Ritz Carlton Hotel

This review is mostly for The Lobby Bar in the hotel. We decided to drop in for a drink, since we happened to be walking by after dinner. I would start by saying that the outside of the building is just flat out ugly, especially to house such a nice hotel. The inside was nice… not a lot of «wow» factor… but nice. The bar area was crowded, but we were lucky enough to find a couple of comfortable armchairs that were close to the jazz band that was playing. The service was OK, but understandable that it was a bit slow given the crowd. The jazz band was very enjoyable. The drinks were VERY overpriced ($ 15 for my Manhattan, which was just OK, and $ 18 for my partner’s mixed drink, which to me was just flat out awful.) The waitress brought out a little silver tray that had little cheese wafers, wasabi peas, and various other snacks that were delicious. Given the prices of the drinks (hello, we are in Atlanta… not Vegas) and the poor quality of the drinks, I would definitely not care to return.

I sent an email to the corporate office on 2 Feb theabout my recent visit to the Atlanta Ritz Carlton (Peachtree) 17 January. As of today, I’m Still working with my bank to balance my account properly. I haven’t received any response yet:
Good morning,
Idecided to visit your Atlanta, Georgia (Peachtree) establishment on Saturday, 17 January 2015 along with two of my children. When I initially checked in an amount of $ 277 was put on hold on my debit card. This amount included the fee for the night, valet parking and incidentals by which I was prepared for. I received the printout of my payment/​bill, and the total came to $ 210, which was the amount for the room and the valet parking. When I checked out early Sunday morning, I turned in my keys and owed nothing. I decided to have breakfast at a nearby restaurant and I needed to take money out of the ATM because they didn’t take debit or credit cards. I was unable to withdraw the funds I needed from that account, and I had to use another account to pay for the meals that we ate. I immediately looked online to view account transactions and I noticed there were several charges pending, $ 277.84(which I expected), $ 209.00, and $$ 172.84. I immediately called the hotel and spoke with Megan or Victoria and explained my issue. I explained that I didn’t understand why I had additional pending charges on my account. I also explained that I was not financially prepared for the additional amounts that were on hold. She said the first amount that was put on hold ($ 277.84) was to make sure I had the funds available for the room and valet parking, which I understand. She could not give me a definitive answer about the other charge that was pending. She said that $ 172.84 was the amount for the room. I told her that because of the unnecessary additional charges, I was unable to use the funds which in turn put me at a financial disadvantage. I asked if she could take the charges off being that the transaction was input after I checked out of the hotel that Sunday morning. Nothing was accomplished. Being frustrated, I called my bank the next morning and explained my situation. The bank told me I had to get the RitzCarlton to do a debit card funds release form and ask them to fax the information. I called several times and basically played phone tag with the front desk. Finally, Victoria assured me that she faxed the information to the bank. I was told by the bank that the process would take at least 24 hours (after the receipt of the form) that I would get my funds back. Unfortunately for me, the section that I needed was unavailable due to the holiday and the transaction of the $ 172.84 processed in addition to the $ 210.84. The next business day which was Tuesday, 20 January, I called the hotel and spoke with the manager (Mr. Manuel if I’m not mistaken). I explained my dilemma and told him that I was very disappointed in the way my situation was handled. He mentioned that I was only charged the $ 210. This alone indicated that not only was I charged in error, he didn’t listen to the facts of my complaint at all. It was a financial stretch in the first place, but there was no regards about my money being taken away from me. Because of this, I had transactions that caused NSF fees. My bank is still going through all of the transactions to figure out my account transactions since that transaction was processed in error on your end. I put my grievance about this on the Trip Advisor website. According to the Gold Standards that’s posted on your website:
The Credo:
The Ritz-​Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission
Service Value #6
I own and immediately resolve guest problems.
This was not the case in my situation.
All customers should be treated with respect and dignity. I would appreciate a sincere apology in writing from the way this situation was handled.
I appreciate your attention and I look forward to your response soon.
Very Respectfully,
Eulanda Shingleton