DON'T BOOK A HOTEL ON TRAVEL OCITY!
 

SPOKANE, WA Best Western Peppertree
WE PAID BUT LEFT IT WAS SO BAD...We (husband, myself and 12 year old son) booked online through travelocity a half hour before arriving, but when we finally found the place we were shocked at the outside of this dingy place. Since we'd already paid, we figured we were stuck and hoped it would look better inside.
No such luck. The entire place was old and in need of a good cleaning. Dirty elevator and hallway rugs. Coat hangers and trash in the hallways. After viewing three separate rooms, we were at a loss at what to do and went back to the lobby figuring we'd settle for one of the rooms.

We had to wait for one pair of truckers check in while the young woman behind the desk endured the flirting of the drunk one with the prison tattoos. He wanted to know where the closest liquor store was, then argued when he didn't like her answer. His companion was leering nearby showing his remaining teeth. A second group of 4 truckers checked in and wanted to know the price of an in-room massage ($30 1/2 hour, $50 hour). It was clear they thought they were getting something "interesting".

At this point, we'd had enough. Dirt and dinginess is one thing, but we simply did not feel safe staying there, so we left. They informed us we would not get our money back since the room was prepaid. So we went to the Hampton Inn and had a beautiful, clean, safe room. The Hampton Inn was everything that these reviews claim of the Best Western. This Best Western Peppertree is a dive.
I contacted travelocity and the Best Western Corporation and asked for refunds. Best Western Corp contacted the owner who stated the maintenance reports indicated it was clean and that they can't refuse patrons based on appearance. Travelocity ignored my request!
Moral of the story: if you don't have to book online via travelocity, don't! Oh, and I agree, hotels can't turn away prospective guests based on appearance, so steer clear of the Best Western Peppertree and be sure to stay at the Spokane Hampton Inn near the airport!

So based on the fact that you didn't like the guests waiting to check in we should avoid Travelocity?

So sorry to hear of your bad experience. Good thing you were able to get a nice hotel nearby.

Why did you book online only a half hour before arriving though? Next time, just drive up and negotiate at the desk for a good room price.

Also, next time, take photos of the dirt and mess. You'll have a lot more evidence to support your claim for a refund with the booking agent, whomever it is.

Feel free to disregard my advice. Perhaps you'd like the clientele of the Best Western Peppertree.

For other readers:
In the hotel industry, if a guest does not feel safe enough in a hotel BEFORE checking in, he/she should receive a refund. If not from the hotel itself on-site, then from the booking agent or the corporation.

Travelocity provided hotel reviews that were completely misleading and false and upon which we based our hotel selection.

This room was booked only 30 minutes before arrival.

I, too, don't understand what travelocity has to do with this. You booked a room at a hotel, knowing it was prepaid and non-refundable, and now you're angry that travelocity won't refund your money.

If you were 30 minutes from the hotel, why not just check it out before booking on travelocity? Or why not book the hampton inn on travelocity in the first place?

Also, you seem to be the only one of any recent posts at tripadvisor to think the place is dirty. So again, why would travelocity refund your money? Perhaps your standards are just too high, or who knows what else it might be, but if the place is generally well-liked, why does travelocity (or the hotel, really) have any responsibility for your dissatisfaction?

my reply was to "Gotravel"!

Oh, and I completely disagree that if you don't feel safe enough in a hotel you're entitled to a refund. Some people wouldn't feel safe enough in a hotel at Disney World. You can't please everyone all the time.

If you have documented evidence that the hotel is truly unsafe (and not just unpretty or unsavory), you might have a leg to stand on. Just because you didn't feel comfortable there doesn't mean anything. Especially on a reservation that you knew was prepaid, non-refundable.

Sorry you had a bad experience. I also checked reviews of this specific hotel on tripadvisor and I might also have felt comfortable booking it since it was a usually reliable chain (Best Western) and got decent reviews.

Either something unfortunate has happened recently to this particular hotel or for some other reason your standards and taste disagree with the other reviewers. In any case, regardless of whether I had paid or not, if I found a place that unacceptable I would not have stayed there.

However, I do not see that travelocity is in any way responsible for this - if you have a complaint, I think it is with management and Best Western.

We were on the road for over 10 hours and booked this online room from the car. Had the reviews for this property been accurate or the photos been actual recent photos of the property, we would not have chosen it. This run-down dive has off-the-chart reviews on tripadvisor. I can't for the life of me imagine who would write any of that about this place. Put it this way, I wouldn't have felt safe walking to the lobby alone and I travel by myself quite frequently.

Travelocity is a travel agent. They should stand behind their product which is representation of travel services.

I don't believe it is Travelocity's fault. I think you are looking for a service and guarantee that is simply not involved in booking rooms thru them.

As others mentioned, since you were on the road personally I would have just waited until I saw a place that looked good and had a vacancy, and stopped and checked in there.

Travelocity is not a travel agent.

Gail,
We realized we were most likely throwing $96 out the window, but this was also about showing our 12 y.o. son that feeling safe is more important than money. When he said to my husband, "Do we have to stay here?", we just looked at each other and we were out of there!

We met the manager at the Hampton Inn the next morning during breakfast and told him about our impressions of the Best Western Peppertree. He laughed and said that it was a pretty rough place. He said there had been a fire there a while ago and the place has never recovered from the impact. He also said that the Hampton Inn never refers guests there when they are overbooked.

I'm not disagreeing that it sounds like a pretty awful hotel or that you should have stayed there.

Only that it's not Travelocity's responsibility to give you a refund. I'm guessing there is fairly specific language when you use their service about what they are or aren't going to cover for you.

If you truly feel that travelocity is misrepresenting a property, pursue it with them. You said you contacted them and they ignored your request, but you don't say how you contacted them, or what your request was.

Call their customer service and work your way through that way before lambasting them all over the internet.

And regardless of how it turns out - if they feel they are really not misrepresenting this hotel, they aren't obligated to offer any compensation. As I said, they really can't please everyone on everything. If you can't convince them of their error, it may be that it's really not their fault at all, nor that there is anything actually wrong with the hotel that would make them not list it.

Suerich68-
The way we looked at it, $96 was a small price to pay for our safety and comfort AND for the lesson shown to our son.

We travel quite a bit and have had the "hair in the bed", unvacuumed floor, noisy neighbors, and all the other usual hotel issues that can be easily remedied.

This was a situation of following your instincts when your mind is telling you that you are in a dangerous place. The fact that all three of us were experiencing the "flee" feeling simultaneously made it imperative to get the heck out of there pronto!

Yes, I agree Travelocity is explicit in their non-refundable statements, but they did not sell what they represented. And Best Western Corporate's response was to pass on my complaints to the owner, who probably knows quite well the state of her property and the activities that go on there!

Hey, guys, I only posted here to let you know that I am SOL on this one! Yes, I read the fine print, but as a consumer, figured someone would stand behind their promises. Trying to save you all from the same fate.

I'm sorry that you had a bad experience. Thank you for the review of the hotel. I think your post should have been about the hotel itself instead of Travelocity. I am leary of glowing positive reviews on all sites and tend to pay more attention to the negative reviews. There can always be "plant" reviews either way but I tend to believe the negatives and worry that the positives are from employees and owners.

jlm_mi
I notified Travelocity in my response to their "how was your trip" email. They basically got the same post as I posted here.

Here is some text (I cut and pasted) from travelocity's Customer Guarantee page:
All travel booked on Travelocity will be consistent with the promise of its detailed description on our site and your travel itinerary (as confirmed on our site 24 hours prior to departure).
Human error happens; nobody's perfect - but in those rare cases that we make a mistake you can count on us to take responsibility for it
...and...
We can't control some things, like the weather or mechanical difficulties, but we can be there to help you navigate when a problem arises. We can also be there to help you avoid some problems altogether. For instance, if we learn of something that might make your trip less enjoyable, like a closed hotel pool or fitness center, we'll contact you before you go and give you the option to make other arrangements.

And it doesn't stop there, because we at Travelocity are fundamentally value seekers. We know that great trip value is the sum of a quality experience and a low price. That's why we offer a low price guarantee.

and more:
We guarantee that with Travelocity, "you'll never roam alone" because we have complete faith in the core strength of our partner relationships and the skill and passion of the entire Travelocity Team. We trust that if you book with us, just once, you'll share this faith in Travelocity, and continue to enjoy both the peace-of-mind and low prices associated with the Travelocity Guarantee

I just didn't have "peace-of-mind" experience that night!

amwosu-
thanks for the suggestion. I just might re-post under the hotel name.

That's a lot of fluffy words, but most of doesn't really hold any legal promise. They really can't guarantee you peace of mind.

I'd be willing to be that your response to that survey goes into a big pile for statistical analysis by a third party. Call them if you want to receive any resolution to this. At least give them the option to rectify the situation or explain why they cannot before you call them out on their poor service.

This review is remarkably similar to that for a different hotel, also touting Hampton Inn over anything else (I read on tripadvisor) .

That reads like I'm impuning Momof2, I want to say I'm not!

momof2 did post this review at tripadvisor, for this hotel

sylvia-
You know, after our horrible experience, I went through and re-read the BW Peppertree reviews. All I could think was that the hotel owners, family, and employees must have written them.

I'll admit some sound a little contrived, but several seemed genuine. Hubby said, "Where the he!! did these people stay?!!!"

I should have mentioned that this was the last night of a vacation before we left from Spokane airport the next morning. We weren't expecting a resort experience, just a clean, quiet, safe place for the night. THAT'S what we found at the Hampton Inn! Funny, but I later found out that Hampton Inn is owned by Hilton which also owns Doubletree. I've stayed in many of each and have found them to be professionally-run and clean. I don't know if the Hilton properties are franchises or not, but BW is. We stayed in the BW in Helena, Montana and it was superb and well-run!

You know what? Just b/c a company has a no refund policy DOESNT mean that they can do whatever they want. If Travelocity misrepresented this property (they are responsible for being familiar with the properties they use, correct?) then of COURSE they should be held accountable! momof2-keep after them.

I agree. If you feel the property was misrepresented, then you should write a letter to Travelocity, comparing their exact words with a brief description of what you saw.

I would leave out the bit about the truckers because it seems like you're stereotyping. Maybe these guys were creeps but not all truckers are. If the place was a dump, that should be enough to go on without adding that, IMHO.

Here's a picture from Travelocity's Best Western Peppertree listing. http://tinyurl.com/eljbm That looks like any run of the mill Best Western, yet you say you were shocked at the outside even. How did it differ from the picture?

If Travelocity erred, so did AAA. It is listed as a 3 diamond property.

I'd write the hotel listing your complaints, but I fear it was as much your perception of the unsavory characters that made you leave as anything else, and there's not a lot they can do about that of course.

I don't blame you on the one hand, I truly don't, but on the other, descriptions such as "prison tattoos", (unless they actually had Gatesville Prison or San Quentin tattooed on their arm) diminish the credibility of your complaint.

Oh yes...I'd copy AAA on everything as well. It won't be any help with your refund goal, but it'll be cathartic for you at least! :)

I'm a bit confused. Aren't the reviews on Travelocity written by travellers? To hold Travelocity accountable for reviews made my anyone seems a bit extreme. If I read your review of a hotel on this site and was then disappointed with it, I wouldn't hold Fodor's responsible.

Since you viewed three rooms and they were all unacceptable, it might have been a good idea to photograph the rooms, the lobby and the outside of the hotel. If the photos were dramatically different than what was shown on Travelocity you probably would have more luck getting a refund or at least taking the issue to your credit card company.

I agree that in your letters of complaint, I would leave our your personal feelings about the body art on the person in the lobby and the provacative work habits of the desk clerk. I feel they diminish the seriousness of the issue.

Momof2 writes: <i>&quot;the owner, who probably knows quite well the state of her property and the activities that go on there!&quot;</i>

What? Just what <b>does</b> go on there? You don't know, you didn't stay and just speculate, based on the appearance of some of the other guests.

&quot;amwosu&quot; is suspicious that good reviews might be written by management and employees. They could. Just as negative reviews for a hotel could be written by its competitor's management &amp; employees.

Just because you didn't &quot;feel&quot; safe is no reason for a refund. The guarantee system we enjoy would immediately disappear if anyone could weasel out of their obligations by not &quot;feeling safe&quot;

You also stated that the HI GM had spoken of a recent fire. Maybe the hotel was doing the best they could while cleaning &amp; repairing from the fire. If you've never experienced a fire in your home or business you have no idea of how hard it is to get everything back in order and avoid bankruptcy.

I moonlight p/t as a clerk at a hotel. We do a pretty good job. We're not perfect, we get complaints. But I am not, nor do I think any of my fellow employees are such &quot;sheep&quot; that we make website postings on the hotel's behalf - after all, <b>I</b> want to be able to have some faith in those I read of hotels I plan to stay at. I guess one reason I'm being negative about your post is that we recently had a guest try to get out of their obligation, saying the hotel was in a dangerous neighborhood. What a laugh. My home and my business are both in the same neighborhood, and nothing could be further from the truth.

Please consider the advice given you already to take photos next time. A picture truly does tell a thousand (true) words .. and do your booking with the chains' own websites, not a 3rd party. Also, if you can find a place somewhat tolerable, but too expensive for the value received, don't be afraid to tell management you are dissatisfied with the price:value ratio, but would find $xx acceptable. Hotel staff have become too accustomed to guest wanting a 100% comp for minor problems, and often &quot;dig their heels in&quot; when a complaint is voiced. The worse that can happen is a reply of &quot;no&quot;.

I think the point here is beware reviews on travel sites; anyone can write anything they want. However, if all the reviews are bad, it's probably a good bet that the place is bad.

I never pay attention to AAA ratings, because they seem to be based on amenities and not the quality of the hotel.

I've stayed in a BW in Florida that had a good AAA rating. The room was dingy, dark (under a balcony), the pool was run down looking. Yes, it had amenities like a pool and laundry, but it was an unpleasant over-all environment.

Another experience was the Ramada in White River Junction in VT. The rugs were stained, the location was tucked behind the highway and felt too isolated to be really safe. We appeared to be one of the only guests in the hotel that evening, making it feel even eerier. It had a lovely pool area, but that amenity no way made up for the uncomfortable feel of the whole place.

I find it odd that you believe Travelocity is responsible when hotels have dirty carpets or unsavory guests.

&quot;Aren't the reviews on Travelocity written by travellers? To hold Travelocity accountable for reviews made my anyone seems a bit extreme.&quot;

That was my thought too. Travelocity doesn't write the reviews, so they aren't responsible for the accuracy. If the complaint is that the hotel didn't match the reviews, it's not Travelocity's fault.

Best Western is not a chain - it;s a franchise. So there are no standards and &quot;management&quot; is essentially powerless to do anything.

I would challenge this on my credit card - on the basis that the hotel was unsafe because it was being used for illegal purposes.

Travelocity doesn;t research hotels - just like the other major services they take the info from the hotel. It's up to you to research (here, tripadvisor etc) before booking to at least make sure the place isn't a complete dump. So - in dealing with them it is essentially caveat emptor.

And I agree - I wouldn't prepary 30 minutes in advance - but go look at the place before paying. (This is only one of the reasons we always reserve - and research - in advance.)

But there were no illegal activities. There truly are such things as in room massages, and at $30/.5 hr, LOL, although I'm not up on these things, I doubt that's the going rate for that illegal something or other you might possibly be thinking of! :)

I know just what you mean. I booked a flight on an airline that was also non-refundable. When we got to the airport, there were a ton of seedy characters hanging out in the departure lounge. I wouldn't have felt safe with them on the same plane. What's more the plane looked old. We worried about our safety and left. Would you believe they won't give us our money back for the flight? What is wrong with these people?