The Weather Up Here:: Writing!!! (EFFECTIVE and potty mouth)

Dear Mr. Davie:

Recently, I read a rather shocking Facebook posting by my friend Mr. J.G. Sandom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandom), who like me is a published author -- I having been the last significant assistant of Mr. Tennessee Williams and published a memoir about that -- but that is not the hat I am wearing here.

My family, which basically (and perhaps somewhat secretly), inherited more of the Standard Oil Trust from Henry Flagler who had founded it than his front-man Rockefeller ever even HOPED to own -- and of course Flagler's Florida East Coast railroad, steamship companies, Florida utilities that he had built, and hotels. Kenans have been in the hotel business for quite a long time -- perhaps you have heard of my cousin Tommy's THE BREAKERS hotel in Palm Beach. And I spent some time working not only for Holiday Inns in my youth, but several of the largest resorts in the Catskills and Adirondacks.

I have never in my life seen such a pathetic and responsibility-shrugging response to a customer, and this has NOTHING to do with Mr. Sandom's being a top best-selling author. While its true that my family traces is line person-by-person through many American (and Confederate) Patriots, the Stewart Line in Scotland, Charlemagne and many before him, not a BIT of the blood matters -- what matters is the VALUES one lives by whether passed through family or learned from others (and while royalty got great perks, the sacred duty of the monarch was to be IN SERVICE to even the least in his/her kingdom. This is MY family's heritage).

But funny thing: only a year ago I lived homeless under a bridge in Wilmington, NC after correctly identifying the District Attorney as being in cahoots with the Republican State Senator controlling and protecting all the illegal drug trafficking in the Port of Wilmington -- profits going primarily to the National Republican Party to pay for PR work to make Republicans look like Patriots and Christians when those are DIFFICULT labels to pin on narco-traffickers, don't you agree?

Needless to say, my STALWART Kenan Values have returned me to a FAR better position here in Mexico where I currently live. I hope you don't mind my butting in here, but besides those you see open-copied, this is going to my smaller list of nearly 500 in various positions of influence.

All best to you and your company, and I do hope you resolve things with Mr. Sandome. While working for Tennessee Williams, I was honored to meet Ronald and Nancy Reagan at one of their White House parties, so I'm fond of quoting the man -- his humor truly disarmed me (me being a liberal). That said, I hope I don't find I have to write you again beginning with President Reagan's words: "There you go again . . . "

Sincere best wishes for a pleasant rest of the day and morrow,

Scott David Kenan

Chacala, Mexico

>>> See the communication this refers to here:

To: "WP, Consumer Affairs"
Cc: CEO , Jon Coleman , Allan Bella , , ,

Date: Wed, 10 Oct 2012 17:19:25 -0400
Subject: Re: Follow up to your concern with Le Méridien Arlington

Dear Mr. Davie:

I find your response to my letter to be completely inadequate. You focus in on one issue -- that of bed bugs, which I said may have or may not have come from your hotel -- and completely disregard all of the other issues I raised: lost reservation; rooms not ready despite advance notice; and no room service (for anyone) in the hotel during a key local event. Now, I can add poor PR and insensitive customer service to the list.

You spend much of your time in your note referencing the fact that this hotel is a franchised property, as if this somehow obviates you of any responsibility for this fiasco. Even McDonalds (all franchised properties) takes responsibility for local faux pas when a customer burns himself on their coffee. Certainly, the courts view parent companies as responsible for franchisee errors.

You state: To address this growing problem, Starwood mandates an aggressive pest control policy, which includes regularly scheduled professional inspections and, if necessary, elimination protocols. We have also implemented a thorough training program for our housekeeping and maintenance personnel to assist in the early recognition of infestation. These standard procedures require that the room in which you stayed be quarantined and that it remain quarantined until a thorough inspection by professionals can be conducted.

In other words, when you wish to claim credit for all the wonderful things you are doing to thwart bed bugs it's "Starwood mandates..." and "We have also implemented...", but it's a local franchisee issue when things occur for which you'd rather not take responsibility.

You can't have it both ways: you can't promote the Starwood brand as a mark of quality, and then abdicate all responsibility when things go wrong. Such behavior is cowardly and inappropriate, and not the mark of a quality company.

I will be sure to add excerpts from your letter, including your name, when I add this to my Facebook and Google+ pages, plus my Twitter feed.

Sincerely,

J.G. Sandom

On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 4:00 PM, WP, Consumer Affairs wrote:

Greetings Mr. Sandom,

Thank you for contacting Frits van Paasschen, Chief Executive Officer for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (“Starwood”), regarding your recent experience with Le Méridien Arlington (“Hotel”). The concerns you have raised are very understandable given the symptoms you described, and I appreciate the opportunity to look into it and to respond.

The global resurgence of bed bugs over the last five years is a widely-recognized problem. This problem has affected not only the hotel industry, but hospitals, college dormitories and private multiple dwellings, as well. It is suspected that this resurgence is a direct result of increased international travel since bed bugs are easily transported in suitcases, purses and clothing, among other things.

To address this growing problem, Starwood mandates an aggressive pest control policy, which includes regularly scheduled professional inspections and, if necessary, elimination protocols. We have also implemented a thorough training program for our housekeeping and maintenance personnel to assist in the early recognition of infestation. These standard procedures require that the room in which you stayed be quarantined and that it remain quarantined until a thorough inspection by professionals can be conducted.

Please be aware that the Hotel is a franchised property, which is independently owned and operated. This Hotel utilizes the Le Méridien trademarks and logos pursuant to a License Agreement. Neither Starwood nor its subsidiaries or affiliates, including the licensor, has any ownership interest or day-to-day control over the operations of this Hotel. With this being said, we are confident the strategic pest management strategy they have implemented is aligned with the strategy we follow at our owned and managed hotels.

We are pleased to inform you that the results of our investigation, which included a thorough inspection of the room in which you stayed by Steritech, showed no evidence of a bed bug infestation.

Mr. Sandom, given the nature of our business, it is our expressed commitment to make every guest experience an enjoyable one. Your comfort and satisfaction are very important to us. We hope you will consider staying with us again. If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can be reached at the telephone number listed below.

With Kind Regards,

Jeremy Davie
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, EXECUTIVE DIVISION

T 203-964-6495 F 203-964-5111

STARWOOD HOTELS & RESORTS
ONE STARPOINT
STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT 06902
FILE: 201210057797

TO:
Frits Van Passchen, CEO
Starwood Hotels

FROM:
J.G. Sandom

As seen @ Yelp (http://www.yelp.com/biz/le-m%C3%A9ridien-arlington-arlington-2.), on my Facebook and Google+ pages, plusTwitter.

During Georgetown graduation celebrations (May, 2012), several family members secured a number of suites and hotel rooms at Le Meridien in Arlington, just across the bridge from the school. I HAVE RARELY HAD SUCH A TERRIBLE HOTEL EXPERIENCE IN MY LIFE, and I've done a LOT of traveling in my time.

First, they had no record of the reservation. This was resolved in less than ten minutes, so we were not that concerned.

Next, when we tried to check in (we had specifically requested an early check-in time for all of our party), we were told none of the rooms was ready. We had to wait two more hours in the lobby while they resolved this issue.

Then, as we were all getting up early for the event and the dining room was not yet open, most of us (more than a half dozen in total) called down and ordered room service breakfast. Unfortunately, the meals did not come on time. In fact, they did not come at all. We all waited over an hour, calling down several times, but in the end we were all forced to leave the hotel hungry . . . which turned out to be a disaster because we were forced to sit during the graduation ceremony for hours without anything to keep us going. Worse, when we did call and complained, they refused to even send up a pot of coffee to try and appease us.

Turns out, this was not just our family's problem (in 2 suites and 1 room), but something that everyone in the hotel experienced; many of the guests were there for the same graduation event. [You would think that with such a well-advertised and regularly scheduled event such as the Georgetown graduation, they would have anticipated the higher demand for room service . . . but you would be wrong.]

Neither Raimi Bello (Guest Services), nor Scott Ward (Restaurant Services) proved to be of any help whatsoever. And when I tried to locate the email address of Frits Van Passchen (President and CEO of parent company Starwood), they said they did not know it and could not help me find out how to contact him. [Does anybody know his email address? I'd love to send him a note if you do. You can reach me at xxxxx.]

To top it all off, when I got back home following my trip, I found bedbugs in my luggage! Now, while I can't be sure they came from this hotel, it certainly seems likely. I had not traveled anywhere else recently, after all. It cost me hundreds of dollars to have my apartment sniffed by a bedbug dog (yes, that's the best way to be sure; just like a bomb- or drug-sniffing canine) and fumigated.

I spent some time writing a letter to Mr. Van Passchen and received no reply.

I realize that this is a recent addition to the Starwood constellation, and that sometimes it takes a while to work out the bugs (pun intended) on a new property. I also realize that Mr. Van Passchen is working very hard to build his portfolio. That said, there is little point to moving so aggressively if the quality of the brand suffers as a result.

This hotel experience was a disaster from beginning to end. Do yourself a favor and don't check into the Le Meridien Arlington. You may find yourself not only having a poor time, but you may end up taking more home than just a disappointing memory.

* * *

>>> EMAIL EXCHANGE WITH MS. KIMBERLY KAYE OF THEATERMANIA!!!:

If you use "theater" in your "publication's" or domain's name, you are going to have to do something more substantial than the crap you do that even DRUG/SEX-CRAZED REPUBLICANS are getting sick of (not that ALL of it is bad, but it's about the GLAMOUR assholes can get by associating with creative people but being nothing but publicity/sex/drugs whores, really.

I'm the former assistant to Tennessee Williams whom even YOU have probably heard of who promised Jackie Kennedy Onassis he would get JFK, RFK, and MLK Jr's revenge.

But before telling you if you don't like my attitude you can stuff it in your twat and light it, may I tell you some GOOD news for people like YOU???

YOU are in the PERFECT position to write a PLAY about the SPIRITUAL SICKNESS of Theater RIFF-RAFF who make money by GLORIFYING BULL SHIT!!! -- Turn your life into ART!!!

Pretty cool, no???

Surely you get tired of this stuff -- it's like someone mixed diarrhea in with the plastic before spraying URETHANE FOAM!!! Sort of reminiscent of my buddy Dan Savage's "santorem": "the frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex." But you see, Daniel Savage's middle name is Kenan, so we might-could be related (his double "e" is the Irish form -- my single one the Scot -- but its all BIBLICAL in the sense that the original spelling was Cainan, and either Kenan (preferred) or sometimes Cainan (depending on Bible translation) is fourth in line from Adam to Noah in 1st Chronicles.)

And just so you know, Edith Love -- a good friend of mine at Denison University -- was the longtime Managing Director at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and all but had to NURSE Alfred Uhry to get him to finish DRIVING MISS DAISY!!! I spoke with Edith by phone a few weeks ago and she'd doing well considering her mobility issues now -- and in GREAT spirits and THRILLED that I've almost got my mother, Ruth Anne (Meyer) Kenan arrested as the TOP NAZI in the US (when I first blogged about that 2.5 years ago, the Reiner Family of Hollywood -- bet you've herad of THEM!!! -- made me an honorary Jew)!!!

Edith's known about my campaign to do THAT since 1990.

Well, enough about me, Why don't you write back and tell me about something of SUBSTANCE in the theater (or theatre), OK???

Thanks,

Scott

Monday, October 1, 2012