My experience at Central Private Hotel (Sydney Central On Wentworth) was the worst experience I have ever had staying at a hotel in my life (and I've travelled a lot!). I booked the room for 2 nights on a website. I was intending on having my sister stay with me on the first night and my brother stay with me on the second night. There was no information on their website indicating that this would present any problem.
When I arrived at the hotel, I asked if it would be possible for me to pay extra to have both my siblings stay in the room with me across the two nights. The hotel receptionist shook his head (no verbal communication). I then asked him if it was possible to pay for a bigger room to enable this to occur, and he again shook his head. It was a struggle getting him to actually speak to me. He referred to the "registered guests only" signs that were splayed throughout the reception area, and made me sign a form where I listed one person as the registered guest (so I listed my sister).
On the second night, I went to take my brother up to my room to stay with me. The male receptionist yelled out at me "Registered Guests Only". I explained that my sister was the guest the previous night, and that my brother was the guest staying with me tonight. He said I could not do this, sarcastically adding that "its not musical rooms" and that it was "TOO BAD",When I calmly told him that I found his service to be quite rude, he replied by saying "THAT'S LIFE". I was so offended by the rudeness that the staff had shown me since my arrival that I did not wish to stay anymore.
When I told the receptionist I wished to check out due to the rudeness I had experienced by the staff, his response was "WHATEVER". I asked him to explain his rudeness to me given the usual customer service principles followed by hotels. He did not respond. I said that I could not see the problem in having my brother as my guest the second night and that there was no information on the website that changing your registered guest for the second night was not possible, otherwise I would not have booked. Their response was "We can't put everything on the website". I explained that i had come down to tell my siblings that I was pregnant and to stay a night each with them. I showed them my brother's i.d. to prove he was my brother. My brother asked if we could check out and then check in again with him named as the registered guest and they said that it would cost me another $89 to do this. The hotel staff also told me that "YOUR PROBLEM IS YOU JUST DON'T LISTEN".
I checked out, again letting them know it was due to their rude treatment as I did not feel comfortable staying at the hotel. The next day I rang the manager.. She said that she "could not see the issue" when I described the rudeness shown to me by her hotel staff. She also said that she thought that I was just annoyed because I didn't get my own way with the room situation and so I was causing a fuss! I explained that my issue was the rudeness of her staff. She said that the staff had written in their logbook that I "harassed" them for an hour. I explained that I was in fact only there for 20 minutes maximum, and could prove this by the call logs on my mobile phone. I also spoke respectfully to her staff despite their treatment towards me. She said "Why would I trust you when I don't know you. I've known these men for 20 years so I trust them over you". It made no difference when I said that my brother and sister were there as witnesses. She refused to provide me with a refund, and even suggested that maybe i was just being over-emotional due to being pregnant!!!!
I have never been made to feel so unwelcome staying in a hotel in my life- they had no understanding of customer service principles, in fact, it seemed they felt that they were the ones doing a favour to me by letting me stay at the hotel (forgetting that I was in fact a paying customer!). The allure of this hotel is its cheap price, but I have stayed at cheaper hotels around the world with far greater customer service.