Ripley's Mountain Adventures. Deceptive Hotel Descriptions.

Grossly deceptive descriptions of hotels and travel packages. Ripley's Mountain Adventures is a travel agency. This is what I bought:

"There is the upscale Hotel Valle Nevado, a luxurious option for discriminating clients." Advertised and priced like a 5 star hotel, it is in fact a dump. The beds are saggy futons, the rooms are dirty and small, the service is beyond poor.

I have stayed at great hotels in Chile. This place would not be confused by any Chilean for luxurious.

If Ripley's, my travel agent, had done their job, their due diligence, there is NO WAY I would have booked this trip. They deceived me. AVOID.

Comment On This

Ripley's Mountain Adventures holds complete customer satisfaction as its primary goal. We responded to this clients complaint immediately, while he was on his vacation, and prior to his first night of lodging at the hotel in question, with a complimentary upgrade to a premium room and our most sincere apologies. We have thousands of satisfied repeat clients because of our great deals and serious service orientation and adherence to only the finest business practices.

In response to Phill's complaint regarding grossly deceptive descriptions of travel packages, our description has been current and accurate for quite some time as follows:

This exclusive hotel is centrally located in the base area of Valle Nevado Ski Resort. The Hotel Valle Nevado is the most luxurious, convenient, and flexible option as far as a Valle Nevado accommodation on the mountain with 53 rooms (all with Wi-Fi access), each one with a terrace and options of unbeatable views to the slopes or to the mountain. The hotel has direct access to the slopes from the lobby.

Enjoy the coziest fireplace in Valle Nevado in a lounge where attention to detail will surpass all expectations. You will be amazed with this classic boutique hotel in the mountains where each and every one of the 53 spectacular rooms has been carefully arranged for your comfort and pleasure, all with central heating, cable TV, mini bar, telephone, safe, full bath, and daily housekeeping services.

Our description can be found at the following URL:

http://www.ripleysadventures.com/-dest-CHVN-producttype-LO-.htm

Originally we did receive and use a description of this hotel describing it as a 5 star. That description was given to us by the resort itself as part of their media sales kit and was the description the hotel advertised itself with, but was short lived for us. We quickly learned that 5 star descriptions in Chile, other than perhaps American and other upscale foreign hotel chains located in Chile, do not have a standardized rating system like we do in the US and tend to exaggerate a bit. This hotel is realistically probably a 3.5 or 4 star depending on how discriminating one is. Obviously Phill would disagree with that assessment. Many months ago and prior to ski season in Chile we modified our description at our own discretion based on this evaluation to reflect this revised opinion and share it with our clients. We are always paying attention to due diligence as far as descriptions are concerned with the thousands of properties we work with.

Our staff also personally visited the hotel so that our agents were equipped with our own knowledgeable opinions prior to this complaint. In truth, none of us would characterize this hotel as a dump. The Hotel Valle Nevado is ski-in/ ski- out with a full service spa and lots of amenities including a formal restaurant. Hotel Valle Nevado, is, in fact, the nicest hotel at the resort. You cannot ski and stay at Valle Nevado and enjoy nicer accommodations. To stay in a nicer hotel and ski this resort would involve a 2 hour one way commute from Santiago. Otherwise one would simply have to skip the Valle Nevado ski experience completely.

I respect Phill's opinion and apologize that this hotel obviously fell way short of his expectations. Once again, our staff has been in contact with Phill via email and telephone while he has been on site in Chile to address his complaints and he received a complimentary upgrade prior to spending his first night at the hotel. I would definitely welcome input on this forum from other travelers to the Hotel Valle Nevado.

For those traveling to ski Chile or any North American ski destination and who would like to talk to an agency that has actually been on site in the accommodations you are interested in, is extremely knowledgeable, provides excellent service- including being accessible to address any complaints quickly, please contact Ripley's Mountain Adventures for information (877)752-6754 or www.ripleysadventures.com

We have been on site at the majority of ski destinations and can get you great deals on skiing Chile and elsewhere as a ski travel wholesaler. We have thousands of satisfied repeat clients because of our great deals and service orientation.

Again, I am sorry Phill was upset with these hotel accommodations and apologize for any miscommunication on our part. I hope this did not completely distract completely from the amazing surroundings and experience that Valle Nevado provides as an exotic South American ski vacation.

Sincerely,

Brian Ripley

President

Ripley's Mountain Adventures