Checking In
Since we arrived past our check-in time, we were hopeful that we’d promptly be given our room keys, so we could head upstairs, unpack and shower. There’s been so many times in my travels where I’ve been a tad too early for check-ins, and I’m forced to valet my bags and smelling-ly wander around until I can head to my room. That didn’t happen here! We were greeted with a huge hello, a glass of chilled white wine (AMAZE), and our room keys. We were also given the hotel gossip on celebrities, and it turns out, Mel Gibson is a pretty chill guy.
After getting the scoop on Mel, we headed to our room, wine in hand. Now granted, we booked last minute, and actually got a pretty great deal through Expedia. To be completely honest though, this is where the Soho Grand Hotel lost a few points with me. When you book a hotel room online, majority of the time there’s a price difference between getting a room with a Queen bed vs a King bed. I understand, and respectively pay the difference because, heck, I need a King size bed for the amount of room I take up sprawled out while sleeping. So we get to the room, and the bed looks rather small… Not like a single bed or anything, but definitely NOT a King, it’s a Queen. Well, dammit. With the need for space and having paid more for a King room, we trekked downstairs to see what happened. Maybe they gave us the wrong room? Maybe there was a mistake via Expedia to the hotel? So we get downstairs to the front desk, and now there’s a line, and unfortunately, we’re all out of wine. We hangout until we’re finally called up with a smile, and we explain the situation. He replied with a cool, “No no, you’re in the right room, a King room. That’s our King bed – they’re custom made smaller to fit the size of the rooms.”
Wait, what?
I replied, “OK… so you’re saying, you charge people more money for a King room, yet, it’s not actually a King?” He seemed a tad flustered by my question; but surely we aren’t the only people that have asked this? He matter-of-factly restated his original response, and then smiled… Feeling a tad awkward, and a little hoodwinked, we went back to our room. I mean, technically we couldn’t argue since the room has the word ‘King’ attached to it, even though the word ‘Custom’ came before it. Once we were back in the room, I had to check Expedia to see if it stated Custom King on their site – it did not – it stated 1 King Bed. I then went to check the Soho Grand Hotel’s website, and their description did state Custom King Bed.
Expedia: 1 King Bed, Soho Grand Hotel: 1 Custom King
Anyways! Being the basic girl that I am, I carry a handy-dandy tape measure keychain, to which I’ve used religiously while out furniture shopping. And YOU BETTER BELIEVE I used it to measure this bed! I sound crazy – but y’all, I needed answers. I measured it, and it came in at 65/66″. Now, a normal Queen measures, 60″ wide, and a normal King measures, 76″ wide. Which means, the Custom King at the Soho Grand Hotel, is only 5″ larger than a normal Queen, NOT the additional 16″ you think you’re getting with the higher rate you’re paying. The point of this mattress rant? 1) Where does the responsibility lie when using a third party booking service? 2) Are there any guidelines in the hospitality industry that govern terms like custom or exclusive? Ex: If 5″ is added to a Queen mattress, it can be called a Custom King. Overall, it’s pretty misleading to state Custom King and charge more, when in fact, it’s comparable to a Queen. My recommendation: Save your $ and book a Queen room.
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