.
- If you’re dealing with a large chain, like Marriot or Ramada, you may have an easier time finding a general manager who is willing to hear your complaint. Smaller chains or independent hotels may listen to you, but will be a lot less likely to offer you compensation.^{[3]
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Escalating Your Complaint Beyond the Hotel

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Contact the corporate entity, if one exists. If onsite staff are unwilling to help, unable to help, or if you are still dissatisfied, you may want to contact the larger business entity. As the entity responsible for the branding of the business, a corporate office may be much more responsive to consumer complaints. When speaking to the corporate entity, Etiquette coach Tami Claytor emphasizes that it's important that you only state the facts, not the emotions associated with the fact: "you may be extremely upset and distraught but whoever you're [communicating with] doesn't need that because it's going to kind of overshadow the real issue."
- Do an internet search on the business and look for their corporate contact information.
- Send an email or a letter to the appropriate person. Make sure to be polite and clearly articulate the problem or issue very clearly.
- Call the corporate entity and ask for customer service or the customer complaint department. Be polite and clearly explain the problem. Say something like “Hello, I was a guest at your location in Boston’s Back Bay. I was extremely disappointed with the service and cleanliness offered there. I feel taken advantage of.”^{[4]
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Contact whoever you booked the hotel with. If you booked the hotel through a travel or booking website, you may be able to complain directly to that business.
- Be prepared to be put on hold for potentially long periods of time when contacting booking website customer service.
- Clearly articulate your complaint.
- Have your transaction number or receipt at hand.
- Be able to provide evidence, such as photographs, police reports, or the names of customer service representatives at the hotel.
- Be aware that hotel or travel booking websites are very often unresponsive to customer complaints. This owes to their high volume and slim margins on individual transactions.
- If the booking business is unable to resolve your complaint, your last recourse is to post a negative review about the hotel in question on their website.^{[5]
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File a complaint with any relevant regulatory body. Depending on your complaint, you should consider contacting the relevant regulatory body. As government agencies that oversee businesses that offer public accommodations, they’ll be able to deal with and issue appropriate sanctions.
- If you’re complaining about a health and sanitation issue, contact the local health department.
- Consider contacting the state or province’s division or department of hotels and restaurants. If your complaint is serious enough, the licensing agent may take action or launch an investigation into the hotel in question.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Sharing Your Complaint with Others

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Post a review on internet websites. You may also want to share your complaint with people on the internet. To do this, write reviews on popular internet travel and booking sites. By doing this, your complaint will reach a relatively wide audience.
- Write up a short review of no more than a couple hundred words in a word processing program.
- Post your review on websites like Yelp and TripAdvisor.
- Do an internet search for travel and booking websites. Post your complaint at various relevant websites to better get the word out.
- Know that some review websites have complicated relationships with hotels and booking companies. They may censor or remove your complaint.^{[6]
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File a complaint with consumer report or better business websites. If sharing your complaint with people through travel websites does not give you satisfaction, step up your actions and file a complaint with consumer report type websites.
- File a complaint on consumerreports.org.
- Write a complaint on the Better Business Bureau website, at www.bbb.org.
- Submit complaints to relevant organizations in the area or region the hotel servers. This way, you’ll let locals know about the problems or bad service you received.^{[7]
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Tell friends and associates. You may also want to share your bad experience with friends or associates. This is especially important if you’re complaining about a local hotel or a hotel in which your friends and other people you know may frequent.
- If someone you know tells you they’re thinking about visiting that hotel, share your experience.
- Don’t embellish your experience.
- Avoid personal attacks on employees who work at the hotel.

Community Q&A

Question

We were woken up by people below us on consecutive mornings. There is also mold on an unsafe window. The manager will not respond to my calls. What can I do?

Community Answer

Get pictures and/or video of the mold on the unsafe windows. Contact the corporate office if one exists. If not, post the photos on Yelp.