jrgrossman

My husband and I have reservations in late May at the Ritz Carlton Rose Hall. I noticed tonight that the hotel is being closed for repairs due to torrential rains in late April.

From their website:
"The Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort, Rose Hall, Jamaica has temporarily suspended operations to allow for cleanup and repairs caused by damage from torrential rains which fell in the Montego Bay region on April 27, 2005. Travel agents and guests with reservations starting May 1 through June 6, 2005 are requested to call 786-470-3400 for updated information, and assistance with their travel plans. We regret any inconvenience this may cause and will be happy to assist you when the hotel re-opens."

The number above is closed until the morning. Does anyone know what the Ritz is offering for customers being inconvenienced by this?

Thanks.

doug_stallings

My understanding is that they will offer to put you into another Ritz property in the Caribbean or in Miami; they will also move your stay to another time. I'm not sure they can do anything if you have nonrefundable plane tickets. If you can move to St. Thomas, do it. If you need to stay on Jamaica, there are plenty of other nearby resorts, and they might even help you rebook somewhere else. Please post when you find out what they offer you. I'm curious about how they are handling this, particularly since many people don't have tickets that can be easily changed. If you can move to Half Moon, you should do that. It's close by, and I like it much better.

jrgrossman

I spent most of today trying to sort this out.

The RC was very helpful and has offered the following:
. discounted rate at another carribean hotel
. rebooking at RC Rose Hall for a later date
. full refund of any deposit if not rebooking

If changing plane reservations, they recommended presenting the press release to the airline in hopes of waiving the change fee.

We secured reservations at Half Moon based on your recommendation and others we've read. Thanks for the help.

liza

Half Moon has a much nicer beach

golf_guy

jrgrossman,

Did the folks at RCRH give you any idea as to what kind of damage they had sustained? Did you get any hint as to whether the White Witch golf course had been damaged?

Thanks.

doug_stallings

Thanks for the reply, jgrossman. I do think you'll enjoy Half Moon. It definitely has more of a resort feel. The Ritz-Carlton, for all its positive qualities, still feels like a big convention hotel and has a very small, inadequate beach (though an exquisite golf course).

jrgrossman

golf_guy: Yes, they did say that the phone, laundry, kitchen areas were inoperable and most of the first floor sustained damage from flooding. They did not mention the condition of the golf course (and I didn't ask since I'm not a golfer). Sorry.

golf_guy

jrgossman,

Thanks for the info. I also went out to The Gleaner's archives and read about the woman who died in the flood. All of the machinery and equipment for RCRH is on the outside of the building on the east side. There is a bridge for the highway over a drainage area just beyond there, and I know that road floods. A few years ago during some exceptionally heavy rain, that dry bed was a torrent and it washed out sections of the 14th hole at White Witch, and 2 or 3 holes at Cinnamon Hill golf course at the Wyndham Rose Hall.
The vertical drop from behind the 14th hole at WW to the road has to be more than 500 feet, and that happens in about a mile. The gorge is very narrow, and the water tears up everything in its way to the sea.
We played both White Witch and Cinnamon Hill before that last big flood, and then again after, and the difference was dramatic, and sad.
And the size of the trees scattered in the gorge through Cinnamon Hill was eye-popping. They were HUGE and they had been torn out and washed down until they took out a bridge on the golf course and several of them were stacked like cordwood -- but 4 and 5 feet around, and 80 to 100 feet tall.
Thanks again for the info.

Be1021

This was an absolute nightmare for us and the Ritz was impossible to deal with.
A year ago we scheduled five nights at the ritz in montego bay afyer buying a certificate at an auction. Since we were scheduled to check in on May 19th and the hotel was scheduled to reopen May 18th, noone bothered to call us. On May 14th, I looked on the website, and saw the posting and got worried(because I knew in Jamaica they would never reopen on time!)so I called the number posted. When someone called me back they infomed me that indeed the resort would not be reopenning until June 6th.
Of course we already had our non-refundable, non-changable plane tickets and had already paid for the trip.
I wanted the Ritz to honor the certificate I bought at the auction at one of their other properties, only to be told by Ritz management that the certificate was property specific and the only thing that they could do was rebook my stay in Jamaica for another time.
I have dealt with the Ritz-Carlton corporate offices, who keep refering my calls to the manager in Jamaica, who of course can not do anything with a closed hotel.
It may be easy for the Ritz to rebook my trip fpr another time, but they do not seem to unstand that the reason this trip was booked a year ago was because of time off of work, child care, etc. They also will not offer any compensation for the airfare that we have completely lost.
I never expected to have such a horrible time dealing with the ritz-carlton of all places.

jrgrossman

Be1021: I agree that in your situation it was more difficult since you had a certificate good for the Rose Hall property only.

I would have preferred to rebook for a later date at the hotel if 1)my husbands vacation time didn't expire in the next month and 2)if they were willing to absorb the extra airline fees. Of course - neither of these were possible.

You should be able to rebook your airline tickets since you canceled the trip. I believe you have up to a year and just need to pay the change fee plus fare difference. This is better than losing the full value of the ticket completely.

Good luck, we leave tomorrow for Round Hill.

Be1021

Unfortunately the plane ticket was non changable and the airline would not do anything about it. The ritz said that they would have their travel people try to deal with it, but to no avail as I know of, because they never can seem to give an answer, just more numbers to call and messages to leave that noone ever returns.
I have spent entire days on the phone trying to get some compensation, only to be told basically that it's not their problem, and I need to speek to someone else.

Patty

Be1021,
If you had cancelled your airline reservations prior to your departure date, you should be able to rebook for within 1 year of the origin date of issue. You will of course have to pay a change fee and any difference in fares. Did you not cancel your reservations? Is that why you lost the full value of your tickets? I would write to Conde Nast Traveler's Ombudsman column and see if they can try to negotiate any compensation on your behalf. Good luck!

jrgrossman,
Hope you enjoy your stay at Round Hill. I'd be interested to hear your comments when you return. Thanks.

Be1021

We booked the tickets using miles...In big letters the confirmation sheet says "All award tickets are non-changeable after issuance". That is also what I was told when I called the airline.

Patty

Be1021,
That's a horrible policy! Which ff program were your miles with and what airline you were booked on? The only program that I know of that has such an awful policy is BA Executive Club.