Venice - Urgent help required re cancellation

Jeshoca

zzdp wrote: »

Contact hotel directly if the hotel is closed ask them for an email to confirm. Then contact hotels.com. they will then have to refund you or offer another hotel. This happened to me when a hotel failed to reopen 9 months after a hurricane(400 euro a night). Hotels.com had to give me another hotel that cost 2500 euro a night. As your booking is guarenteed with hotels.com they have to sort u if the hotel is closed. I was also in Venice a few years ago when the whole place flooded the water went very quick and the place was u and running the next day.

The hotel states it's still open even though its flooded.
And this isn't one of their usual floods, it's the second worst recorded ever and the city is shut down. It probably won't recover as quickly.

I’d ring your insurance and ask what happens when a city official declares a state of emergency.

KevRossi

Take the flight. Show up to the hotel. If it’s open and running then check in and avoid the excess charge.

If not, take photos of how unusable it is and go to another hotel in another city, or get an Air BnB.

Bound to be cheap right now due to a lot of cancellations.

Jeshoca

KevRossi wrote: »

Take the flight. Show up to the hotel. If it’s open and running then check in and avoid the excess charge.

If not, take photos of how unusable it is and go to another hotel in another city, or get an Air BnB.

Bound to be cheap right now due to a lot of cancellations.

Good advice but The hotel is 2 hours from the airport and we'd have to go through the most affected area to get there. The plan is to avoid Venice all together.

We're going to go to Verona instead which is also 2 hours from the airport.

TheValeyard

Stevieluvsye wrote: »

What a bizarre thread, we just need the boyfriend now

Right now they are reading each others post history.

Stevieluvsye

TheValeyard wrote: »

Right now they are reading each others post history.

We all are!

Stevieluvsye

TheValeyard wrote: »

Right now they are reading each others post history.

I'll say one thing OP seems like a lovely woman going on some of her latest/previous posts

Jeshoca

TheValeyard wrote: »

Right now they are reading each others post history.

Nah, I wouldn't go through them if they didn't want me to.

Also I've known my brother's username for years have had ample time to snoop already and haven't. Probably just about Airsoft, games and Akira cels

Jeshoca

Jeshoca wrote: »

Nah, I wouldn't go through them if they didn't want me to.

Also I've known my brother's username for years have had ample time to snoop already and haven't. Probably just about Airsoft, games and Akira cels

You haven’t seen his MSPaint drawings!

dragona

TheValeyard wrote: »

Right now they are reading each others post history.

Life is too short for that. I have other stuff to do

SusieBlue

I got caught with something similar when the Beast from the East happened in 2018.
I was supposed to be going to Rome, but all Irish airports were shut, and all Italian airports were shut. Most of Europe was on lock down, and both Ireland and Italy had red weather warnings in place.

I had already paid the hotel in full, so I contacted both them & hotels.com pleading my case. I asked for a refund, then a partial refund, and then asked could I transfer the booking to a later date. None of my requests were granted. I made the point that even if my own airport was open, their local one in Rome wasn't, so how could I be expected to travel from Ireland when all flights were grounded?

They said if I didn't show up, I would be entitled to nothing back, but that if I cancelled my booking (this was the day before we were due to fly) they would offer 20% off a future booking as a token of kindness. I grudgingly went with the second option, thinking it was the best choice in a bad situation.

Lo and behold, the next day the hotel ended up closing. And I had no booking (because I had cancelled the day before). If I had held tough I would have probably gotten a refund, or at least a partial one.

I was absolutely disgusted, both the hotel and booking.com couldn't have been less helpful. I wouldn't get my hopes up, OP.

Stevieluvsye

It's a general Italian trait though i think, well in my experience anyway and especially the Venetians.

Stick to Iberica

o1s1n

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

You haven’t seen his MSPaint drawings!

Haha! I've to sit down and do one of them again this evening before I run out of time :eek:

anacc

If hotels.com won't refund you then contact your bank and start a chargeback process. You'll need proof that the hotel isn't fit for purpose due to the flooding and proof that hotels.com refused to refund you. Even if it's a 50/50 case the bank will generally side with you because you are the customer and hotels.com are not, so don't be afraid to go for it. The only thing is that if hotels.com challenge it, the process can take some time to get the money back.

rivegauche

Looks OK to me.
https://www.skylinewebcams.com/de/webcam/italia/veneto/venezia/piazza-san-marco.html
Piazza San Marco isn't under water.
Bring their best Dunlop Wellies and they'll be grand.

Hoboo

Jeshoca wrote: »

They said they're still taking reservations, even though they're flooded. That's the problem.

Have you tried emailing them from a fake account to try to make a reservation to see if they actually are? They might be just hoping you don't show.

rivegauche

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_tourism#:~:targetText=Disaster%20tourism%20has%20been%20defined,the%20areas%20surrounding%20volcanic%20eruptions.
I'd almost welcome this to avoid the crowds.
Go, could be fun.

dragona

Hoboo wrote: »

Have you tried emailing them from a fake account to try to make a reservation to see if they actually are? They might be just hoping you don't show.

Apparently if they don't show they will be CHARGED a fee

dragona

dragona wrote: »

Apparently if they don't show they will be CHARGED a fee

That’s ridiculous if they’ve already paid for the total cost of the hotel.

I can’t see that you would be charged an extra fee for not using hotel accommodation, that doesn’t really add up. I can understand the hotel not giving a refund, but charging extra? It’s a win win situation for them, they have their money and are saved a couple of nights laundry, and if somebody wanted the room last minute then they have even more profit. I’ve booked through hotels.com and had to cancel last moment due to illness. No refund, of course, but I wasn’t charged extra.

Personally I would go, flood and all, and bring a pair of wellies. For me, one of the interesting things about travel is seeing how locals live, and seeing how Venice comes in such a situation would be a unique insight and photo opportunity. The probable lack of other tourists would be a bonus too. Of course it depends on whether the hotel is actually operating, its particular location (can you reach it by vaporetto etc, and if you can get food locally. Padua is the nearest city of interest, and it should be possible to get a bus there from Venice. Verona is another option. Or stay on a hotel in the area between airport and Venice city, to be able to go into city but retreat to warm hotel and restaurants at night.

I tend to book accommodation plus hotel via an online Irish travel agent like Gohop, as when anything goes wrong, if you have queries, a reputable agent like the one mentioned has a good backup service. Recently the airline pulled out of a destination I had booked, and very quickly the travel agency made sure to book me on an alternative suitable routing. Had there been no alternative way of getting there the agent would have made sure I got full refund for all parts of the trip.

Henry Ford III

Why wasn't the trip insured?

Henry Ford III

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Why wasn't the trip insured?

I find that cancellation insurance is not really fit for purpose; it’s only when you have to cancel you find out how little you get back. I’m on VHI Multitrip and last year had to cancel a trip to Oman due to cartilage tear that rendered me virtually unable to walk. When calculating refund amount they did not cover any portion that was tax, a considerable amount of the outlay. None of the transfers, excursion etc are ever covered. I got just under one third of the total cost back, and with a proviso that no future Orthopaedic related claims would be entertained.

I was just looking at public snaps from Venice. The sky was blue and in the areas where there had been flooding, people were going around in wellies. It’s definitely not knee deep. And people seemed to be enjoying themselves still.


I’d go and have fun.

riffmongous

If the hotel has been flooded it's hardly 'safe' (sanitary maybe) to stay in is it? I mean sure your room will probably be fine, but the ground floor.. dirty water, back washed toilets and sinks.. same then with any shops and restaurants you go to

Jeshoca

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Why wasn't the trip insured?

We were going to get insurance this week but the flood hit first.

Jeshoca

Strawberry Milkshake wrote: »

I was just looking at public snaps from Venice. The sky was blue and in the areas where there had been flooding, people were going around in wellies. It’s definitely not knee deep. And people seemed to be enjoying themselves still.


I’d go and have fun.

We've booked another hotel in Verona this one has no ridiculous cancellation fee and is refundable, something I will always check going forward with hotels haha

Id rather not risk going to Venice, there is a second wave of flooding expected and places may still be closed and damaged.

Enjoy your break

uck51js9zml2yt

Try to cancel with the site again.
Floods are on the BBC news. I assume same on rte. Can't deny the footage on would think

Hoboo

dragona wrote: »

Apparently if they don't show they will be CHARGED a fee

I know that, but if they enquire anonymously about making a reservation and get a reply from the hotel saying it's closed due to the flood, they have evidence to support their cancellation and request for a refund.

Mokuba

Don't book hotels through third parties. Yes sometimes you might get a reduced fee, but if anything goes wrong the hotel will fob you off to the third party, who often cannot help. Not worth it at all.

The same goes for booking advance purchase rates (no cancellation). Losing all flexibility for a few quid of a saving could not be less worth it.