My family is currently in the middle of a travel nightmare in Punta de Mita, Mexico.
Let me say first off that we have been looking forward to this vacation for a long time. We don't usually do stuff like this but we thought we deserved it after not having a real vacation in several years.
Anyway, we looked for a long time for the right hotel and found the perfect one for us--a boutique hotel on the beach with great reviews and next to great local restaurants. It's quiet and the rooms are all 1200+ sq ft suites. Perfect for introverts who want to get away.
Well, this morning we woke up at 4AM and after a couple flights, made it to Puerto Vallarta early in the afternoon. Our driver was waiting for us and we were extremely excited and ready for a much-needed break.
However, when we got to Punta de Mita, instead of the Hotel taxi taking us to the hotel, it takes us to an apartment complex nearby, where a very nice manager meets us and informs us that because of a management dispute, the hotel is closed. He said that Expedia, who we booked the hotel through, was notified of this issue a few days ago. I don't know if this is true or not but until I hear otherwise...
I decided to call Expedia because they are the ones that took all that money and sent me to a closed hotel. I was connected to 2 very nice foreign support agents. However, neither could speak much English, so it was really hard to understand. Eventually I got transferred to a re-booking agent (another with poor English) who assured me we would be taken care and would get the same or better hotel as a result.
However, when she tried to find other hotels in the area, she claimed all she could see was a cheaper option than what we originally booked. It's an all-exclusive resort, but away from any restaurants and shopping and the room is basically a tin can with barely enough room for us to sleep. Of course, there are more expensive options but they weren't showing up in her "search."
Bottom line is--we're now at a resort which is the exact opposite of what we would have ever chosen. Based on current rates, we're paying $50 more than we should for the hotel per night because the agent couldn't figure it out, even after I explained it to her. Of course the hotel has some blame, but it seems Expedia has responsibility too. And we're caught in the middle not knowing exactly what we should do. I want a full refund for this nightmare but don't know if that's realistic.
So, what say you, personalfinance? What should we do?
Submitted May 03, 2017 at 09:27PM by plutodomino http://ift.tt/2q0D74V
