silverlim

We have a fully prepaid upcoming stay in Cheval Blanc Randheli Maldives in September 2017, which we have booked 3 month earlier. We have also booked a non changeable business class flight to Maldives as well from toronto.

In less than two weeks, we were told by CBR that they are cancelling our stay because someone else has buy out the whole resort. Anyone experience anything like this before , and we are talking about CBR which is supposed to be the ultra luxury resort How can they do that.

We are super furious and we are not getting any compensation from CBR!!!.

Kagehitokiri

less than two weeks before your stay?

management/corporate did not offer anything?

are change fees an option for flights?

really unfortunate that you had to experience this, sorry to hear, and re CBR's handling

surftb15

This is absolutely ridiculous. They should put you up at a different comparable hotel at the very minimum.

No, that is not normal.

callmedtop

Very surprising that this would happen! What dates was your booking? We almost decided to go September 1-6, and glad we chose otherwise.

Do push for compensation for flight changes at the very least. More appropriate would be an invitation to return with at least 1-2 comped nights, IMO.

KatW

Others more savvy than I will respond but I think it likely you could negotiate compensation for this egregious misfortune.

silverlim

They just ask us to reschedule our dates, and no guarantee we won't get walked again. The compensation was ridiculous which is 50% off regular rate, are you kidding me. We are staying for 11 night from Sept 10 but we will hit Sri Lanka before that on Sept 1. I have sent a email to CBR. I also have my agent fighting hard with them as I book through virtuoso. Anyone know of CBR corporate contact

bhrubin

Not knowing your country of origin, or if CBR's ownership legally puts them in a reasonable jurisdiction, but legally this could constitute fraud--as it is a prepaid goods and service that is being canceled.

I would be apoplectic. I would demand that they transfer the reservation to a suitable and comparable top level accommodation at another luxury resort of your choice...and then cover any and all food and beverage and other incidentals at that other resort, including transfers, to compensate you for their ridiculous calamity and false (fraudulent) promises and concomitant hassle and stress.

You paid for CBR to get the suitably high level of luxury design, service, food/beverage, and exclusivity as it avows to provide. In canceling your reservation due to greed and stupidity, CBR has the responsibility to provide you with even more than you prepaid for the hassle, loss of fulfilled expectation, and the obvious inability of any other resort to match what CBR promised.

If they do not, sorry--but I'd pursue legal remedies and bury them. Their greed is obvious and appalling. As a consumer, I can tell you that we have considered CBR for a future Maldives trip, but now must reject it completely.

If they can do it to you, they can do it to us or anyone else.

I also encourage all of our fellow luxury travel agents herein to consider boycotting CBR as a potential destination for clients. If CBR can do this to one, CBR can and will do this to someone else--unless they are burned so badly that they (and other resorts) never make this mistake again. If CBR can do this, it doesn't belong in the Virtuoso network, either.

Assuming the facts are corroborated, CBR doesn't deserve luxury business from any esteemed luxury purveyors or customers.

MSPeconomist

If you have a good Virtuoso agent, let them handle the negotiations. Trying to do it yourself will just add to the stress.

OTOH you might want to explore whether there's a nearby "comparable" property that you would accept under the right conditions, including Virtuoso type benefits paid by CBR if the new place doesn't have similar Virtuoso benefits.

silverlim

We are from Toronto, for sure I will fight nail and tooth with them . This is super appalling.

surftb15

That is some ....ing BULLshiiiiittttttt.

Escalate, escalate, escalate.

As another poster mentioned, if they dont offer reaccomondation, it is likely fraud.

Kagehitokiri

whats available at other maldives hotels? (or sri lanka?)
seems reethi rah has lots of availability for example

does cheval blanc only have 1 yacht, if thats of interest?

if change fee for changing return, could ask for it
could confirm covering change fees for future stay(s)

presumably cheval blanc HQ in paris, as thats HQ of parent co LVMH

50% off 11 nights is 5.5 nights, longer more nights, maximum?
but may not take into account free night offers, 10% off, etc
could ask for inclusions, other cheval blanc hotels, upgrades
1750 water, 1850 lagoon, 2100 garden water, 2300 island
3950 2BR water, 4100 2BR lagoon, 4350 2BR island
? 4BR owners (private island) - could ask if of interest

bhrubin, hotels do this kind of thing. i seem to recall even when actually being "walked" at arrival, there are no favorable laws/caselaw.

bhrubin

LVMH Hotel Management operates the resort...and is based in France, I believe. I don't know how French law constitutes fraud, but this scenario as stated certainly seems to meet many of the elements necessary for most US jurisprudence.

MSPeconomist

Unfortunately in many jurisdictions, innkeeper laws greatly favor the innkeepers. They're not consumer protection regulations in any sense.

OverThereTooMuch

No, it's not.

Even for the luxury travel forum, you have unrealistic expectations.

bhrubin

I know it happens, but it's exceedingly rare that it happens to a pre-paid reservation, let alone rarer when it's easy to prove that the justification is simple greed and therefore fraud. I believe that it being pre-paid makes this fraud. I believe any deposit holding a reservation would also make this fraud.

Whether or not it meets a legal standard, the CBR is still being fraudulent. It deserves to be shamed. If I were the customer, I'd call the press in Toronto and Paris and let the media work its magic. CBR deserves it in this case, assuming all factors stated are accurate.

The resort isn't suffering any injury or emergency or reasonable circumstances that might preclude it from accepting the reservation--but is greedily dumping the reservation so it can profit more from a total sell-out. If it can profit from rejecting the pre-paid reservation, it can help the customer profit, too.

Others may accept this, but I do not. I will blackball CB for any of our travels. This qualifies as atrocious service. Enabling such obviously bad behavior is for the sheep.