Vancouver Olympics hotel scam?

Write, phone, e-mail - the hotel won't like it...

Better Business Bureau-Interior
404-788 Beatty Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 2M1
(888) 803-1222

Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games
400-3585 Graveley Street, Vancouver, BC V5K 5J5
(778) 328-2010

Mayor Gregor Robertson
Vancouver City Hall
453 West 12th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V5Y1V4

The Premier of B.C.'s website: http://www.gov.bc.ca/premier/

Vancouver Sun: www.vancouversun.com

Vancouver Province: www.theprovince.com

Talk Radio - phone and complain on air: http://www.talk1410.com/Default.asp

Definitely report this to all of the above. This is not acceptable!

Also contact bc.tv and get Pamela Martin (a newscaster on
the 6 o'clock news) involved. And the channel's consumer
reporter, Chris Olsen.

Keep at'em............

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll pass them on to my friend. We did hear about one similar thing in Whistler, and I'm sure there were more "victims" at this hotel, but I'm glad that no one has posted they are hearing a lot about this sort of thing.

What is the name of this hotel anyway?

Based on the original post, it's this hotel:

http://www.robsonstrassehotel.com/

Well, if the OP doesn't get 'no satisfaction' from her legit.
grievance, p'haps we should keep mentioning the Robsonstrasse
AFTER the O's are over.....after all, hotels need patrons all
the time not just during special events.

I agree - if that is in fact the hotel in question (OP, please confirm), I would choose to stay elsewhere if I were traveling to Vancouver -- just because this ticks me off!

That's it. It looks like sort of a budget hotel in general--I myself originally booked it (then cancelled) before I found a condo in Whistler, which is where my events are. It doesn't look like the kind of place I'd normally stay--it just doesn't look that nice--but it was literally the ONLY hotel either my friend and I could find for less than $500/night and without a week minimum. Though now they are asking $700+/night and do have a week minimum. It does have a good location though.

My friend is planning on contacting a lot of the organizations you guys listed this weekend so thank you again for that. I just hope she'll be able to find something else, because she's going to be out a ton of money (not to mention being very sad over not seeing the Olympics, which she's always wanted to do) otherwise.

Sorry - I somehow missed the name. $700 a night?!!

$700 a night! Obviously, this is the pension plan for the owners.

Has your friend tried the cruise ship that's going to be docked there? It's not the best location, but they've lowered their rates and reduced their minimum stay requirements. It's the only place I've found so far in or close to Vancouver that doesn't have a 7 night minimum (but I'm hoping things will open up closer to the games).

I would contact the local CBC - Kathy Tomlinson is an investigative reporter there who has a "Go Public" series that replies on viewer-submitted stories.
The number for the local newsroom is 604 662 6397.

Since CTV is the Olympic broadcaster, they are less likely to want to expose Olympic scams.

and you could inform Tourism BC- they have contact numbers on website and an email address.

Unfortunately there are scams everywhere...What is wrong with people?..At least they got money back...I just paid for a cottage in Nova Scotia that I couldn't stay in because it was freezing and no heat...Stay away from Sunset Cottage near Peggy's Cove to those going to Nova Scotia.

Just saw this story online (not the same hotel but a similar situation):

http://bit.ly/176utf

As far as I can tell the Olympics has brought out the worst of the possible behaviors for the Vancouver hotels. Personally I have had 4 confirmed hotel reservations that have been cancelled (without my consent) and one condo rental that disappeared when they were required to provide proof they could rent out the condo for the games.

I tried complaining to the BBB about one of the reservations. That was a total waste of time. The BBB did absolutely nothing to help. The BBB never even tried to understand the complaint. In the end the place tried to charge 6X what I booked for, and the BBB viewed this as a reasonable attempt to settle the issue!

It's certainly buyer beware right now. I ended up renting a condo privately. I'm lucky to have a brother in BC who could check the place out, so I'm very confident that it will work out, but I won't really be sure until we get there...

Spaggis, do you feel like listing those 4 hotels?

Good luck when you arrive. I hope you have a great stay.

The hotels were:

1) Komfort Properties - This is really a condo rental place instead of a hotel. In April I booked a 2 bedroom condo using their web site and received a confirmation email. A few months later I received a 'reservation canceled' email. When I finally got them to reply to my questions about why, they claimed they were doing 'internal testing' of their web site and so none of existing the reservations were valid. I tried complaining to the BBB, but that went nowhere.

2) Pacific Palisades Hotel - In May I booked a room here using the Hotels.ca web site and received a confirmation email. About a week later I received an email saying there was a computer error and there were no rooms available. Hotels.ca at least sent me a $100 voucher for this error.

3) Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle Downtown - I booked a room here in June using the Marriott web site and received a confirmation email. A couple days later I received an email and phone call indicating there was a computer error and there were no rooms available. I've pushed for the hotel to find a room somewhere, but they haven't really tried. The hotel is offering to send a cheque for cost of one night.

4) Quality Inn Airport - I booked a room here in February and received a confirmation email. This was a 'backup plan' hotel for me in case I didn't find anything else. Like others I recently received an email saying they are no longer a Quality Inn, etc.

Along the way I also booked a room at the Ramada Inn Coquitlam as another backup plan. That hotel tried to change the terms of the reservation (from no cancellation penalty to 1 night's lodging cancellation penalty) but backed down once I complained that they are not allowed to change the terms of an existing reservation without my consent. I recently canceled that reservation.

I also tried renting a condo using the rentatthegames.com web site. It fell through when the person listing the condo removed the listing once they were asked to provide proof that they could rent it out.

As I mentioned above, in the end I found another condo for a good price on the rent2010.net web site. I was lucky enough to have a brother who could check the place out, so I'm confident things are all set.

Spaggis, thanks for posting that. It's really quite ridiculous, and you have some "name-brand" properties on that list too (the Marriott, of course, and Pacific Palisades is a Kimpton, and Quality Inn Airport).

FWIW, the Pacific Palisades is no longer part of the Kimpton hotel group.

There are now 3 complaints about the Robsonstrausse canceling Olympics reservations on Trip Advisor. The hotel posted such a poor defense of its practices as a response, it's almost comical.

http://tinyurl.com/y9zw57s

Thank you for posting the names of the hotels with such questionable practices. We are planning a trip to Vancouver in August 2010 - before and after an Alaska cruise - and we will be certain NOT to look at any of those hotels.

Too bad they don't seem to realize that the Olympics are only for a limited time ... but the internet is forever ....