Hotwire Hotel: 2* Orange County (Laguna Beach-Dana Point) Dana Point Harbor Inn

[roberts]

BEWARE: I have been meaning to post this story for a couple months now. I had the same criteria c k describes in this Hotwire Laguna Beach-Dana Point thread for a hotel room Valentine's Day 2009. I ended up with the following confirmation (cut and paste exactly from the e-mail):

Dana Point Marina Inn

25325 Dana Point Harbor Drive,

Dana Point,CA,92629

(949) 493-5001

I paid $84 and was excited for what sounded like a quaint, popular 2* hotel in the Marina, with a 3.5 TripAdvisor rating. Good deal, right?

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g3...California.html

Then came the bait and switch!

My girlfriend and I arrived at the Dana Point Marina Inn, tried to check in, and were told they had no record of my reservation. The desk clerk said they don't book through Hotwire and, worse yet, a number of people have come to the Marina Inn with the same issue. Feeling confused and disappointed, we scrutinized the Hotwire Confirmation...

Turns out the address and phone number actually correspond to the Dana Point Harbor Inn. The Harbor Inn is a much rougher motel by the highway, with dirty rooms and creaky floors:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g3...California.html

Clearly a difference in terms of TripAdvisor data (3.5 rating based on 42 reviews at Marina vs 2 rating based on 23 at Harbor). There was (potenitally still is) an error in the Hotwire database. They seemed to have crossed the hotel name, amenities, and tripadvisor rating of the Marina Inn with the address and phone number of the Harbor Inn. Your reservation ends up at the Harbor Inn.

The Harbor Inn is fine for what it is, but it is clearly being mis-represented. We all know a "2*" Hotwire hotel with a TA 3.5 means a lot more than a 2* with a TA 2. The TripAdvisor rating tipped the scale and made me pick the 2* (vs a Hotwire 3* with a TripAdvisor 3 for $20 more available the same night).

So I spent an hour on the phone with Hotwire customer service (Saturday night in the room) trying to explain the situation. The Hotwire phone rep was suprisingly hostile and aggressive. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he wouldn't let me do it. He would put me on hold so he could talk to the supervisor and come back 3-5 minutes later with an offer he wanted me to accept or reject.

His first offer was to relocate us. We weren't far from home so I asked about a refund. He put me on hold, came back, and offered $20 in Hotwire credit. Pretty pathetic in my opinion, so I asked about the details of relocation. He then got angry and said I had already said no to relocation. I hadn't said anything - I just asked about a refund!

We spent a long time going back and forth and he never aknowledged their mistake. He kept repeating that Hotwire doesn't guarantee a particular hotel, which of course I understand. I was asking Hotwire to own up to a legitimate mistake in their website/database that affected my booking decision. There was clearly a mistake in a combined listing that mixed the data of two hotels (Marina name, TA rating, amenities - Harbor address, phone).

The Harbor Inn management seemed to have no problem with this issue (they acted like they had never heard about it happening before - but we caught them in another lie - and that's another story). Meanwhile, the Marina Inn clerk seemed annoyed because this had happened a number of times before. It almost seemed like a mini-scam in that the Harbor Inn management was willing to let this go on without making the correction with Hotwire.

After about an hour, the service rep finally relented (or his "supervisor" did) and they refunded my money. Once they agreed to a full refund the conversation ended abrubtly and the refund confirmation was in my Inbox in minutes. But it was a rough hour to get there. I threatened to stop payment on my credit card and, oddly enough, the phone rep accepted my challenge - he told me "fine, tell your credit card not to pay"! I had to talk him down to a more reasonable solution. It was very strange and ridiculous. Ask my girlfriend - she was listening on speaker phone. Meanwhile the floors were creaking above us and our two double beds. (As a side note, the Harbor Inn management would not change our room because they claimed they were full for Valentine's Day - yet when we called from different phone and my girlfriend pretended to be calling about a room from the road - they suddenly had a room with a king for $125!)

I have no idea if Hotwire has fixed this error, but I am warning everyone - beware! If you see a 2* in Laguna Beach - Dana Point with a 3.5/40+ TA rating - it may be a mistake. You will think you are getting the Marina Inn - a quaint, romantic getaway in the Dana Point Marina, but you will probably get the Harbor Inn, which feels more like a Motel 6 on the highway, which is fine, but I wouldn't pay more than $50 for it, and I certainly wouldn't want to be tricked into it. Make sure to check your confirmation and call ahead!

I have been looking at the following property:

2* Laguna Beach/ Dana Point - 4/6 - 4/10, $76

Amenities:

Near Beach

Comp Breakfast

Pool

High Speed Internet

Tripadvisor 3.5, 40+ reviews, last review Jan 09

Dana Point Marina Inn would almost fit this profile other than the last review was Feb 09 and previously to that Dec 08.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear of the issue you had... HOTWIRE's customer service is usually very good so i'm disappointed to hear your story. Although the original issue seems like an honest mistake, it could have been handled better.

We've moved your post to its own thread so we could reflect the details of your purchase in the topic title and add this property to the Hotwire Hotel List.

Hope your future experiences are better.