Worst Food Poisoning in my life, held against my will, and cheated by this hotel.
I am a lifetime elite Platinum member who stayed 11/14-11/20/2021. I stayed at this property 9 years ago and loved it, that is why I came back. Not so much this time…
I was personally in touch with the General Manager of this hotel before I stayed at one of the hotels he ‘manages’-- The Westin Reserva Conchal. He personally offered to me in writing the services of his executive assistant Ericka Diaz to my husband and myself while on his resort, but neither he nor her were of any help. And that was the last time I heard from him despite what happened next.
I just want to share what I experienced– be it at the GM’s direction or from his lack of management (he never responded to the many calls and emails we made to him once our stay at his property took a seriously scary turn).
Both my husband and I became severely infected with a food-borne virus 2 days apart, both ~12 hours after eating pizza from room-service at the Westin Reserva Conchal. We both experienced severe and constant vomiting, severe diarrhea, extremely painful abdominal distention and bloating, gastroenteritis, uncontrollable spasms, and severe dehydration that inflicted at least one of us the entire four full days we spent in Guanacaste. My husband became so sick that he wound up in the hospital bed at the clinic on property because he was so severely ill he required IV medication and rehydration and constant monitoring by a doctor. I was so sick that I lost 15 pounds in 3 days from how violently ill I was. The hotel doctor (of the Hotel Metropolitano’s clinic at the Westin in Guanacaste) assessed that I was so ill that I was deemed ‘unfit to travel,’ and the doctor said I had to wait at least 24 hours after I was treated with injections to stop my vomiting and diarrhea and extremely strong ‘antiseptic’ pills to kill– whatever virus it was that we ate that poisoned us at the Westin (and we had to rebook our flights for a day out as a result).
We are positive that we were infected by tainted food from the hotel because we both arrived healthy, did not leave the resort at any time, and did not eat or drink anything that was not prepared, procured, and consumed at the Westin Reserva Conchal. Further proof, not to be graphic, is that the only food either of us vomited was the pizza toppings despite having both eaten other things before and after the pizza. What is extremely disturbing is the lack of ethics, as I was absolutely shocked and horrified to learn (as confirmed to us independently BOTH by multiple members of the Westin Reserva Conchal staff AND the medical team of the Hospital Metropolitano clinic on property) that my husband and I were at least the fifth (5th) known victims of this exact illness at the resort in a last ten day span (our stay was November 15-19, but we had to stay until the 20th as I mentioned). It’s unfathomable and unconscionable that the GM/hotel staff neither informed guests that there was some sort of public health issue/risk, did not stop room service, and did not address the problem. Two Westin Reserva Conchal staff members who I won’t name for fear they will get some reprisal, when we told them we would be contacting Marriott Corporate about what appended, thanked us profusely because they said “This [the food poisoning] keeps happening and [the manager]i never does anything about it.” That is a direct quote from one of the staff.
We paid this “all-inclusive” hotel nearly $600 per night for the pleasure of– nothing, since we could not eat or drink, enjoy the facilities, participate in activities, etc. as we were so ill we couldn’t leave our room. Because of this, when I checked out of the hotel, the clerk at the Royal Beach Club of the Westin Reserva Conchal who checked me out told me I was only being charged for my incidentals (which were a spa visit on the very first day, before we were poisoned, some incidental items from the hotel shop– some of which were medicines/treatments prescribed by the Hotel Doctor because or our poisoning), and our car to the airport, which was from a third party (Grupo Costa Rica Visión) and handed me a folio and a credit card slip with only those items totalling $722.98. I was so disgusted, I didn’t think I should even pay for that, but my husband and I were physically prevented from leaving the gated Westin Reserva Conchal property, against our will until I signed the folio, on which I had the foresight to write “under duress” next to my signature. The clerk then allowed us to board our transportation to the airport, but just a few moments after our car left the hotel, our driver suddenly made a U-turn after receiving a call (obviously from the Westin) and drove us back inside the gated Westin property. We were kidnapped at the behest of the GMi and/or his staff and brought back to the property after leaving. A member of the Westin team (Johan) then got IN the vehicle that we were still in, that I paid for, but was commandeered by the GM’s team, and he demanded I also sign this credit card slip for $722.88– again only for the incidentals I mentioned, or I would not be allowed to leave (which I did sign, again writing “under duress” since I had no choice). I never got a bill for anything other than $722.88 until well after the deception at the hands of the staff that happened after I returned home.
Upon finally leaving the hotel (the second time), we nearly missed our flight home, losing the first class seats we had because we were so late when we were held captive by the staff– we were lucky to get the standby seats available just as the plane was depearting. Only then did I realize that the $2,645 deposit I left on November 14 for the room rate I “won’t be charged” per the staff, which should have been only an authorization only on my credit card, was also settled (inaccurately at best, fraudulently at worst) on the same day it was authorized, November 14, and the Westin Reserval Conchal submitted fraudulent information to my credit company– specifically within the transaction information contains both the check in AND check out date, which were both November 14, which obviously was not true, nor does it make any sense. I learned later, when I asked for reimbursement of my out of pocket expenses (the hotel bill from the hotel clinic for my husband and my flight expenses) on top of the refund I was already promised, that this was deliberate.
As soon as I left the resort I contacted Marriott Corporate Customer Care recounting what I have shared here with you, and a day later I got a response from someone in the the Gerencia De Hotel Complexi. He told me the following:- “Costa Rica has so much fraud” (his words– not very patriotic) that the hotel deliberately does not allow for digital/mobile check in, which is how every message from the hotel prior to the stay (email, reservation confirmation, etc.) insisted we check in– and check out.
- He went on to say that the Westin Reserva Conchal purposely submits misinformation to credit card processors with regard to the check-in/check-out dates as some sort of internal signal that the charge is valid and not fraudulent (which is completely antithetical to combating fraud– because what the hotel does is doing IS fraud, knowingly submitting inaccurate information, and a violation of the merchant processing agreements of any of the 4 major credit card networks— I know this because I spent 15 years of my career in financial Services at American Express, and now I work at Fiserv/First Data– the worlds largest credit card processor).
- He also told me that the Westin was “so run-down” that it needed “a complete renovation” that is coming next year. This is not exactly inspiring confidence to the person who almost died from eating the food at this establishment.
- He also feigned concern for my situation, but his actual intent was to carefully word his responses to deceive me into accepting the reimbursement for my out of pocket expenses that I was seeking ($1,810.86) INSTEAD of the reversal of the $2,450 room rate that I was told I would never be charged in the first place (but was, and after talking to him I was expecting it would be refunded). I directly questioned him about the $2,450 charge and asked why it was still on my statement and his response was “don’t worry about it.”
- His mal-intent was made clear by his bizarre request that I should write to him an email (vs. him to me) with the fact that I was accepting the offer– which I clearly called “reimbursement” requested as a check, wire, or PayPal, but he also insisted that I write in my communication to him that I would accept this reimbursement (“funds” was the word he used; he was very careful not to use the word “refund” or I would not have agreed) as a credit to my American Express Card. I knew at this point that he was doing something improper– because the Westin should not be reimbursing me for charges I paid to the Hospital Metropolitano and to Delta Airlines– different merchants that are not the Westin (and both made on a different credit card from the one used at the Westin) on my American Express card I used for my Westin stay; it’s not a valid or acceptable transaction. I had the presence of mind to say clearly in my email to him that he requested (which I cannot believe how stupid I was to be duped by his manipulation to send it) that I would accept the “incremental reimbursement” (which I think made it clear I understood it was incremental to something– namely the $2,450 I was told I would never be charged– which was a lie at the time it was said because it already had been charged) of $1,810.86.
- A few days later I got confirmation of my “refund” (not reimbursement) of $1,810.86 and then he denied we had ever spoken of the initial $2,450 that I was not supposed to be charged in the first place, and the other staff members consulted my Marriott Corporate customer service (who told me…) and lied, saying they never promised me I wouldn’t be charged.
Hell on earth. Worst ‘vacation’ ever.