Felix Klajner

Review of Sheraton Vistana Villages

I booked this trip through Costco Travel, and have...

I booked this trip through Costco Travel, and have done so for the past 3 years. The experience was fine, until this year. Upon checking out on Feb. 21, 2019, we were told that there was no amount owing, but when I received my credit card bill over 1 month later, I noticed a hotel charge of over $1300 USD posted on Feb. 22, even though the entire amount owing for this trip had been prepaid and cleared 1 month earlier. Upon inquiring with the credit card company about this, I was eventually connected to a supervisor at the hotel who informed me that they had not received a deposit from Costco and therefore back-charged me the difference from the Costco rate to their regular rate. This was a three-way conversation, with the credit card company supervisor also taking part.
Two problems emerged at this point. First, when I called Costco travel, I was told by a travel supervisor that Costco does not ever send deposits on trips booked through them, and that the hotel supervisor was flatly wrong and had misinformed me. Second, I had never authorized the hotel to use my credit credit card after my check-out date, having been told that nothing wa owing then. In essence, they used my card without permission.
Costco eventually resolved this matter over 1 month later by contacting the manager at the hotel, who looked into it and finally admitted that there was indeed a glitch in the hotel billing system and that they would credit back the billed amount to my card. However, this cost me a great deal of time and effort to resolve, and had it not been for Costco s persistence, it would still be unresolved.
So thanks to Costco for coming to my aid, as they invariably do for their members. As for the management of the hotel, their behaviour and attitude was nothing short of disgraceful, having resorted to simply lies to just cover their error. They also used my credit card without my authorization. This was my third weekly stay at this hotel for the past 3 years, but I will not likely be returning there ever again. I will also think twice about staying at another Marriott property in the future, and may cancel my membership in their reward program. I have not been contacted by the hotel at this point to even offer an apology.