ranma500 Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I booked three nights at the Bella Villa Prima in Pattaya. It had got a few good mentions on websites. I booked with Ratestogo.com I paid a deposit with my credit card and received confirmation. When I arrived at Bella Villa Prima, I was told that ratestogo had moved me to Bella Villa Metro, another property. I later found out that this was not true. Bella Villa had moved me and informed ratestogo afterwards. This was not a satisfactory move. Bella Villa Metro is much further away from the centre. It is at the end of a long dark soi. There is a tuk-tuk to shuttle guests to the end of the soi, but obviously that means having to wait for someone to drive it. The hot water did not work the first night. A team of maintenance men came and fiddled for a couple of hours without success, and did not have it mended till the second night. The hotel and room itself was basic but clean. Not luxurious, but okay. But the biggest problem was the construction work in the hotel grounds. The noise was quite incredible during the day, and the concept of sitting by the small pool was quite out of the question. One would have been deafened. I checked out after two days. There was a big argument about me not wanting to pay for three nights. But I simply refused. Another note: ratestogo had booked my room at a dollar rate. The hotel could not make a charge in dollars, so converted to Baht at a rate of 40 Baht to the dollar. I pointed out that the current rate is around 36 or 37, but they said that their rate was 40. I contacted ratestogo and asked for a refund of my deposit, but they sent me an email saying that my problems were the fault of the hotel, and they could not oblige. I suspect that this group is having a lot of troubles with Bella Villa Metro. I witnessed two very similar arguments occuring at reception. One might even suspect that they are knowingly accepting bookings for the Prima location when it is in fact fully booked, so that they can bump the unsuspecting guests to the Metro building site. Very poor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Have the credit card company cancel payment. Let the hotel and the booking company sort it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pasathai1 Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 Have the credit card company cancel payment. Let the hotel and the booking company sort it out. thats the best idea. cc companies know how to take care of this kind of b.s. also, you need hot shower water in thailand?? ( just kidding) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dddave Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 I'm kind of surprised as "BELLA VILLA" is, I believe owned by the EASTINY group which usually runs a decent operation. From what I read on the net, there are frequently disputes between hotels and online bookers, the paying guest being the one caught in the middle. At least as far as Pattaya is concerned, other than the peak of high season (Late November to mid January) there is really no reason to pre-book. There are always rooms available, often for less that the online rates and in better locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivestockLover Posted November 13, 2006 Report Share Posted November 13, 2006 First, CC companies don't 'cancel" payments. You have the right to dispute the charge with the CC company in writing, and give your reasons. In your case, they will NOT do anything about it, and the reason is---YOU STAYED THERE. No matter how bad the conditions were, if you stayed there they want refund it. In my thousands of hotel stays, i have never used an agency to book a room (involving pre-pay)...because I insist on seeing every room before I agree to take it. That makes things more expensive overall, but.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwood13 Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Looks like they've rebadged the former Astoria Resort Hotel as the Bella Villa Metro. It's located at the end of the 1st soi on the L. on Naklua Rd. just N. of the Dolphin Roundabout. http://www.pattayabooking.org/astoriaresort/ -redwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristianTroy Posted November 15, 2006 Report Share Posted November 15, 2006 Have the credit card company cancel payment. Let the hotel and the booking company sort it out. Can't do that, he would have needed to file a complaint while he was there! He can't ask for a refund when he took the service, If he went to another hotel it wouldnt be a problem at all but since he stayed there and wasnt able to get a discount or some sort of compensation he is screwed! Wasn't Bella Villa with Best Western originally? In my In january I needed a room for 4 weeks, I went to their website and there was absolutely no picture of the rooms nor the suites! I emailed them and they promised me kindly to send me pictures the next day! Now I know Thais are never on time but I still haven't received any pictures, I guess I stop waiting for them now! Anyways it is a fucked up move to DEPORT someone from soi 4 to Naklua Road! That is quite a difference and the location is usually the reason why you pick a hotel. If you havent filed a complaint when you where there then "Som Nam Na" for beeing a too kind tourist! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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