HelloWorld - Hello nightmare. Radisson Blu Budapest.

[Renato1]

So, through my travel agent who uses HelloWorld we booked hotels at the Doubletree Hilton in Malaysia and Radisson Blu Beke in Budapest. the Doubltree Hilton exceeded our expectations. But the Radisson Blu Beke left me fuming with a seriously bad taste in my mouth, both with the hotel and with HelloWorld.

We arrived in Budapest just after a huge rainstorm the previous day, and the hotel was still blacked out. Fair enough, they couldn't help that. We had booked a standard room there, the price through HelloWorld being slightly less than that through Booking.com. Anyhow, the power returned, and we were given room 816. We go to the room, and it stinks. The carpet was worn and it didn't look very clean, and the decor looked very old and in need of renovation.

So down we went and I told the staff that their room stank

No, they said - it was due to lack of air conditioning - go out for dinner and they would fix it. When we returned, they had opened the windows, and sprayed air freshener, which sort of fixed the problem for a while. During the night the smell came back. My wife had a shower, and the drain was partly blocked, resulting in hair coming back up. Only problem was that my wife is blonde, and the hair that came back up was black.

Then during the night we discovered the cause of the bad smell - the air conditioner was leaking water onto the carpet. Whenever we made our way to the bathroom we had to dodge all the constant drips.

Next morning, I stormed down to the desk demanding to see who was in charge. The chap immediately put us into room 631, which was a much bigger and better equipped room.

Only problem was, when I checked Booking.com - the new room we were in, was the very same standard room that we should have been in in the first place!

The rest of our stay was very good, but I complained to HelloWorld through my agent that I had been ripped off on the first night, having been put in a room that Radisson Blu Beke do not advertise on their site, and that it was totally substandard. I opined that Radisson Blu Beke would never have tried that with someone using Booking.com, and were relying on people using traditional booking methods to either be ignorant, confused or not be familiar with the internet -plain scammers.

HelloWorld passed on my complaint, and Radisson Blu Beke replied that yes, there had been a problem with the first room, but that no compensation was payable, as I had been upgraded to a more expensive Superior Room. The Superior room is a much bigger room than the standard room we staid in, containing a longer suite (couch and chairs), and we were never in such a room - Radisson Blu outright lied, in my opinion.

And HelloWorld accepted Radisson Blu Beke's explanation.

I protested again about the outright lies, including a photo of my wife, which showed the carpet being that of the standard room. But nothing more has happened.

So I have been shafted the price of one night's room, and HelloWorld have accepted at face value the word of their supplier, who in my opinion have scammed at least one HelloWorld client. Note well, this is not a case of He Says vs Hotel Said. Room 816 is still there,:as is Room 631. If one were worried about one's reputation and one's clients not being scammed, HelloWorld could easily verify who is telling the truth.

I keep wondering if people of a different temperament to mine would have just staid in that lousy room for the entire week, rather than cause friction in a foreign country.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Moopere]

I've used aggregators for hotel bookings in the past and whilst the outcomes have, in general, been ok, I tend to shy away from them these days. The last time I used them for a long booking was a trip to Mauritius quite some years ago and this really showed me how much 'wriggle room' is built in to the wording and descriptions used of the hotel rooms you are booking.

I still remember back in the day having a think about the wording I was reading and thinking mmmm, is this because of the engine they use and the requirement to 'boil things down' or is it giving them the maximum amount of flexibility?? In fact, I think its intentionally vague so as to allow the hotel to essentially put you anywhere and as aggregator sites are all about price, and the hotel is profit sharing to some degree with the aggregator, one is almost always going to get the lowest possible room that could be wrung out of the description used. Pretty general comments I know, but I hate gambling on outcomes with hotels when I'm in a foreign country so I tend these days to err on the side of caution and book direct whenever possible and reasonable - even to the extent of getting a native speaker to ring the hotel direct to price match a booking if there is a wide difference.

Anyway, I feel for you, its happened to me and others here too I suspect.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

Why not always go to the hotel and get a price match. Or call/ email direct and talk to reservations. I found that they will typically arch prices as it means they do not need to pay commissions. Then you are dealing with one party ie hotel.

 

[mimishat]

Only problem was, when I checked Booking.com - the new room we were in, was the very same standard room that we should have been in in the first place!

Could it be that Booking.com have incorrect pictures for their rooms (I've seen this happen before)? Did you try the hotel's direct website to compare?

 

[Renato1]

I've used aggregators for hotel bookings in the past and whilst the outcomes have, in general, been ok, I tend to shy away from them these days. The last time I used them for a long booking was a trip to Mauritius quite some years ago and this really showed me how much 'wriggle room' is built in to the wording and descriptions used of the hotel rooms you are booking.

I still remember back in the day having a think about the wording I was reading and thinking mmmm, is this because of the engine they use and the requirement to 'boil things down' or is it giving them the maximum amount of flexibility?? In fact, I think its intentionally vague so as to allow the hotel to essentially put you anywhere and as aggregator sites are all about price, and the hotel is profit sharing to some degree with the aggregator, one is almost always going to get the lowest possible room that could be wrung out of the description used. Pretty general comments I know, but I hate gambling on outcomes with hotels when I'm in a foreign country so I tend these days to err on the side of caution and book direct whenever possible and reasonable - even to the extent of getting a native speaker to ring the hotel direct to price match a booking if there is a wide difference.

Anyway, I feel for you, its happened to me and others here too I suspect.

Thanks, that is extremely interesting and you have made me wary for the future.

The reason I wasn't wary in this case was two fold. I had staid with Radisson Blue before, and had thought them a class act.

Secondly, I forgot to mention that my travel agent acted as filter - she only recommends places her clients have given her good reports on.

So the last thing I was expecting was what happened.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Why not always go to the hotel and get a price match. Or call/ email direct and talk to reservations. I found that they will typically arch prices as it means they do not need to pay commissions. Then you are dealing with one party ie hotel.

Thanks, but I don't operate that way. If someone I have gone to comes up with a good deal, I am happy that she be rewarded.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Why not always go to the hotel and get a price match. Or call/ email direct and talk to reservations. I found that they will typically arch prices as it means they do not need to pay commissions. Then you are dealing with one party ie hotel.

Thanks, but if someone I ask comes up with a good deal for me, I am happy to reward him or her.
Regards,
Renato

 

[woodborer]

Or maybe the point was that some people can deal with the issue without the need to 'storm down.' I'v certainly been moved out of a smelly room, and I didn;t even suffer the night, just asked to be moved.

 

[Renato1]

Could it be that Booking.com have incorrect pictures for their rooms (I've seen this happen before)? Did you try the hotel's direct website to compare?

The pictures at the Booking.com site are the same now as they were seven months ago. Their standard room is almost an exact replica of the standard room at Radisson Blue Deira Creek Dubai, where we had previously staid.

I suspect the sub standard room they put us in was where they put up the bus drivers who are constantly bringing in residents from other parts of Europe. Radisson would trash their reputation if they put pictures of the room we staid in on their website.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Or maybe the point was that some people can deal with the issue without the need to 'storm down.' I'v certainly been moved out of a smelly room, and I didn;t even suffer the night, just asked to be moved.

You again miss the point. Such scams wouldn't be tried unless there are lambs around to try them on.

Just curious - what is it that makes you feel that people who treat you badly should be treated nicely in return?
And you saw what I wrote, that just like you, I had asked them for a non smelly room, but unlike your case, they did not comply.

And now you are critical of me for not being some kind of peacenick St Francis or Ghandi type, in my dealings with people who deliberately didn't give me what I paid for, then who knowingly misled me with their claim that the fault lay with the power outage. And to add insult to injury, they subsequently lie about my having been upgraded to a Superior room.

Plainly, forgiveness may be in your heart in such a situation, but vengeance is in mine.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Pushka]

I never use TA's. I am curious though, how you knew you had a good deal prior when clearly you didn't when you arrived and then you checked booking.com? Also with the AUD fall, depending on when you booked that would impact on booking.com prices. That is the website I use mostly to book.

Thanks, but if someone I ask comes up with a good deal for me, I am happy to reward him or her.
Regards,
Renato

It sounds like the TA could have booked the standard room but charged higher for their commission

The room did sound rather nasty.

 

[Renato1]

I never use TA's. I am curious though, how you knew you had a good deal prior when clearly you didn't when you arrived and then you checked booking.com? Also with the AUD fall, depending on when you booked that would impact on booking.com prices. That is the website I use mostly to book.


It sounds like the TA could have booked the standard room but charged higher for their commission

The room did sound rather nasty.

When I got the quote from the travel agent for the standard room with breakfast, I checked the price on Booking.com for the exact same days for the standard room with breakfast. The travel agent's price was under $100 lower than the Booking.com price.
Regards,
Renato

 

[love_the_life]

Like Pushka I never use a TA these days and only occasionally an online booking aggregator, preferring to book directly with the supplier, in this case hotel. YMMV but as a TA like an aggregator is getting paid somewhere along the line, I would rather cut out this middle man if possible. Most times prices are the same anyway.
I seem to recall you have posted on another thread as well about flights so it looks like your vacation is not going smoothly.