Where ya been?

In Dallas. At an awful hotel. Really, really bad. So bad it’s taken me this long to even try and write a post about it.

So bad.

The concept was “New York Loft.” The hotel name was NYLO. Get it? NYLOft? Yeah. Lame. The whole thing looked like some Texan’s idea of what a converted NY warehouse loft should look like, right down to two people I swear were paid to sit by the pool who came from Central Casting to look like “New Yorkers”. But it was a brand-spanking-new building. And you could tell that it was a brand-spanking-new building. The whole thing was concrete. And exposed brick. And ductwork. The net effect after 3 days was less “loft” and more “high-end prison”.

My opinion may be colored by the fact that on my first night at the hotel, we were put in no fewer than three rooms. Only in the third room did everything work all at the same time. And the desk clerk was seriously snotty about changing the rooms and actually, I don’t know, inspecting them before she let us move all our crap again.

The hotel was an absolute triumph of form over function. At every juncture, if there was a decision to make about whether something should be pretty/fit the concept or be actually functional? It fit the concept and didn’t work.

Plus they built a hotel with a ballroom and no service hallway to bring food in. Wow.

The truly sad part is that I am right in their wheelhouse, ideal customer-wise. I’m a thirtysomething, professional business traveler, who is pretty eco-conscious and FROM New York. And if they can’t make me happy? That’s just — I don’t know what that is besides pathetic.

Not to mention the complete lack of awareness of word of mouth marketing. It works both ways. If I had an incredible experience somewhere, I would tell you about it. Same goes for an awful experience like the NYLO.

Tags: travel