mothradave

Got screwed twice by hotel reservation desks in CR, w/i 1 day of each other! I realize that I will have a great trip wherever I stay and that sometimes off the beaten path is best, but having said that....

1) Have a room at Mango Moon but discover that Villa Nicolas has available an ocean view with a hammock! Oh boy! For some reason my fiance and I couldn't dream of anything better than having a large balcony with a hammock to watch the ocean and laze around. Nicolas tells me it's available and I submit a reservation form within 2 hours. Then I get an email back a few hours later saying they don't have that room available but would I like a less plush room with an ocean view. What luck!?! (BTW, the answer is probably no, b/c we already have an ocean view room at Mango).

2) Same day I'm reserving a spot at Xandari in Alejuela, which Fodor's raves and raves about. I'm excited. They only have 2 villas left but they are both the Ultra villas - I figure it's for our last night in CR on our honeymoon, let's splurge. So WITHIN 20 MINUTES of their email indicating availability of the two villas, I reserve one of them via online form. I get an automated reply indicating they have received it. Wake up this morning to find an email from them saying "sorry but both of our remaining villas are sold." I email back, pointing out that I submitted a reservation immediately with credit card info, and all they had to say was so sorry, none available.

Both these places had enticed us, and with Xandari I kinda had my heart set on it. What a disappointment. And I feel that the chances someone beat me to the reservations is remote, at least with Xandari. I'm wondering if they preferenced a travel agent or someone with connections. I feel like I got screwed over. Isn't my money as good as anyone's?

This is just a rant, but please advise if you think there's anything I can do about this.

tully

Next time, I would just call directly. E-mail can be notoriously problematic in CR. I got an acknowledgement from Buena Vista Hotel in Alajuela for my 2 nights last June, called to confirm a week later & they had no record of it! More & more people are going to CR nowadays, so it's highly possible someone did actually beat you to the room(s) by the time they read your e-mail.

poss

I'm so sorry you had that trouble with the hotels. We've recently come back from a wonderful stay at Xandari and I so hope you might still be able to stay there also. (esp Ultra Villa #4) Xandari has a stateside reservation office (at least they did when I booked several months ago): 800/686-7879. Good luck and have a great honeymoon!

cuchi

Hola Mothradave:
I am very sorry to read what happened to you. According to my experience, I have to tell you that day by day more and more tourists are coming to our country and sometines, even if we call directly from San Jose to check availability at a hotel, then when we send the reservation, few minutes later, the room was sold already, and it happens to us...being in the same country, so imagine what can happen when you send an email that sometimes donīt get quickly due to internet problems or there are some hotels that donīt check their messages very often, they mostly get reservations either by telephone or by fax. It is not that they prefer x or y person, they just confirm the first one they receive, specially if you are reserving during high season.

I think there isnīt anything you can do with those hotels as you did not have a written confirmation yet with any of them.
Good luck and hope you donīt have more troubles and you can enjoy your vacation in our country

CaliNurse

Try Vista del Valle or FInca Rosa Blanca since you weren't able to get a room at Xandari. Do a search on this board, and/or on Tripadvisor.com . From web sites and descriptions on this forum, they sound equally wonderful to Xandari. Xandari is lovely--my son and his wife stayed there and enjoyed it. But others favor the above mentioned places.
A agree, the timing is strange about your request there. Theirs was confirmed entirely via email (not an on-line form) via the US site in So Cal with Stephanie, the woman who answers the phone and handles the res from the US site.
Similar thing happened with Si Como No in MA--emailed immediately upon finding one kind of room, but within a few minutes, after requesting that room, there was another email saying ony a different (and more expensive) room was available. Actually, that worked out fine, as the "deluxe suite" was amazing, but still...similar in terms of timing.
Finally, one post on Fodors said something to the effect of, gurantees and promises someone makes at a hotel in CR, thoughwith the best intentions in the world, are only good until the end of that person's shift. i.e there are commonproblems with follow-up. My son experienced this with rental car emailed confirmation for pick up from hotel and drive back to airport, and ended up having a final afternoon that should have been ok, turn into chaos and frustration. Not a good ending for what was mostly a great trip.

I think it's better to go with the understanding that this kind of thing may happen--perhaps nip the frustration in the bud, lower expectations, kind of expect it, just as you have to expect to get lost on the roads!