Amazing Customer Service from Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown for a Non-Elite

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I have absolutely no status with Starwood.  I’m accidentally close to Gold with them, but hotels don’t recognize “close enough” as a status.  Keri has Platinum status, so I leech off her when we stay in a Starwood property. 🙂

So I was pleasantly surprised with the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown went way beyond what I would ever think they would do for an elite.  And I’m nobody!

 I was meeting my niece in Philadelphia at the hotel.  She had left already, and I suddenly got really, really held up.  I wasn’t going to be there until at least 8pm, and felt awful for leaving her hanging out in the lobby.

I called the front desk to see if she’d be allowed to check into the room to hang out there.  They confirmed she could, so I called her.  That’s when I remembered–college students don’t usually carry around credit cards.  If she used her debit card to check in, her funds could be held for up to a week.  And I remember how interesting my funds got in college at times.

So I called the Sheraton again and asked if there was a way to take a record of her card, since they needed something when she checks in, but asked they not put a hold.  I asked about the card I had on file (which they could not use), and pleaded any sort of way to resolve the situation.  The woman at the front desk finally put me on the phone with someone else, and I explained the situation again.  College student, debit card, I’ll be there soon.  She assured me that the card would not have an authorization put on it.

I soon got a text.  “If there’s cheese in the room, I can eat it, right?”  I was confused, but said, “Of course!”  If it was minibar food, I would hope she’d help herself since I was 3 hours late for dinner.

But it wasn’t mini-bar food.  The Sheraton actually left her a really nice note, and provided some cheese and fruit for her while she waited for me for dinner.  It was incredibly kind of them, and way above and beyond.  I’ve never really had that experience as a non-elite (except when traveling WITH an elite) and it made our day that much better.