Should I be upset?

JoeyandDavid · March 8, 2006

While working on our Panama Canal Cruise for January 07, I came across information to lead me to believe that the hotel we had reserved for ourselves and our friends went out of business and no one bothered to inform us.

The Best Western Marina Inn and Yacht Club in Fort Lauderdale closed its doors quietly, I found this out while trying to help others secure rooms for the cruise. While verifying availability for others I couldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t locate the property on the Best Western website. When I called the Best Western 800 number to inquire why I could not longer find the property on their web site.. All they said is that they were sorry the property closed and would I like to cancel my reservation.. LOLÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ We would not have known and would have arrived at the airport 2 nights before our cruise just to find out we had no hotel.

Luckily I found vacancies at the comfort suite just off the causeway.. but at an increased rate of some 45 usd per night plus taxes..

Needless to say , I was not a happy camper, and for sure we will not be doing business with the BW brand again.

Just thought you should have information. Do with it as you see fit..

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KeithnRita · March 8, 2006

Unfortunately, good customer service has become a thing of the past in many areas. The days of the 'customer is always right' is long gone.

JoeyandDavid · March 8, 2006

aint that the truth keith,,,and me a former CS manager so you know how I think...LOL oh well the times are a changin

Joanandjoe · March 8, 2006

Yes, it's pretty amazing. How much effort would it have been for BW to send out cancellation notices to everyone whose name was in the reservations computer? Customer relations--what's that?

I suggest a letter to BW management asking for either a make good of your $45, or for reservations at another BW hotel with the same or a higher rating, and at the price of your reservation.

If your reservation was though a discount hotel search engine, they're really to blame, not BW.

JoeyandDavid · March 8, 2006

Joe, I always book directly..I tried to get phone CS to do something but thier stance was each BW is independently owned and operated and all franchises set their own policy.

We were scheduled top do best western on our way back to DC and wv at the beginning of next month... we will now be doingi other brands.. guess that 45 usd per night isnt all they lost

Mebert · March 8, 2006

JoeyandDavid,

It is understandable that you would be upset. Someone is not taking care of business. An e-mail, letter or phone call should have been dispatched to inform you of the closing. It all depends on when the closing took place and when the corporate office was going to get in touch with people.

What did they mean by "Would you like to cancel your reservation?"

Did they refer you to another property that they were holding your reservation for?

I would be upset if I got a response like "Each BW is independently owned and operated and all franchises set their own policy." What does that mean for the brand. Why bother to share the same name if the quality of the brand can differ based on individual operators. Some operators can give the brand a bad name and make it bad for all of them.

I hope your new reservation works out far better.

schatje · March 9, 2006

Joey thanks so much for posting about Best Western as this is where we stayed last year before and after our cruise. I had intended to contact them again for this year but will make other arrangements.

Thanks again for the post.

JoeyandDavid · March 9, 2006

Mary you are more than welcome :grin:

DaCruzNut · March 10, 2006

Many of the people I know use the Embassy Suites, on 17th Street. They have a shuttle for the airport and one for the port. You can leave your car there while you're on you're cruise, which is great for people who drive here from their homes.

When I was active on that other, nameless, cruise bo@rd, there would be times when 5, 6 or 7 couples would be staying there, going on different cruises from Port Everglades, and a bunch of us "locals" would drive over and we'd all have a big party.

They still go there....