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Hotel Elefant

We booked a room on the Hotel Elefant site this morning using our credit card and received an email confirmation then later this morning received another email that stated to secure our reservation we needed to transfer our prepayment by bank transfer to their bank account and gave me that information.
Is this standard procedure in Europe?
Is there any way to use credit card for this..I really do like getting those points!
Thanks in advance for your help

Posted by
64 posts

We stayed at Hotel Elefant a few years ago. I did not have to transfer a prepayment to their bank account. This sounds like a phishing email. I would call the hotel directly to ask if they sent the email.

Posted by
5362 posts

I’ve stayed there, but used Booking.com to secure the room

Posted by
7049 posts

Booking.com carries the exact same terms in its fine print section for this hotel:

"Please note that a security deposit of EUR 500 will be preauthorized on your credit card. . It will be released again after an inspection of the apartment on the day of departure.
Payment before arrival by bank transfer is required. The property will contact you after you book to provide instructions."

My advice: with the myriad of hotel options you have, I would choose one that does not require the most costly prepayment, which is a wire transfer - unless the total cost (with the transfer) is still better than other hotels, or if the hotel is unique enough to go through this added burden. Many hotels don't require anything at all except a credit card to hold the reservation.

Posted by
10 posts

I have noticed this is now becoming a little more common in the States. A big name hotel where I make group reservations (part of my job) has now started this charge to the traveler's personal credit card which they will credit back to your account when you check out. At first I was worried about this, but it was exactly as the front desk (and my group reservations manager) assured me, it would be credited back at the time of check out. There must be a rhyme or reason why lodging destinations are doing this, but I didn't inquire. In any case, it was worth the trouble because the hotel is in an absolute prime beachfront location and near the airport. Just thought I'd mention this. However, in your case, not sure if it's the same thing as what I'd encountered.