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Duomo House Hotel in Naples

I am very disappointed with this hotel’s refund/credit policy during the Covid pandemic.  I had prepaid €698 (non-refundable) for a stay in April 2020.  WHO advised of the pandemic in the middle of March.  Italy was the hot spot during the first wave.  Flights were cancelled in and out of Italy by April.  I was physically prevented from going to Naples.  I contacted the hotel for a refund immediately.  However, they were only prepared to offer a credit.  International travelling was severely hampered by health restrictions for the remainder of 2020 and throughout 2021, with quarantine requirement on arrival, restricted movement, etcetera.  The Duomo House refused to extend my credit beyond 2021.  It’s an egregious disregard for fair consideration under these unusual circumstances.  I believe for best practice, the non-refundable policy should be revised.  €698 is a large price to pay for nothing.  I wonder how many hapless travellers received the same treatment.

Posted by
1025 posts

Let me see if I understand this.

You booked a non refundable hotel room. You evidently didn’t buy trip insurance to guard against having to cancel your trip. An international pandemic broke out, through no fault of your hotel. You had to cancel your room because you were “physically prevented” from traveling to Italy during the pandemic. Then, despite their non refundable policy, you contacted the hotel for a refund. Even though they had no duty to offer a credit, they did so anyway. Unfortunately, you couldn’t take advantage of that credit, through no fault of the hotel. When they declined to extend the credit, which they had no duty to do, this became, in your words, “an egregious disregard for fair consideration.”

Now, you claim that the non refundable policy should be revised so that the hotel eats the room fee instead of you. A lot of people lost a lot more than $698 during the pandemic. Be grateful that you are healthy and free to travel again.

Posted by
3 posts

Dear wbfey1,

I agree with you completely under normal circumstances. If I was a no-show on the arrival date during a regular year and Duomo House had held a vacant room for me, the hotel absolutely should be compensated for the loss of revenue. The pandemic caused global disruptions. Many businesses changed their ways of operating to suit their employees, to accommodate their customers, and to ensure long-term goals. The pandemic rendered our contract unenforceable, neither party was able to fulfill their responsibilities. Therefore, both parties should be restored to their former positions as though there was never a contract, i.e. a refund is due.

Regards,

Jim

Posted by
15677 posts

....International travelling was severely hampered by health
restrictions for the remainder of 2020 and throughout 2021....

I'm sorry for your disappointment but therein lies the problem? Unlike during the complete shutdown period, you were not altogether prevented from going to Italy in 2021. They lifted the quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated US visitors last June, a year ago, and while masking mandates and some other rules remained in place, people were traveling to Italy last year - mostly the last half of it - as any number of trip reports posted to the RS forums attest.

So while you may have found remaining mandates/restrictions to be too personally onerous to manage, that isn't the hotel's problem, especially in light of a non-refundable booking. IMHO, the credit was reasonably generous given the circumstances. Buying trip insurance also would have been strongly advised.

Question: Did you try and rebook your trip back in 2021 for this year or were you trying to do that just within the past months of 2022?

Posted by
3 posts

Hi Kathy,

It wasn’t possible for an extended vacation in 2021 when restrictions were lifted. My work schedule did not permit a week or two of absence. If I recall contract law correctly, when a contract becomes unenforceable the parties involved should be restored as though the contract never existed. The pandemic prevented either party from fulfilling their duties. The contract was rendered unenforceable at the date of my arrival. Refund should have been granted at that point.

Jim

Posted by
158 posts

We are one of those Americans who had a great trip to Naples in 2021. No quarantine upon arrival or restricted movement.