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Miscommunication in Monterosso al Mare

I wanted to alert you about a recommended hotel in Cinque Terre, Affittacamere Ristorante il Gabbiano in Monterosso al Mare. I had booked a single room for 5 persons in early January 2019 and confirmed by asking to move forward and book our dates. When I emailed in early May to confirm, they said they had given our room to someone else! I was shocked. When I showed them the email stating to reserve our room, they didn't even have the courtesy to reply back, apologize for the confusion, or anything else that I think would have been slightly courteous. I'm sure this hotel was placed in in Rick Steves' book for a reason, but I now am less than weeks from our trip with no place to stay for our family during the busiest season in Italy (most places have been booked for months). I would consider removing them from the recommended list of hotels, not just for falsely giving reassurance for a travel booking, but 1) not inquiring with me if there was any thought that the reservation was not firm, and 2) not responding when I personally reached out to show them the email confirming our booking.

I have used Rick Steves' books multiple times in the past, and have been very please with the recommendations ,which is why this was a complete surprise.

Posted by
7737 posts

So in January you emailed them asking to reserve the room and didn't get a response? That's what this sounds like. If your "confirmation" is only an email from you asking them to reserve the room, then you didn't have a confirmation. Sorry. Or am I misunderstanding your post?

Posted by
16687 posts

....but I now am less than weeks from our trip with no place to stay
for our family during the busiest season in Italy (most places have
been booked for months).

Try Levanto: it's the next town north of Monterosso - just a very few minutes away by train - and is a common fall-back location when suitable accommodations in the CT are full. If you were planning on using a Cinque Terre Treno pass to get around on the trains during your stay in the CT, regionale trains to Levanto are covered under the pass, just as they are to La Spezia. You can look for rooms in La Spezia too: just a few minutes by train from Riomaggiore.

It's unfortunate but I might agree that if you'd just mailed the hotel asking them to reserve a room but didn't receive any sort of response from them, you didn't have a confirmation of booking. Maybe there are some missing details to this story?

Posted by
17577 posts

Did you give them a credit card or wire deposit to confirm the booking? This is usually required in overrun places like Cinque Terre, in our experience.

If the hotel did not respond to the January inquiry to confirm the reservation, you never did have a booking.

Popular, family-run places (like the ones listed in the RS book) often get more requests than they can handle or respond to. The rule is, if you do not get a response, they are full, or maybe it is too early to book. Either way, no response = no reservation. Move on and try another place.

Posted by
32392 posts

Sorry to hear about the upset in your travel plans. This sounds like a breakdown in communications rather than a problem with the hotel.

If you want to stay in Monterosso, try Hotel Villa Adriana. As I recall, they have some larger rooms and may have a vacancy. Another possibility is Hotel Porto Roca which is a bit pricey but at this point you'll have to take what you can get. As a previous reply mentioned, you could also try Levanto which is only about five minutes by train from Monterosso. As a last resort you could also look at hotels in La Spezia. I would not suggest staying in Lucca as it's a bit too far (about 2 - 3 hours each way by train).

Good luck!

Posted by
1244 posts

You could also try another town in Cinque Terre (just not Vernazza, they will be full!). Corniglia is the least popular since it is not seaside, but is still easy to access. Manarola and Riomaggiore may have something, they are very nice, too.

Posted by
3812 posts

Shouldn't the title of this thread be changed? It's not fair to the hotel.

Posted by
34196 posts

nirajcpatel, how is the solution panning out? Do you agree that the hotel didn't actually let you down? Or did you actually have a confirmed reservation from the hotel?

Please fill us in...

Posted by
570 posts

This person has posted once and only to flame a hotel for a miscommunication....that ain't quite right. A response is highly unlikely.
I have relations with hotels in Asia and Europe that will hold a room for me without a credit card... but if it's a place you have never stayed and you do not guarantee your reservation....there's no blame to be cast towards the hotel.
Anyone not used to dealing with Italian Hotels and Ab&b's...not all of them are Johnny on the spot with acknowledgments or communication...
This is a teachable moment for someone....

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you for the suggestions and comments. I have been working 12 hour days in a Children's Hospital for 10 days in-a-row, hence it took me some time to reply.
Most posts surround how the confirmation was made, and if there was a confirmation from the hotel. Therefore, I have posted the actual email thread (removed the names/email addresses of the hotel for privacy) below.
Most errors that occur in consumer-based services such as hotel (and even in the medical field) usually stem from a breakdown of communication. When attempting to reconfirm the reservation with the hotel, I was told that the reservation had been given to someone else. Therefore I inquired as to the reasoning, but after several emails over days, there was no response. Regardless of who is at fault (hotel or customer), it is reasonable to expect from the hotel some form of response as to the nature of the error. Finally, when I mentioned I would post a review online, right away I recevied a communication saying that the HOtel's English was not very good and that was the cause of the error. Imagine if you needed a knee replacement, and the best physician was booked for months in advance. After making an appointment, you confirm months later just before the surgery, only to receive a response that your appointment had been given to someone else. Wouldn't you want to know how that error had occurred? What if you attempted to find out several times, and none of your requests were ever returned? There has to be better communication in instances such as these. If you feel differently, I would appreciate your feedback.

I will not contribute any additional posts, but will say that the hotel did respond and said "sorry, our English is not very good". Since then, we found an AirBnB for the same nights.
I did learn from this excercise: to double and triple check a confirmation, and don't assume, when someone says "yes" to your request to reserve, but actually receive a written comminication with exact details and with the words "confirmed"

EMAIL THREAD:
From: Patel, Niraj C
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2019 12:12 PM
To: Hotel
Subject: RE: Available rooms for June 11 and 12, 2019
Perfect.
Thank you.
Niraj

From: Hotel
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2019 12:01 PM
To: Patel, Niraj C
Subject: Re: Available rooms for June 11 and 12, 2019


a double bed and 3 single beds
-Hotel


From: Patel, Niraj C
Sent: Tuesday, January 8, 2019 5:31:49 PM
To: Hotel
Subject: RE: Available rooms for June 11 and 12, 2019

Thank you!

Can you describe the 5 beds (twin, queen,full, etc)?

From: Hotel
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2019 11:28 AM
To: Patel, Niraj C
Subject: Re: Available rooms for June 11 and 12, 2019


yes two nights
-Hotel


From: Patel, Niraj C
Sent: Tuesday, January 8, 2019 5:25:14 PM
To: Hotel
Subject: RE: Available rooms for June 11 and 12, 2019
Hi,
Sorry, I meant staying the nights of 11 and 12 only (2 nights).

If available, can you please make a reservation for me?
Thank you,
Niraj

From: Hotel
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2019 11:21 AM
To: Patel, Niraj C
Subject: Re: Available rooms for June 11 and 12, 2019

for the nights from 11 to 13 June 3 nights I have a large room with window and balcony on the sea € 200.00 per night for 5 people without breakfast with TV fridge hairdryer air conditioning safe and bathroom in room payment only in cash I await an answer thanks kind regards
-Hotel


From: Patel, Niraj C
Sent: Tuesday, January 8, 2019 5:16:39 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Available rooms for June 11 and 12, 2019
Hi,
Total is 5 people (2 adults, 3 children). We would need to both June 11 and June 12 nights (2 nights total), check out on June 13.
Thank you,
Niraj

Posted by
3 posts

Also, hoping the Hotel learned something from this, too.
If the English language was the true reason for the lapses/ errors in communication, then having someone on staff making the hotel reservations who is proficient in English could be helpful.

Posted by
8966 posts

I am so glad to hear that you were able to find alternate accommodations! Have a great trip.

Posted by
12026 posts

good to know you found some suitable place to stay.

There has to be better communication in instances such as these. If you feel differently, I would appreciate your feedback.

If what you posted is the entire text of your communication with the hotel, it is obvious there was a breakdown in communication. I would not have assumed I had a reservation with them, as there is no Reservation/confirmation number, nor anything addressing what the total cost is for the entire stay. I have never made a reservation with a hotel without there being some sort of reservation-confirmation number ( or code) and a detail of all the costs and taxes that apply.

Posted by
3812 posts

I agree with joe either the OP or the webmasters should change this thread's title.

They never said "room booked" or anything else that would let anyone think you had a confirmed booking. They just said "yes, two nights" meaning "I got it". Your last message is a little tranchant, if I had received it I would have thought you were evaluating the offer, not that you had booked a room.

I don't like such places, they want to be paid in cash for obvious reasons, but this thread's name is not fair. To tell the truth I don't like very much customers who threat to write a bad review, either.

Posted by
7737 posts

Sorry, Niraj, but this one is your fault for not making it clear and actually getting a confirmation. And I agree that the description/title is unfair to this establishment.

Posted by
2901 posts

Is it me? I cannot figure out the email chain at all from the times shown, the times must have been changed in the process of redacting the hotel address or employee name, as I don't see how a hotel in Italy can be responding at 11AM on the 8th to an email sent at 5 PM on the 8th. In any event, the closest this whole chain comes to an email stating any specific request is the Jan 8 at 5:25PM with "If available, can you please make a reservation for me?" At no point in the chain subsequent to that email does the hotel state that a reservation has been made. It appears that the breakdown in communication happened on both sides of this, with the hotel waiting for a response that said "please make the following reservation", and Niraj expecting that "Perfect" is a request. We here have all made enough of these email reservations and these universally start with something like "our offer" and have instructions to complete the reservation, and even if taking cash only generally ask for a credit card to secure the booking, and possibly a deposit through Paypal or by wire..

To compare this to a knee replacement is a really poor analogy, as no surgeon or hospital would ever schedule this without many levels of confirming paperwork and preliminary tests involved.

And of course I agree that the title to this thread is grossly unfair to the establishment

Posted by
1130 posts

@ Larry, the e-mail time stamp is always stamped with the senders local time. The email chain appears legitimate.

This appears to be a clear case of miscommunication. Regardless of the hotels ability to speak English, they are in Italy. It’s incumbent on the booking party to ensure the booking is confirmed and to understand the local customs and language. Usually a credit card is requested to hold a reservation. I wouldn’t assume I had a reservation unless I had an e-mail explicitly confirming such.

Posted by
3112 posts

Nowhere in the email chain do I see an actual acceptance of the the room offer by the OP. To me responding "Perfect" to the description of the beds doesn't sound like an acceptance, so I can see how the hotel misunderstood. When communicating with a foreign hotel, especially a small one, it's wise to be very clear about your intent. I always respond saying something like "I accept your offer of a room for x people for 2 nights at xxx euro per night. Please confirm that you have reserved the room for me."