Bradley Fans unhappy....with the Hyatt Regency St. Louis

[Da Coach]

Bradley was assigned a new team hotel this year for the first time in 7 years. The Hyatt Regency (used to be the Adam's Mark) seems like a nice hotel, but it has angered many Bradley fans staying here.

Most fans, as well as the team, made reservations for more than 1 night. Some reserved their rooms through the weekend. That's the way I have always done it, and I have been coming to Arch Madness in St. Louis for 24 years. And as far as I know, most hotels down here have always allowed fans to checkout and leave early if their team loses prematurely.
But the Hyatt is refusing to do that. That have told fans they will be charged for their entire reservation if they leave early. I have never heard of such a thing, and cannot believe they have adopted this policy. I spoke with the front desk person, and then with a night manager last night, and both of them said it was a policy that the hotel manager put into place and informed them of yesterday to make sure Bradley fans stayed through their entire reserved stay, or got charged for it anyway.

There is no mention of this policy on their website, only that the first night will be charged if the traveler doesn't arrive, which is fairly standard for all hotels. But I have never heard of a major hotel forcing guests to stay for through their entire reservation when it is more than 1 night. The last 7 years at the Marriott Renaissance Grand this was never a problem, nor with any hotel in any of the past 24 years the MVC tournament has been held here.

There are some very upset Bradley fans that want to return home today, but are faced with being charged for their rooms anyway if they do.
I strongly advise anyone against ever staying at this St. Louis Hyatt again.

[Da Coach]

I just spoke with a representative of the Bradley administration and learned that this same issue is affecting others in the Bradley contingent. They are all planning on leaving the Hyatt today and returning to Peoria.
What a fiasco! I have heard our administration is trying to resolve this. That's not good for anyone, especially the fans.

[bigjimmy]

If there is one sure way to lose a tournament like this it's when hotels act like this.

[tornado]

omg - can anyone get it right?

[Bobby Parker]

No question losing on the first day is disappointing, but it has been standard operating procedure for all of the team hotels throughout Arch Madness history to require 2-night minimums. The reservations were taken that way in the beginning. Some may be more willing than others to negotiate early departures, but that is the exception more than the norm.

[Da Coach]

For the record, there is nothing on the Hyatt website about a 2 night minimum stay. Also their website describes the cancellation policy as applying a charge only for the date of arrival if not cancelled within 24 hours.
Because I showed the manager these facts, I was able to have my 2nd night charge waived.
Also for the record, I've left early from St. Louis several times in the past 24 years I've been coming and have never been charged for extra nights I reserved but did not stay. So it is not the standard policy at other hotels.

[wily coyote]

What else can go wrong with this season. I think a lot of us are glad it is finally over. Hard to believe the Regency would do that. I could understand if your team won and you wanted to bail but, if your team loses makes no sense. I've left The Drury Inn and the Marriott in years past with no such problems. Just another chapter in a sh-ty season. Anyone else glad it's over. I sure am.

[Buesch N Chips]

What else can go wrong with this season. I think a lot of us are glad it is finally over.

The question is, who is responsible? Not a figurehead who should take the blame because it fell on their watch, but who is actually responsible for the myriad of issues that happened? TV, tickets, hotels, beer prices, promotions, attendance, mascot, Fog Bowl 2014, weak schedule, weak Valley, LOSING, rencol, etc. I'm sure there are more that people could nitpick about, but not a good report card.

[peoriaspitfire]

No question losing on the first day is disappointing, but it has been standard operating procedure for all of the team hotels throughout Arch Madness history to require 2-night minimums. The reservations were taken that way in the beginning. Some may be more willing than others to negotiate early departures, but that is the exception more than the norm.

I believe it's now become standard operating procedure for Bradley to lose the first day...

[Da Coach]

Maybe the confusion about a minimum 2 night stay comes from the fact that some people book a special rate through something called the Missouri Valley Fan Block that is available on the Arch Madness website. But I and some other fans who were affected booked the standard rack rate room via the Hyatt website. And as I said, the cancellation policy stated on the website states the only penalty is a charge for the first night if the reservation is not cancelled within 24 hours. When the manager checked the website, he agreed and waived my 2nd night room charge.

And sorry if anyone would prefer not to hear personal gripes like this. But this is definitely not a "non-issue". There are a lot of Bradley fans down here, many are staying at the Hyatt. People like me were being charged about $200 for an extra night we now aren't going to use, on top of spending a lot of money to come to St. Louis and attend the tournament. Thankfully the manager was reasonable and accommodating in my case, but that was not the case with the night-shift manager last night.

[wily coyote]

No question losing on the first day is disappointing, but it has been standard operating procedure for all of the team hotels throughout Arch Madness history to require 2-night minimums. The reservations were taken that way in the beginning. Some may be more willing than others to negotiate early departures, but that is the exception more than the norm.

Bobby I'm not blaming you for this mess but, I do think your trying to blow smoke you know where. We've been bounced after the 1st game how many years now and this is the 1st time this issue seems to have risen. Now please explain your explanation to us again. We're not buying it.

[Bobby Parker]

My apologies as a bit of a misinterpretation on my part. My hotel experience in St. Louis obviously is different than the fan experience. The team blocks with the partner hotels all require 2-night minimums. I suspect that the general guest should be allowed to secure rooms on a night-to-night basis, based on availability. It sounds like the manager was able to sort things out.

[BuB]

One of the main reasons the city of Champaign and hotels there lost the IHSA State Tournament was for this very reason. Not only did they start requiring minimum 2 day stays, they jacked up the prices just for that weekend. Made a lot of schools and fans upset after half of the teams lost in the quarterfinals and wanted to go home. Peoria promised not to charge 2 day minimums or price gouge and was awarded the tournament. Champaign still has not gotten over it.

[wily coyote]

One of the main reasons the city of Champaign and hotels there lost the IHSA State Tournament was for this very reason. Not only did they start requiring minimum 2 day stays, they jacked up the prices just for that weekend. Made a lot of schools and fans upset after half of the teams lost in the quarterfinals and wanted to go home. Peoria promised not to charge 2 day minimums or price gouge and was awarded the tournament. Champaign still has not gotten over it.

Bet they're gonna try. I think next year is the last on this contract. So it will be up for bid again.

[Da Coach]

Bet they're gonna try. I think next year is the last on this contract. So it will be up for bid again.

The whole price structure of hotel rooms, as anyone who travels much will know, is based on the laws of supply and demand. Price gouging, when demand allows, is how hotels make their profits. If anyone has ever tried to book a hotel room in Chicago during a week with several large national conventions, or a weekend room when there is a big event like Lollapalooza or the Chicago Marathon, you will find few hotel rooms for less than $300 to $400 a night or higher. Yet some weekends, the same rooms are available for $79-109 a night.
It's great when a major event can negotiate with the city to freeze hotel room rates, like the IHSA did, but the MVC Tournament isn't big enough to have the same effect in St. Louis. The MVC does arrange a bunch of rooms called the "MVC Fan Block", but those are mostly rooms in secondary hotels that are not among the home hotels of the teams.

One of the problems that made hotel rooms tight this weekend was that it coincided with a large home show at the convention center, and that draws thousands of people to St. Louis, and ties up a large portion of the hotel rooms. That makes the hotels a lot less willing to negotiate better prices.

http://www.stlhomeshow.com/

http://www.premierhomeshows.com/show/st-louis-builders-home-garden-show