Consumerist
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unacceptable smells
Hotel: No Sir, That Smell Is Not A Decomposing Guest. (It Was.)
The Jane Hotel in NYC was once (and still sort of is) a "residential" hotel. Even though it's been renovated and is open for business, there are still residents in un-upgraded rent-controlled rooms. And sometimes they die. And people don't notice right away. More » -
false advertising
Hilton Complimentary Internet Access In Lobby Costs $10 A Day
At Hilton Washington Dulles Airport hotel, everything is complimentary! That's because to them "complimentary" actually means "for a price." Last week, a linguistics professor tried to take advantage of their "Complimentary High-speed Internet access on the lobby level," which is how they describe the service on their website. He quickly discovered that he'd have to agree to a $9.99 charge in order to get the free service. More » -
vacations
Rent Someone's Home On Your Next Vacation
The next time you travel to another city, it might be cheaper, or at least more interesting, to rent directly from a local homeowner. Cool Tools says Vacation Rentals By Owner (VRBO.com) is a great way to find rental opportunities when you travel. More » -
airlines
4 Questions That Will Fix The Travel Industry
When will we see an airline passenger bill of rights? Why aren't there 5-star and 2-star airlines? How do you deal with hotels filling review sites with fake testimonials? These questions came up in a conversation about the travel industry I had the other night. Here's some possible answers: More » -
hilton honors program
Reader Gets 162,000 Vaporized Hilton Points Reinstated
Rikki is happy to report that her 162,000 Hilton points that disappeared without notice or warning are reinstated! More » -
hilton
162,000 Hilton Points Vaporized
UPDATE: Reader Gets 162,000 Vaporized Hilton Points Reinstated
Poof! Rikki's 162,000 Hilton points are gone. No notice, no warning, just "your account was canceled for inactivity." More »
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blacklists
Are You A Hotel Trasher? Don't Stay In Australia
Guests Behaving Badly (GBB) is an Australia-only customer blacklist that hotels there can use to weed out potentially bad guests. From their FAQ:
More »There are a total of five categories of behaviour which include at the lower level blatant disregard for applicable terms and conditions such as smoking in non-smoking areas, using facilities such as swimming pools tennis courts out of hours etc, all the way to non payment of tariff, assault, stealing etc. Persons in breach of the minor conditions referred to would not be reported unless they failed to heed several warnings regarding their activities.
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complaints
Reverse Sneaky Fees With These Free Complaint Letters
Want to claim a missing rebate, or reverse sneaky cable, bank, cellphone or hotel fee? These free complaint letter templates posted by Gotcha Capitalism and Red Tape Chronicles author Bob Sullivan are a godsend. It's like Madlibs for money.
Sample Complaint Letters [Gotcha Capitalism] (Photo: Andrea_F)
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hotels
Hyatts In Boston Decide To Outsource Housekeeping
Housekeepers at three Hyatt hotels in Boston made over $15 an hour and had benefits like 401(k) retirement plans and health insurance. On August 31st, Hyatt laid them off en masse—after first having them train their replacements under the guise of creating a holiday fill-in staff—and turned the housekeeping duties over to an outside firm. More » -
budget vacations
Traveling Domestically? Consider A Hostel
Tough times has forced a developer in South Florida to rethink his condo hotel development, so he's reconfigured it as a hotel-hostel that offers not just the standard shared room arrangements familiar to any college student who's traveled, but also slightly more expensive private rooms with kitchenettes and basic hotel amenities for $50 a night, writes the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. More » -
hotels
Top Five Hotels For Having Affairs
ABC News has named the top five hotels for having an affair, and the No-Tel Motel and Easy 8 are nowhere on the list. More » -
Tastes Burnt
Please Obey The Waldorf Astoria Hotel Starbucks Dress Code
Personally, I trend more towards "stupid casual." More » -
diy
How To Cook A Meal In Your Hotel Room
We've never looked at a hotel's bathroom counter and thought, "I could probably roll out some dough right there." We've also never tried to use an iron for a hot plate, or shoved uncooked spinach into the coffee maker. But now that we've watched this proof of concept video from George Egg, we may consider going grocery shopping the next time we're stuck in a hotel with an overpriced room service menu. More » -
travel
Couchsurfing Can Help You Save Money And Make Friends While Traveling
CouchSurfing is an online community of friendly hosts who are ready and eager to throw their convertible couches open to travelers from across the world. The service offers more than a free place to crash; it connects travelers with like-minded people who are excited to share their enthusiasm for their hometown. But aren't you going to be immediately robbed and stabbed by the opportunistic lechers lurking on the internet, you ask? More » -
overcharges
Ramada Overcharges Guy, Won't Give Full Refund
Every time you leave your credit card info at a hotel front desk, it's natural to worry you'll be overcharged. Tony's fear came true, since his card was charged even after his girlfriend paid for the room. And he's been tangling with Ramada over a hotel stay in which he was double-charged for a stay. More » -
happy endings
Marriott Is Nice To You When Jerks Charge Food To Your Room
Reader Stephen writes in to let us know that the Marriott Residence Inn in Boulder, CO was nice to him when some random jerks charged food to his room. More » -
twitter
Complaining Via Twitter Works When Comfort Inn Won't Listen
Kristy and her husband were dissatisfied with their recent Comfort Inn stay while on vacation in southern Utah. The hotel manager resolved their cleanliness concerns, but then threatened to revoke their discount if they complained to corporate. Kristy tried to get her message across to the people in charge through the usual channels, and it seemed that nobody wanted to listen, Finally, she posted about the situation on Twitter and got the resolution she was looking for. More » -
customer service
Thrift Lodge: Come For The Bed, Stay For The Hypodermic Needles!
Xmitter was checking his Thrift Lodge bed for bed bugs when he discovered a bag filled with hypodermic needles. The clerk on duty refused to offer either an apology or a refund, and explained that "you can even find needles [in] 5 star hotels." When told that this was an inappropriate response, the clerk asked: "Is this a test?" More »
hotels
New York, 6:00 AM
Sun Nov 8
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