pwinston

Recently I traveled to the Hotel Romazzino in Costa Smerald Italy using the Starwood 5 Night Award. When I arrived at the hotel I was told that food was $150.00 per person for Lunch and $150.00 per person for Dinner, regardless of what we orders. We were told that we could purchase the meal plan for $300.00 per person per day and it would include breakfast. We were SHOCKED and Dissapointed!!!! This hotel is a resort and there is not much else in the area. You have to drive 20 minutes to the nearest town. When we got back home I called the Platinum Department and they said they would look into it. I informed them that customers should be informed that food was going to be $300 per person per day before they make reservations!! They told me they would look into it. Well that was 2 month ago and nothing. Not even a letter. I guess they do not value their platinum members. I have traveled all around the world and have never been to any hotel that charges this kind of money for food. Trust me there are much better places to go for a fraction of the cost!

[This message has been edited by pwinston (edited 09-09-2002).]

BoSoxFan45

I would simply not have patronized the hotel restaraunt. 20 miles, so be it.

That does seem a bit pricey, though.

debo_nair

I am surprised u ended up paying this much money. I would have never paid and even if i paid i would have disputed the credit card charges.

ldsant

Wow. . .guess those who complain about the $12 per day "resort fee" don't have much to say now! This seems a bit outrageous. Perhaps you should, as Mr. Sanders always tells us, call Customer Service directly or email them?

pwinston

I did call Cust service I am waiting for 2 months for a "letter".

BoSoxFan45

I agree, this is outrageous. $150 for lunch per person is the most I have ever heard of anywhere in the world.

That being said, if I understand you correctly, you didn't HAVE TO pay the $600 a night for food.

You could have simply ordered per meal, and/ or eaten out somewhere else - albeit 20 minutes away.

I guess what I am saying is that nobody forced you to pay this. You could have rented a car, or taken a cab to another restaurant.

Given that you CHOSE to pay the $600, (although the other choices were none too appealing) I don't think you can completely blame the hotel.

This is distinct from the resort fee, which is mandatory, and frequently not disclosed.

That being said, I agree that the meal plan costs should be disclosed if they are going to be this excessive. Nobody likes a nasty shock at the start of a vacation, and one would think that the hotel wouldn't want annoyed guests.

Has anyone else been to this hotel on a paid rate, and were they offered this same "deal"?

Oh, and by the way, welcome to FlyerTalk!

P.S.

Were you upgraded? If so, to what?

[This message has been edited by BoSoxFan45 (edited 09-09-2002).]

pwinston

We did not pay the fee. We rented a car and drove to town. We were staying at a resort, and this really spoiled the exp[earience. When you are at the beach, you don't want to leave and drive 25 minutes each way to have lunch.

mypriceline.com

Just curious if others also did what you did or paid the fee? How much is the hotel per nite when not using award.

Legally they are within their rights as a hotel does not have to provide food. We are also in our rights to build a mcdonalds across the St and charge $15 for a happy meal and make bundles of $$$ :-)

pwinston

the hotel was 1300/ night if you were not on points. We paid the fee for the first day until we rented a car. We drove 25-40 minutes to town for meals. Not the way you want to live at a resort. All we wanted to do was relax.

BoSoxFan45

A wrinkle...

If you try to book a room on the website, one will find precisely ZERO rates that do not inlcude at least HALF Board.

Thus, I would be inclined to think meals were included.

AAEXP

pwinston:

I am sure Starwood Lurker would answer your posst something like this:

"pwinston, you need to file a formal complaint with Corporate Services regarding this stay.
You can contact them by calling 1-800-328-6242 if you are in the U.S. or Canada. Outside this area, call the Account Services Center closest to you (the number is on the reverse of your card) and ask to be transferred to Corporate Services. You may also send an e-mail to Corporate Services by accessing whichever branded web site is appropriate and clicking on 'Contact Us'. Your information will be forwarded to them. Please give as many details as possible as well as a way for them to contact you. Letters may be either mailed or faxed to the following address or fax numbers:

Starwood Corporate Services
Post Office Box 141609
Austin, Texas 78714-1609

Fax numbers: 512-835-9374 or 512-835-4417

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Specialist, E-Communications Department
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected] "

And I really think you should. A hotel can charge what it wants to in its restaurants, but it should alert its guests to such excessive charges beforehand, if not as a legal obligation, then at least as customer service.

By the way, thanks for alerting others to this problem.

pwinston

Meals are not included with the *wood Prefered Guest award. You would have to call the hotel to find this out.

pwinston

I did File a complaint and I got NOTHING! NO ANSWERS. They promised me a letter of appologies, but I never got it!

PHL

Would they add a 20% service charge if you chose to have the food delivered to your room?

AAEXP

pwinston:
Please read my post carefully. You said you CALLED customer service. I think you should WRITE (e-mail) Corporate Services as indicated. They are normally very on top of things and get back to you in a very timely matter.