A Letter to the Westin Hilton Head Resort & Spa

Dear Westin Hilton Head Resort & Spa,

Thank you for hosting hubs, LO and I as we spent our very first family vacation together in Hilton Head. We were very pleased that Priceline was able to step in for us to prevent us from paying an overpriced $189 per night for the luxury of staying at your establishment. Frankly, we're not sure our $64 per night was money well spent.

My darling hubs is quite a strong and capable man. If he wanted to borrow one of your luggage rack thingies to unload our luggage, you should have allowed it. Instead, you sent a very-not-needed bellman along with the luggage thingy who insisted on helping with our stuff, even though hubs had everything well under control. When I had the joy of following your bellman up to our room with LO while hubs moved the car (no valet parking, thankyouverymuch), you sure did take your time. Couldn't you tell LO was waaaaay past due for her afternoon nap? I just didn't have the time to stand by while you made small talk with your co-workers. Seriously. Oh, and the fact that you counted the tip hubs handed you before you walked out the room? Tacky.

While I know you were super excited to have us staying with you, the added luxuries were not necessary. Charging us for the sodas and bottled water we removed from the mini-bar so we could refrigerate LO's milk while waiting for your people to bring us the mini-fridge we requested? Not cool. Although it was quite interesting how the mini-bar was apparently all technology-driven somehow since we took the stuff out, put LO's milk in, then put the stuff back in exactly where it was. And magically you knew all about it, even though we never once allowed your staff in our room. Slick. That other luxury? Standing in my own filth as I took a shower? It was over the top. Really, we're those normal, grounded kind of folks who enjoy shower drains that, well, drain.

Now we certainly loved the fact that you removed those insane mini-bar charges after hubs stopped by your front desk and chatted with your manager. What we really didn't appreciate was the unexpected $14 per night "resort fee" we were charged. Especially since I called your hotel after Priceline booked us with you specifically to make sure there wouldn't be any "hidden charges" such as this. And of course I was told there wouldn't be. What really got us was the little card you enclosed in our check-in packet that explained this resort fee, and how it included "complimentary self-parking" and "complimentary" housekeeping-type services (which I was thinking most hotels typically provide for their guests). For your future reference, Webster defines complimentary as "given or supplied free of charge." The fact that we paid for the luxury of parking our own car and housekeeping-type services (which we didn't once use), but yet it was complimentary, but yet we paid $14 a night for it, although it was free, well, we really appreciate that, too.

Sincerely,

mom2lo