What to do about a horror hotel

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This was published 14 years ago

What to do about a horror hotel

By Conal Hanna
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I don't make a habit of walking around naked, but it's nice to have the option.

Not in public, of course. Only behind closed doors.

Unfortunately, closed doors were sadly lacking on our unit during a recent holiday in Kingscliff.

Such are the perils of booking hotels online, where you've usually paid your money well before getting a glimpse of your room.

Mia Carter, a spokeswoman for lastminute.com.au, said with websites these days able to provide a virtual tour of rooms, complete with photos, complaints were in the minority.

"We rarely receive complaints about hotel bookings - in fact, the proportion of complaints is less than 0.05 per cent of bookings," Ms Carter said.

"Our most common complaint is around customers' expectations not being met when they reach the hotel - and this can relate to location, standard of property, bedding configurations, or hotel facilities.

"However, this can often result from customers not reading the hotel details properly."

In my case, though, I'm pretty sure the advertisement failed to mention the "see through door".

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Because while disappointed by the filthy bedroom window and mouldy tiles, it was the broken shutters on the "Balinese-inspired" front door that ruined our privacy and our weekend.

Unfortunately, there were no other rooms available, the woman on the front desk told me. And, she confided, some of the other rooms had the same problem.

When I asked about a refund I was told that wouldn't be possible because I'd "booked online".

Not necessarily true, according to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which says despite fine print bookings policies, hotel owners still have to meet the obligations of their "contract" with consumers.

That's where the good news ended, though.

A letter of complaint to the website was promptly referred to the unit owners, who offered me a 20 per cent discount ... on my next stay. Um, maybe not.

The next step, if you're serious, is to write a formal letter of complaint to the hotel, and if that doesn't work, take it OFT or ACCC.

Unfortunately, a case like this is not deemed a clear breach of the Fair Trading Act set up to prevent businesses lying about the services they offer.

"For instance, if misleading information has been provided stating that a room has ocean views and the premises is blocked by another building then a breach of the Fair Trading Act 1989 may be substantiated," an OFT spokesman said.

Other claims that could lead to legal breaches include misleading customers about the number of bedrooms, bathrooms or whether the hotel room has a balcony. These could also be breaches of the Trade Practices Act.

The law is murkier, however, when such a case of blatant misrepresentation has not occurred.

If it's cleanliness or security that's a problem, the OFT spokesman said it would come down to "individual circumstances".

"A photo of one particular room doesn't necessarily represent several hundred others," the OFT spokesman said.

"Cleanliness or sanitary issues could be a local council matter, as they look after hotel licences, or a Department of Health area."

Which leaves me with the uncomfortable decision on whether to go to the effort of pursuing the matter further, when I'm not sure of success.

Thankfully, I have the luxury of a forum such as this to vent my frustration. Which is why we'd like to offer you the same thing.

Right of reply
Manager of the BreakFree Paradiso Kingscliff Shane Gumley admitted work to fix shutters broken throughout the building still needed to be done, three months after our March stay.

He said repairs had been held up due to negotiations between the body corporate and builders.

"Unfortunately it's one of those things that's out of BreakFree's hands," Mr Gumley said.

"It's something we're trying to work through."

Mr Gumley said 30 of the hotel's 50 rooms had that style of wooden shuttered door but would not confirm how many needed repair.

How to make a complaint
If a booking was made through a third party website, initial inquiries should be directed to them, but ultimately the complaint is against the hotel itself.

Customers should lodge a formal letter with them and, if they refuse to take action, the case can be taken up with the Office of Fair Trading, where the letting of hotel rooms is considered a "service", rather than a "good".

The OFT can only look after complaints about Queensland hotels, however.

Third party suppliers also have a duty of care and "need to ensure that any claims made are accurate and exercise due diligence to avoid any contraventions of the Fair Trading Act", the OFT spokesman said.

Ms Carter said lastminute.com.au always followed up on customer complaints, and kept a record of repeat offenders.

"If we see a pattern of complaints about a particular property, which the property does not address, then we remove them from the site."

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