I invite anyone that feels that I might be lying to call the Artist House and ask them what the quoted price was. Anything reply other than what was in my original posting is a lie.<BR><BR>I am in the process of sending my story to EVERY resource listed in your replies. I intend to sue, I intend to call the Atty. General of Florida, and I may even post the scheduled court date so that anyone in the area can stop in and witness the proceedings.<BR><BR>I am not a slanderous, litigious person, but I do respond aggressively when I see a wrong being done.

The Heron House is rank one of the top five B&B's in Key West. Its located right across the street from the Marquesa Hotel. I have not heard of any bad remarks about this B&B for years. As a matter of fact, I have only heard great remarks about Heron House. So Kathy, go ahead & book, you will be glad you did.

You'll be laughed out of court. I suggest you deal with the AG's office and with the Key West business organizations.

Unfortunatly he will not be laughed out of court. Stories like this happen all of the time to travelers. What happened is between him and the owner but hopefully we will all learn of some good info if this was to ever happen to any of us. Good luck with your fight!

Do a search (I use Google) and punch in the key word "complaint" and you will get a lot of sites with good info.

I'm sorry, but the positive comments on their web site contradict your story of poor treatment. <BR><BR>http://www.artisthousekeywest.com/comments.htm

Do you really think they would post something bad someone wrote on their site?! LOL!<BR><BR>

Is the Artist House gay friendly?

Most all of Fla is gay friendly.

Me again. I would definitely go the route of contacting the Floida State Attorney General's Office (you can do it online - that's how I filed my complaint). It works!! I thought I would go through months of waiting and wondering, but my problem was solved within weeks. Businesses DO NOT want to hear the words "Attorney General's Office," especially when it involves alleged fraud!! This doesn't cost you anything. My sister-in-law is a trial attorney and she told me this was the best way to approach the problem.

Please keep us updated. I would love to see how this plays out.

If Jim can show that the rate you were quoted was a genuine mistake, then you won't have a leg to stand on legally.<BR><BR>BTW, what are you suing for? The additional $1,700? I'm just curious.<BR><BR>And Island Hopper, you must have some connection to Artist House. As x said, Artist House would never post negative comments on its own site.<BR><BR>Last year I stayed in Key West for a week for $800--one bedroom place with kitchen, private hot tub.

Tammy,<BR><BR>That sounds great. Where you did you stay and when?

Last time I read it Conde Nast Traveler had a feature called "Ombudsman," where they would get involved in disputes like this and report on them. They usually managed to get some relief for the complainants they chose. Maybe check this out.<BR><BR> It's a lousy story. I'm sorry it happened to you.

Ditto on the Conde Naste advice...they can really get some things resolved.....used to get the mag for years....

We stayed at Lazy Lane Cottages. Now, this was the first week in June, so it wasn't exactly high season. I got the name off a thread here.<BR><BR>The one draw back was that there is no pool. But we had a very private one-bedroom place. A hot tub on a private balcony, and a hammock on the front porch (we were on the second floor). Spacious and pleasant, and we were only a few blocks off Duvall, but far enough away to be quiet at night. I sound like an advertisement, but aside from the lack of a pool, there really were no drawbacks to this place.

I think this is their website: www.lazylanecottages.com.

Thanks for the info, Tammy. That URL didn't work for me, but this one did: http://www.greatstays.com/sefl1002.html

To date, I have received replies via email from a few different people detailing the same scam that was pulled on them by Jim of the AH. I have also been contacted by the State of Florida Attorney General's office, the Better Business Bureau of South Florida, and the Key West Innkeepers Association. <BR><BR>Today I was contacted by another party that is being forced to sue the AH to recover money. This party told me about several more people that she had personal knowledge of that had negative comments about Jim's illegal behavior and demeanor. Apparently, he raises the rate after the room is booked because he feels that people won't ditch vacation plans that are already made.<BR><BR>I also found that Jim is not the owner of the Artist House Villas, and isn't even a sole owner of the Artist House. In fact, Mike, the guy who originally booked my rooms, is listed as a partner on the list of Florida corporations. <BR><BR>I'd be interested in hearing from anyone else that has been a victim of Jim's Artist House Scam. Maybe suing this con artist isn't enough. Maybe he needs to get a room for a few years at the "Iron Bar Guest House".

ttt