The Fontenay

I am writing to formally...

Disliked: I am writing to formally express my deep disappointment following my recent stay at The Fontenay Hamburg on the weekend of May 4–5. My wife and I traveled for a concert event and, although we usually stay at Le Méridien Hamburg, we chose your hotel this time to experience something new. Unfortunately, our experience was overshadowed by unprofessional and discriminatory conduct by some of your staff.On May 4, at approximately 18:30, just 90 minutes before the concert, I received an urgent email notifying me that our printed tickets had been canceled and that replacement tickets had been uploaded to the online portal. However, I was unable to retrieve the new tickets using the app on my mobile device.I approached the reception desk and explained the urgency of the situation. A young blond male receptionist—his name may be Martin—responded in an unacceptably rude and dismissive manner, stating flatly that he could not help and immediately turned his back on me. When I insisted, stressing the urgency and reminding him that The Fontenay is a five-star luxury hotel where guests should expect a certain level of service, he repeated—this time with a condescending and almost hostile tone—that they would not allow me access to any computer under any circumstances.I then turned to a blond woman at the concierge desk, explained the situation, and she kindly offered to help. She allowed me to use her computer to log in and print the tickets. While we were in the process, the same receptionist called her, and I overheard the phone conversation—assuming I didn’t speak German, they spoke freely. He questioned why she was helping me and said this was not acceptable. To her credit, she defended the decision, stating that it was an emergency and we were guests of the hotel.What disturbed me most, however, was the tone and language used by the receptionist, which I can only describe as discriminatory and racially charged.