A user on TikTok has sparked discussion after recounting a negative experience she had at a Royalton hotel, which is owned by Marriott.
The problems began when TikTok user Becca (@greyareabybecca), who claims to have spent over 100 nights with Marriott in the past year, booked a Christmas Eve dinner. She confirmed all of the information on WhatsApp with her Royalton Diamond Club “butler,” per a comment. However, when she arrived, her name was not on the list.
“‘Well, that's strange, because he confirmed with me,’ and I'm showing them the receipts,” Becca explains. In response, the person at the counter said that whoever accepted her request should not have done so and that they could not seat them because they already had “the food counted out.”
At this time, Becca learned that a different table of six did not show up. As they were a group of six, Becca thought this would be a perfect solution to both of their issues. Despite this, the group was not seated until over a half hour after their reservation time.
Issues arose again and again throughout the meal. Becca is vegan; the menu could not be changed. Becca’s 2-year-old child was hungry; the staff said they were out of bread.
This latter point became a major area of contention for Becca, as other tables had two baskets of bread, and given that their group was replacing a different group of 6, the fact that they had “counted out” the bread should not have been an issue. She also noted at this time that every other table was populated by white people.
“So I'm watching them, and they start to clear bread from the next table,” she says of the staff. “And all of a sudden, a bread basket appears at our table.”
This led to suspicion from Becca.
“And I said, ‘Oh, wait, where'd you get this bread?’ And she said, ‘Oh, we just had the pastry delivery,’” Becca recounts. “Okay, this delivery that you just received only gives us two pieces of bread? When I've seen on everybody else's [table is] two baskets of bread. The math ain't mathing.”
This led Becca to speculate that her group had been given another table’s uneaten bread.
“Even if you felt that we shouldn't have had that reservation, I would hope that you would still treat us as human beings,” she concludes. “Marriott, you’ve got to do better than this. Unbelievable.”
In the comments section, users encouraged Becca to go further with her complaints.
“Notify corporate and demand a free vacation,” said a commenter.
“Dispute the entire stay with the credit card company,” declared a second.
“If you’re over 100 nights just call your ambassador. They’ll make it right,” stated a third.
@greyareabybecca What would you do if this happen to your toddler? #royalton #marriott #marriottbonvoy #healthandsafteyrisk #toddler #badservice #theroyaltonantigua
♬ original sound - BeccaGrey
Others simply recalled their own negative experiences with the hotel chain.
“We went to two different Royalton locations and NEVER AGAIN it was horrible,” shared a user. “I get it. So sorry.”
“I stayed at the Royalton in St. Lucia and had Butler service, and they use WhatsApp,” offered another. “It was one of the worst experiences that I’ve had.”
“We stayed at the Royalton in Punta Cana. We didn't have running water for 18 hours. People were dipping water out of the pools to flush the toilets,” explained a further TikToker.
The Daily Dot reached out to Becca via Instagram direct message and to Royalton and Marriott via email.
