Disappointed by sharp practices
We stayed at this hotel from the 25th of October 2012 and were scheduled to leave on the 31st.
When we arrived, the room was very small and somewhat dated, however, we were not planning on spending much time there so no real problem. The sink was broken, which was repaired within 20 minutes and the safe did not work. Again an engineer came to fix the safe but declared that it needed replacing. To their credit, it was replaced within a couple of hours and we were offered a free deposit box in the meantime. All good so far. We were unable to properly secure the window after opening it. We didn't report it, as it was not a problem (until the hurricane).
Once the hurricane arrived, I'm afraid that the hotel saw an opportunity to make some easy money.
Our flight was cancelled and, Initially, we could not get confirmation as to when it would be rescheduled. We spoke with the hotel, who agreed to let us stay on, at $279 per night plus taxes. They recommended that they would continue the booking on a daily basis and asked that we let them know as soon as we had our flight date confirmed.
After 24 hours we were locked out of the room. I was then told that we had been checked out of the room and the hotel was now full (it was also marathon weekend). The hotel said that they had no idea where our belongings had gone. After some negotiation, I was then told that we could have our room back, but the price had gone up to $349 plus taxes, this despite the fact they could not provide any hot water. They did, however, provide a free breakfast the following day, as I think they did for every guest. Surprisingly, our belongings were where we had left them.
As soon as I had a date for our flight (November 6th) I advised the hotel and extended the booking until then. I had specifically requested that, in the event we were found an earlier flight, we could alter the booking with no penalties, and was assured it was "no problem".
Once we got an earlier flight, (November 4th) I again confirmed we could check out early and was assured that we wouldn't be charged for the nights we were not staying. I was also assured that checking out in the early hours was not a problem.
When we did check out, they could not provide me with a bill, as the computers were down. I was assured that they would email it to me.
When I received the email, I saw that I had been charged for the 5th and 6th of November. I must say that I was not too surprised by that time.
I did spend almost a full day and spent a lot of money, trying to call the hotel in order to discuss the problem. I would either get directed to someone who could not deal with my complaint or they just hung up.
I have registered my complaint with the hotel group and was assured, after providing both my home and mobile telephone numbers, that they were required to respond within 48 hours.
That was on November 5th and I still have heard nothing.
We were unfortunate to have visited the city at the same time as a hurricane. That did not spoil the trip and we were amazed by the way in which the locals coped. But What was to have been a special trip for our family, descended into chaos simply by the hotel cashing in on the hurricane. The cleaning staff, however, were excellent throughout our stay.