Last Minute Travel Services and Holiday Inn

Last Minute Travel Services and Holiday Inn

October 14, 2006

Last minute travel services (on line).

We booked a 3 night stay at a Holiday Inn Sunspree in St. Petersburg, FL. starting on August 13th. The hotel was not as advertised & was in very poor condition. We called Last Minute Travel & was told we could only get a refund for 2 of the 3 days because it was the day of check in. However, it was a couple hours prior to check in time and the hotel was in deplorable condition and not on the beach as advertised.

Attached are the responses we received from both Last Minute Travel & Holiday Inn.

Last Minute travel would not do anything because they said it would have to come from Holiday Inn. See below for Holiday Inn's response.

We will certainly avoid both companies from now on.

Dear Sally Thank you for choosing Last Minute Travel, we are indeed sorry for the inconvenience you had at the Holiday Inn Sunspree. We have researched your reservation; unfortunately you will be charged a one night fee for canceling your reservation. On the August 14, you spoke to one of our representative in regards to your reservation; they process a refund of $190.02. Please allow 7-10 business days for processing of that refund. If you have any questions please feel free to contact our Customer Service Department at 1800 524 9109. Thank you. 8/21/06 Holiday Inn Hotels Intercontinental Hotels Group 3 Ravinia Dr.; Suite 100 Atlanta, GA 30346 Dear Sir/Ms, We had reservations (pre paid) for 3 days at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, St. Petersburg Marina Cove at 6800 Sunshine Skyway Ln., starting on Aug. 12th. We arrived at the hotel just before 2:00pm. Check in time was 3:00pm After looking around the area; we realized that this hotel was not on the water as advertised. None of the rooms faced the bay as it was portrayed on the Internet at your site. The most you can see even if you go outside, is the small marina cove, and of course the I-275 highway was right behind it. We were very disappointed in the hotel. However, the worst part was that the hotel was supposed to be a 3 star. We would not rate it even a one star. It certainly is not up to par with your other Holiday Inn hotels. The room was very dirty with mold all around the tub & toilet area. The carpet was filthy & the room very small. The wood door frames were rotting away & instead of fixing them, they were just painted over. We could not stay in such a place & told the man behind the desk that we wanted to cancel our reservation due to the condition of the room & lack of the water views…. Since we had prepaid it on our credit card, we were told we could not get a full refund. We had booked the reservation through Last Minute Travel on July 21st. We called them on the 12th & told them our problem. They told us they would refund 2 of the 3 days but that Holiday Inn said we could not get the one night stay fee refunded. Therefore we are out $95.01 for that night. We have stayed at Holiday Inn & Holiday Inn Express hotels for years & never have we seen one in this bad of condition. In fact, just a week before, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Sanford, FL & had a very nice room. That is what we expected to have in St. Petersburg. Therefore, we are requesting a refund of the $95.01. Please remember that if the room & hotel had been up to par with your other hotels, we would have stayed there even though the hotel was not actually on the water as it was portrayed. We travel fairly often & always look for the Holiday Inns. Now, we will be skeptical of booking in advance for any of your rooms. Sincerely, Robert Rossville, GA Priority Club #913 2sss