Havana

mvor: Actually, that darling at the RLG said he'd give me a room with a KING bed and a sofa bed! Wow. That beats the hell out of rollaway, which takes up space even after you've struggled to strap it together like a sandwich & stow it against the wall.

Seamus

I recall being told that there is a law (not sure if applies in all of France or just a Paris thing) requiring that breakfast be charged separately from the room and that breakfast must be an option, not mandatory. Ayone else ever hear this?

janis

I've read this thread through -- twice -- and I am totally w/ elaine, mvor and Christina. Don't see a single darn thing wrong w/ any of the communications, verbal or e-mail, from the Fleurie.

It is probably a good thing you changed hotels because I can't see you ever being happy there.

You say this sort of thing happens to you all the time??? curious . . . . .

mvor

Havana, glad you have your digs worked out.

Seamus, I've heard something like that. We stayed at the Buci Latin/Artus for years and they were considered 'unusual' for including breakfast, although I believe that may be changing.

I'm so glad we rent apartments now. (Thank you Patrick for all of your great research (sant.com and bienvenueaparis)!

Havana

Hi Janis, just to give an example, last February I booked a 2-bedroom suite w/2 bathrooms in Buenos Aires. It was with one of the Kempinski(sp?) hotels. None of their 3 or 4 hotels in B.A. were listed in any travel guides: that should've told me something but I was blindsided by the photos on their website. (MY ERROR) I had a written confirmation that was more detailed than I ever would have requested - stating not only the number of rooms & bathrooms, but the exact measurements of each of the rooms! They were enormous!

Upon arriving - beat, after a 12-hour flight. I hand my confirmation to the desk clerk: it has the hotel's crest, address, etc. on it, as well as the phone numbers of its headquarters in NY. She looks puzzled & tells me she has no rooms like that! Nothing even close. She can't call NY office 'cause NY is closed at that hour.

After a most unpleasant interchange that lasted quite a while, we ended up in the most God-forsaken rooms I've ever seen. My husband, daughter & I then spent the better part of day scoping out 9 or 10 other hotels, covering much of the city in the process - 95 degrees, thank you. By the time we found one (and made sure the rooms were fine) we returned to the ghastly Kempinski. Way too tired to deal with moving out at that hour, we spent a 2nd night in that dump before moving out the next day.

Still curious?

Patrick

Seamus, I've not heard of a law which says it must be optional, but I do know that at Relais St. Germain, the problem was that the hotel required you to have to pay for breakfast. If they said the room was 250 per night and included breakfast, on the final bill, it would show something like room-220 plus 2 breakfasts @ 15. This is what upset people who didn't eat breakfast. Although the final room rate was exactly as they had been quoted, once they saw it broken out separately they wanted a credit if they didn't eat it. Yet the hotel said they were "required" to list the breakfast separately, and due to their arrangement with the restaurant adjoining it, they had to charge all guests for breakfast. I have stayed in several places in France where breakfast was "required" and was billed as a separate item, but usually in addition to the basic cost of the room. That has usually been spelled out in the confirmation. "Buffet breakfast IS CHARGED. . ." may be sort of vague, but it does raise the possibility to me that it could be charged automatically, since that has sometimes been my experience. If it had said "buffet breakfast is AVAILABLE. . ." I wouldn't raise that concern.

Since Havana mentions that she has read descriptions here of family rooms being two bedrooms with one bathroom between, I think she had good reason to question the wording in that confirmation. And since she specifically spoke to the owner who agreed that she could have the 5th floor, why shouldn't she be concerned when the confirmation didn't state she would?

Those of you who have the benefit of knowing the apparently delightful and honest owners wouldn't be concerned, but for someone who has never stayed there -- after asking specifically about those issues and having them ignored, I really can't blame Havana for some concern. But as I mentioned in my first post, if an email came tomorrow confirming the things she wanted, then I'd certainly give up those concerns.

caroline_edinburgh

Following from mvor's query about the 'cot'; although it sounds like it isn't an issue now for this trip, but may be in future. Admittedly I don't know how a French-speaker would interpret the word, but in Britain a cot is just what a baby sleeps in. I gather that in the US it is something like what we'd call a camp bed ? Or just a single bed ?

jlillberto

I think it's really unfair to write such a scathing post before you even had a response from Vanessa at the Fleurie. BTW, I went to tripadvisor.com and the reviews for the Fleurie are very good. I'm sorry you didn't think they answered you back quickly enough but don't think that is justification to spread a warning about the hotel. Based on this and your other experience, I think you'll find something wrong with the RSG too.

Havana

caroline_edinburgh: Yes, in the US it is common to refer to a "rollaway cot" which is a twin bed on wheels that can be folded in half & stored next to a wall when not in use. Actually, that was the term Vanessa used.

Patrick

Hmm. Must be a regional thing. I'm from Ohio and have lived in Florida for 30 years. The only "cot" I'm familiar with is one of those ungodly wood and canvas folding things we used in boy scout camp. I've heard of roll away beds, but never heard them called cots.

SAnParis

Patrick has suffered from the same sorts of cots that I have.. Where from in Ohio Patrick ?

Patrick

Dayton area. Dare I admit, it was actually Farmersville I was raised in?

SAnParis

I went to school @ Wright State, it was probably not in existance when your lived there. I am aware of Farmersville though. Isn't it out towards West Alex ?

StCirq

Well, I've read this a couple of times, too, and I certainly don't think the back-and-forth between the poster and Vanessa justifies a subject line that includes "bait and switch." The correspondence from Vanessa seemed pretty clear to me regarding the bathrooms, and although there was no specific mention of the particular floor of the hotel in "the contract," who asks hotels for a contract anyway? I've never asked a hotel to give me a contract - a fax confirming my request is all I ever ask for or get.

The bit about breakfast is absolutely standarad for any correspondence from a hotel. They can't make it mandatory but I believe they are obligated to tell you how much it costs. And couldn't the poster have called to confirm that?

And if there were confusion about anything, why didn't the OP pick up a phone and get it clarified? Seems she didn't do that until after she'd got herself all wound up about perceived fraudulent actions.

And what's this about faxing "for safety"? You think sending your CC number by fax is safer than giving it over the phone or in an email? Don't think so.

Patrick

St. Cirq, with all due respect, I think you failed to read the full thread. The poster DID call to get it clarified, but then the confirmation came without those things specified. And you are wrong. It is possible and not uncommon for a hotel to REQUIRE breakfast. They may not require you to eat it, but they may require you pay for it. That has been my experience in France more than once as I've mentioned above.

I agree that bait and switch is very strong language for what happened, but many seem to be ignoring the fact that the poster tried twice to get a confirmation of these things without luck, once was in person on the phone before the nebulous confirmation came back.

And would you honestly say that if you had read posts from people who have stayed there saying the family rooms have only one bath between the two bedrooms, that you might want a specific clarification that you will have two bathrooms? I really don't think that's too much to ask.

bardo1

<<"Zee sharge, eet az gone sruw, Madame...">>

Classy.

<<I am confident that they'll make it very difficult.>>

Wow.

Patrick

SAnParis, shame on you. I'm not THAT old! Yes, I used to go out to Wright State to see play productions and had some friends as theatre majors there -- I was teaching theatre at Oakwood High School in Dayton then. Yes, Farmersville is not far from West Alexandria! The school system has consolidated with Germantown to form Valley View (actually that happened in the late 60's, soon after I graduated high school).

Christina

well, I used to live in Kettering, does that count?

ok, Patrick, we aren't talking about all hotels, but one in Paris. Where did you get the information that it was "not uncommon" for Parisian hotels to require a guest pay for breakfast? I think it is indeed against the law, I've read that more than once. I have never once had a Parisian hotel require me to pay for breakfast, nor any hotel in all of France for that matter, and I've stayed in at least half a dozen different ones over the years in Paris alone. So, what is the source of that information that a lot of Parisian hotels do that?

SAnParis

I know from prior posts you've been in Fla. 30 or so years, & if memory serves WSU was founded in 1969 or so. I had many friends from WSU from that area, as at that time WSU was primarily a commuter-type campus. They still have a very active theatre troupe there as well.

Patrick

"It is possible and not uncommon for a hotel to REQUIRE breakfast."

How did that get translated to "a lot of Parisian hotels do that?" I don't consider "possible and not uncommon" to mean the same thing as "a lot do".

For the record I was not necessarily talking about Paris. And as I've already mentioned paying for breakfast WAS required at Relais St. Germain. So that was MY experience. I think we're splitting hairs here. The point is after Havana specifically asked for clarification that breakfast was not mandatory, how hard would it have been for them to say, "no"? I wish I had a nickle for every time I assumed I knew what someone meant, but was wrong.

And Christina, I too have lived in Kettering, while I was teaching at Oakwood.