I booked a trip through Vacation Express on May 7, 2024, to Mexico with 7 nights’ accommodations occupying 1 room at Riu Palace Peninsula. For a Junior Suite Ocean View All Inclusive. Check in date 6-15-24 / check out date 6-22-24. I was assured that the Resort was a 5 star with clean amenities. I trusted Vacation Express & once my money was collected, I no longer mattered neither was I protected. The Hotel keeps responding that they accommodated us by switching properties. Us switching properties was never by choice meaning we had to switch otherwise we would have been miserable in a nasty dirty room without properly running air conditioner. When this Vacation was planned my choice of Hotel Property was RIU PENINSULA based on the descriptions on the website of amenities. This Resort is listed as 5 star which is not true based in factual incidents & situations that happened upon arrival. I didn’t make these claims up. EVERYTHING I HAVE LISTED & STATED HAPPENED IS FACTS. Me having to switch to another property was not what I planned or paid for. Me switching to another property does not make everything that happened VOID. We switched because we had no other choice offered. We were inconvenienced & all I keep hearing as a response is that we switched properties. When we arrived at RIU PENINSULA we should have been given a clean room with all amenities working properly. The room had not been properly cleaned. The bed linens & the mattress was worn & stained & was not a pleasant site (see included pictures) I am not satisfied because I did not get what I paid for neither was my Vacation spent at the property I chose. We had to sleep sitting up in table chairs the very first night, we then had to walk around for a whole day (the very next day) in our bathing suites because there was not a room to accommodate us until after 4:30pm. We walked around without a change of clothes & was not allowed in any restaurant of our personal preference because no swimwear is allowed in the restaurant that we wanted to dine in. Once we received a new room the air conditioning didn’t work properly. Then the front desk employees laughed at us & thought what was happening to us was a joke. The front desk employees were rude, unprofessional, not friendly or helpful to me. We were moved in the middle of the night through the streets of Mexico & was told that we would still have transportation to our Excursions through Nexus the next morning which was false (I paid over $500 for Excursions & the pickup spot was RIU Peninsula & I was assured that transportation was still going to pick us up at RIU KUKULKAN the next morning which was another lie made to me. I raced around the next morning in panic attempting to arrange transportation back to RIU PENINSULA because I was told by the driver that our pickup location could not be changed. I had to pay extra money for an expensive Taxi. This was the Vacation from Hell. Because of all these things that went wrong, the inconvenience, the lies, the rudeness, the unpleasant & unprofessional workers, the discriminatory act in the lobby at the front desk & my dissatisfaction about EVERYTHING is the reason I’m asking for my money to be refunded. These are the reasons I’m requesting compensation & regardless of us being moved to a different property does not make up for all the things that we endured. One problem after the next. None of this was our fault. We paid up front & the property was not up to standards nor was the room ready. This was an inconvenience & very frustrating. I am disappointed with my stay at RIU & I do not feel that I received the level of service I paid for. We traveled a long distance & My family was looking forward to a nice relaxing week in Mexico at RIU PENINSULA & that didn’t happen. I have been reaching out to Vacation Express and RIU Hotel & have not been able to get any resolution. I am requesting a full refund of all monies paid to Vacation Express (Vendor Travel Agents use for bookings) The nature of my dispute being neither RIU Hotel nor Vacation Express accommodated or provided services that were paid for. I have been attempting to speak to someone & resolve these issues since June 15th 2024. STAY AWAY & BOOK SOMEWHERE ELSE
Recommendation: STAY AWAY/ DON'T STAY HERE
Immediately send a detailed, formal written complaint to both RIU Hotels & Resorts and Vacation Express. Provide all details, including your booking reference, dates, and the issues experienced (unclean room, broken air conditioning, rude staff, and missed excursions). Attach any supporting evidence, such as photos of the room and receipts for additional expenses (e.g., taxis). Request a full refund based on the fact that the services paid for were not delivered and that switching hotels was not a solution but an inconvenience.
If they fail to respond or offer a satisfactory resolution, escalate by filing a dispute with your payment provider or credit card company. Also, consider reporting the issue to consumer protection agencies and sharing your experience on review platforms to warn others. Keep all communication and documentation for further action if needed.
thank you. I have done & submitted everything you've suggested. I will keep everyone posted.