Me and N have booked our holidays to Mexico for quite some time now and we are really raring to go. Hurricane Emily had instilled quite a concern for us as the areas badly hurt was the area where we are headed to precisely. We kept on top of weather reports around the area and asked Expedia (where we booked our holidays) for the situation there and we were told that the worst has passed and we have nothing to worry about.
Not until I checked the hotel’s website:
Aventura Spa Palace and Xpu-Ha Palace, which are located in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico, were less fortunate, suffering significant damages. Both resorts are currently closed. The north section of Aventura Spa Palace is slated to reopen on September 30th , while Xpu-Ha Palace is scheduled to reopen on October 31st . All guests staying at these resorts during the time of the storm were evacuated safely to Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort and there were no reported injuries.
Say what? That is the hotel where we are booked, Aventura Spa Palace, and it is CLOSED!
I informed N straight away and she called Expedia. They told her that they were not aware that the hotel was closed as they were not informed. They did say that they would gladly book us into another hotel and would not charge us the rebooking fee.
Damn right they shouldn’t!
But since we are due to depart in a little more than a week, rooms are scarce — or at least rooms that are like for like with the one we booked. Worse, Expedia told us that we will be charged extra if we chose a more expensive hotel but we will not get our money back if we chose a cheaper one. No way!
No effing way!
Paying extra would be quite acceptable but given the circumstances, we really shouldn’t be. They overlooked the fact that for good customer service, they should have checked with the establishments in the areas affected and informed those who have already made bookings. The hotel should have contacted the travel agents, too, and even offered those who have already booked an alternate accomodation with others within the vicinity. But no…both have decided to stay mum about it.
And only because of my excitement to plan my activities for my holidays that we found out. If I hadn’t done that, me and N would have travelled for 4000 miles in 14 hours only to find that we have no place to stay.
The fact that Expedia eventually gave our money back in full for the hotel, is insignificant because they already had disappointed us big time!
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I’m so sorry your vacation plans went so awry! Damn expedia!
i know, tin, thanks…kaasar talaga!
that is SO not fair! can’t believe they had the nerve to suggest that they wouldn’t give back the difference if you chose a cheaper hotel. pffft. so what are you guys doing now?
kala, we managed to book for another hotel, which we made sure was open, through another agency. hopefully, all will be worry-free now.
Oh thank goodness you got another hotel. If not, are you willing to camp at the beach? :knockout: And even better yet you’re not there when the hurricane did come.
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