By anne hainsworth (BonaireTalker - Post #32) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 12:06 pm: |
Just got back last night from a fabulous and relaxing week in Bon. We stayed at Captain Don's (usually we are at Happy Holiday Homes), and everyone was very friendly and courteous. We booked the trip through Heidi at Maduro Travel (Capt Don's links directly to them for booking), but did encounter some rather significant issues once we checked in. We had been delayed by a day in Puerto Rico because of Tropical Storm Franklin, and arrived late on Thurs, 21 instead of Weds. 20th. We had booked and paid for a guest cottage at Capt Don's, but when we checked in, they gave us a room with 2 beds (we had a teenager along and that's why we paid for 2 rooms). According to the front desk, even though we fully paid for the cottage, Maduro did not inform them of that. They put us in an upgraded guest cottage, which was great, but the next morning (2 days into our delayed vacation), they told us we had to vacate by 3pm, but they had no idea as to where they would put us. I did not want to be curt with the staff, because they were fully booked and busy and this was clearly a communication breakdown with Maduro, but I told them we had been on the road for 2 days, just wanted to dive and not keep moving around, and so we ended up moving again later in the afternoon. We had already changed rooms twice, had been given two different sets of room billing numbers (therefore the dive shop and restaurant never knew what room to bill us for), and were then moved to Hamlet Oasis cottages next door. We were still considered Capt Don's guests, but were given an off-site lodging and a THIRD set of room billing codes for the dive shop and restaurant. Once we got settled at Hamlet Oasis, everything was smooth and the accomodations were quite nice, so I won't complain about that. But after a night at the San Juan Airport hotel from missing the Bonaire flight, a late night Bonaire arrival a day late, and 3 rooms in 2 days at Capt Don's, I do feel that a good day's worth of well-earned relaxation was lost. I keep perspective and do not want to impugn Heidi at Maduro, because she is very nice, but communications are not excellent between hotel and travel agent, and I would like to urge all of you to CALL your hotel or resort in advance, to make sure the room you paid for is confirmed, and not assume that the third party did that already for you. Some do, some don't or don't get the chance to. It's just due diligence on your part and could save you a good day's worth of vacation, diving, and needless logistical manoeuvers. If you have a bad temper and expect all of this to fall in place for you, God help you! Capt Don's did what they could to accomodate us, but my only complaint there is that they should issue your dive/room billing number once when you check in, not several times to correspond with room changes. It's easier on the paying guest as well as the restaurant and dive staff. OK, so that was the glass half-empty trip report. the other half of the glass was very full and very wonderful!
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By DARLENE ELLIS (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1572) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 1:49 pm: |
What a horrible experience! I think you should be writing a letter and complaining for some compensation from Maduro!
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By Mrs. Limpet (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #967) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 2:59 pm: |
Anne, what a nightmare! I agree with Darlene, you need to contact Maduro and let them know what transpired,and get some sort of closure with that.
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By anne hainsworth (BonaireTalker - Post #34) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 3:05 pm: |
Nope, they had an Aruba flight that was cancelled as well, so they put us up at the Best Western San Juan Airport. It was our first wedding anniversary. So we went to the Ritz Carlton at Isla Verde, pretended to be guests and had nice drinks on the beach. I told my 14 year old niece I was teaching her important life skills. My husband will definitely be dealing with Maduro.
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By Glen Reem (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2111) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 3:09 pm: |
I am curious: did Habitat communicate with Maduro in an effort to clear up the problem?? It would seem that a telephone call was in order and that Maduro could solve things. Or Habitat's Manager's intervention. Especially since you were linked to Maduro from the Habitat web site.
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By Susan (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1412) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 4:17 pm: |
Maduro strikes again!
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By anne hainsworth (BonaireTalker - Post #35) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 4:58 pm: |
To answer the previous questions, Yes, Capt Don's communicated with Maduro to clear it up. My husband just informed me that it was Maduro who arranged our room with Hamlet Oasis. Hamlet Oasis accepted the vouchers. Please note that there was a different and increasingly confused person each time at Capt Don's desk, and the more the epic struggle to get a room continued, the more confusion there was for the staff in Bonaire! Also, we did call Capt Don's from San Juan to let them know we would be arriving a day late. We also called Budget to let them know we'd be picking up the car a day late, too.
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By Glen Reem (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #2112) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 6:21 pm: |
TKS, Anne. Not fun.
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By Linda Stoltzfus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #597) on Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 8:52 pm: |
As an Innkeeper, I stand by the title of this thread. ALWAYS re-confirm your room reservations DIRECTLY with the hotel.
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By Cam (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #454) on Friday, July 29, 2005 - 12:07 pm: |
Thanks Anne...we are staying at Capt. Don's in Sept/Oct....I will be sure to call them.
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By anne hainsworth (BonaireTalker - Post #36) on Friday, July 29, 2005 - 12:36 pm: |
All things said, the Capt Don's staff was very nice about the whole thing. Heidi at Maduro was pleasant, but the whole thing was disorganized at our expense. Luckily we had a happy ending, in part, because we informed Capt Don's about our delay, and there was room for us at Hamlet Oasis. My intention was to get travelers to always firm these things up so that they don't flip out on their vacation
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By Andy & Dave Bartlett (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #333) on Friday, July 29, 2005 - 10:52 pm: |
We always check with the resort and airline 24-48 hours before trip starts. It is just a precaution that keeps things going smoothly.
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By Linda Stoltzfus (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #598) on Saturday, July 30, 2005 - 12:59 pm: |
Anne,
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