Sept. 20, 2009
"Fraudulent Double-Billing Practices"
At first glance, Hotel Dolce Villa looks like a beautiful hotel. The accommodations were top-notch. This is where the positive comments end.
At the beginning of our stay at this hotel, we notified the front desk attendant that we wanted to pay in full in cash so that at the end of our stay, we do not owe any money, and we know exactly how much money we have left for entertainment purposes during our 4-day stay. The young lady working at the front desk, who was very polite, told us that this was fine. When we asked for a receipt, she informed us that she could not print out a receipt until the end of our stay. But she said rest assured that the stay is paid in full, and that there is a note on our account that says we will owe $0 at the end of the stay. We double checked with her about 3 or 4 times that it was noted that we do not owe anything. Right there and then we should have insisted on some kind of hand-written receipt with her signature, but she assured us so many times that all seemed fine and we went along without a receipt.
On the day of our checkout, we were told by different front-desk attendant that we had a balance of $400 that we owed. We explained that we already paid in full in cash 4 days ago, and the front desk attendant (we gave her name) told us that we would get the receipt at the end of our stay. We kindly asked this different front desk attendant to call the girl we gave the money to. (No surprise, she doesn't answer her phone). Then we ask to please call the hotel manager, who during our stay was very kind and pleasant to us.
When Steve, the manager, gets on the phone, he tells us we have a balance of $400. We very calmly explained that we already paid in full for the hotel accommodations and the parking with the front desk attendant who was working on the night of Sept. 17, 2009. Steve, the manager, yelled, "Oh stop it. Forget what that girl said. The point is you owe us $400 and you better pay right now or I'm calling the police." Well, to make a long story short, now we are reporting the hotel and calling the police on YOU, Steve. Shame on you for ripping off two young girls!
It was certainly our own fault that we paid in full in cash and didn't get a receipt. The front desk attendant probably "pocketed" the near $500 that we already paid up front. However, it's up to the hotel to duke it out and figure out what happened to our money. The hotel manager was so incredibly rude. We suspect that fraudulent double-billing practices are going on at this hotel, especially since they do not give receipts when you pay until AFTER the stay is over. We just want to warn anyone who is thinking about staying at this hotel that there are some very shady business practices going on!