Your email address is safe with us. View our Privacy policy.
Author Bio:
National Geographic Traveler journalist Christopher Elliott has offered shrewd, straightforward travel advice in the Wall Street Journal, on MSNBC,...
Read more about By Christopher Elliott, Tribune Media Services.
National Geographic Traveler journalist Christopher Elliott has offered shrewd, straightforward travel advice in the Wall Street Journal, on MSNBC,...
Read more about By Christopher Elliott, Tribune Media Services.
Hey, That's Not the Hotel I Booked
By Christopher Elliott, Tribune Media Services
Q: I am writing to you in frustration over how I recently booked our annual vacation through
When we arrived at the resort, we were told that we didn't have reservations. After much confusion, they told us we were supposed to be at the Barcelo Maya Beach Hotel, the oldest and lowest-rated hotel in this complex.
I immediately contacted
Though I was very upset that my family and I were forced to stay at a hotel that we did not choose or want, we tried to make the best of the remaining time there.
After our return, I contacted
A: If Orbitz promised you a room at the Barcelo Maya Palace Hotel, then that's what you should have received.
I reviewed your e-mailed confirmation. It says your hotel is the Barcelo Maya Palace within the Barcelo Riviera Maya All Inclusive Complex. Any reasonable person would conclude you were staying at the nice hotel -- not the dump.
The burden should have been on
Did Orbitz try to deceive you when you booked your Cancun vacation? I doubt it. This kind of mix-up isn't uncommon. I recall another case with
There are two ways you could have avoided this. First, you could have phoned the hotel to confirm your reservation. That's always a good idea when you're booking through a third party, because reservations can get lost. You'd probably be surprised by how many hotels still handle their reservations by fax.
Second, you could have applied the "too-good-to-be-true" litmus test to your resort. Was the price so low that something didn't seem right? For example, if you're getting a brand-new, highly-rated, all-inclusive resort in Mexico for $59 a night, you might want to double-check to make sure you're getting what you think you're getting.
I contacted
========
Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. You can read more travel tips on his blog, elliott.org or e-mail him at celliott@ngs.org.
This news arrived on: 06/30/2009
Printer Friendly Version | Send this page to a friend | Post Comment
Rate This Story:
Great - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - Bad
Posted Comments:
07-18-2009 04:00
Harry wrote:
Orbitz Hotel Mixup article
You let Orbitz off too lightly. The difference they should have refunded was the extra price they asked for to put the writer in the hotel they had confirmed him booked into.
07-07-2009 09:07
Dare to Dream Travel wrote:
Learning the Hard Way
And this would be the reason you should ALWAYS use a travel agent to book your vacation. It costs absolutely not one dime more to use a travel agent and they can do wonders for you when booking a property. Air is contracted so almost always better prices than you can find with an online booking source and you always have somebody to go to bat for you and do the footwork 'IF' there is an error in your booking. Chances of that, however are slim, because we book travel for a living, we know what we are doing and we don't do a bait and switch.
I personally have stayed at both Barcelo Maya Beach and Barcelo Maya Palace. While the Maya Beach was the original property, it is far from a dump and as a matter of fact is currently being rennovated. Barcelo Palace is the six star part of the property and the newest resort in the complex. All their rooms are junior suites and are very nice. I have sent many, many people to both resorts, depending on what they wanted to spend or which one they chose and I have not ever had any complaint whatsoever.
I personally have stayed at both Barcelo Maya Beach and Barcelo Maya Palace. While the Maya Beach was the original property, it is far from a dump and as a matter of fact is currently being rennovated. Barcelo Palace is the six star part of the property and the newest resort in the complex. All their rooms are junior suites and are very nice. I have sent many, many people to both resorts, depending on what they wanted to spend or which one they chose and I have not ever had any complaint whatsoever.
Comment archive | Comment FAQ's
 |
 |
|
View Christopher Elliott ezine stories by date or visit the complete archive |
The ArcaMax Politics channel is one of 70 content categories offered by ArcaMax Publishing on this ... |
VideoSquares.com
