Metropolitan Paris, operated by Paris by Click, cancelled my prepaid reservation for a Paris hotel for May 25. They could not or would not refund the money, although I got the credit card company to do it.<BR>Evidently the reduction in travel to France is hitting some travel companies hard. I wonder if anyone else faces this problem.

there was just an article in my local newspaper today about some travel agency not paying hotels and the client not getting refunds. It wasn't a well-known agency name, just some local fly-by-night where people prepaid the agency for hotels in foreign countries, and the agency just kept the money without paying the hotels because they had financial problems. <BR><BR>I don't know what Paris by Click is, but it sounds like you prepaid some agency for a hotel room in Paris, which I would never do. Small businesses and online businesses are always having problems, so it may not be related to reduction in travel to France but just be a bad company. I would never prepay for a hotel, as there is no need for that.<BR><BR>

I would have to politely disagree with Christine about &quot;never prepay a hotel.&quot; There are several cases in which it is OK to prepay partially or completely, for instance:<BR>-If it is a reputable or widely recommended hotel and you pay the hotel directly.<BR>-If the travel agency you pay is known to you or has been verified by others to be reliable.<BR>-If you prepay with a credit card, using a card that will help you get a refund if necessary.<BR><BR>I know there are tough times all over France and other countries as well, but I would have to say that the number of times you will get cheated out of an advance deposit are very small if you just use common sense.

Sometimes you have to prepaid a room at certain hotel.. For example ,when I go to Rome I stay at the Hotel Parlamento..It is the hotel policy to have one night prepaid, to keep the prices low and to weed out customers that like to make two or three reservations at different hotels for the same night .I never had any trouble with this hotel, as a matter of fact ,I will be staying there again for 4 days in june.

I think Christina meant you should pay the hotel directly. If I'm wrong, she'll check in