I booked a room at the Harvard Square Hotel. When I got to the hotel I discovered that my room, my sheets, my towels, indeed the entire hotel was strongly scented. This is a major problem for me. I am disabled. I have asthma and serious life-threatening allergies to perfumes and scents. At the time, the hotel desk clerk refused to do anything about this. Since I booked the room through Hotels.com, the hotel told meI had to go through hotels.com to change the booking and find another hotel. Hotels.com found me another place to stay, across the street. What I did not discover until the next day, was that Hotels.com charged me over $1000 a night for this alternative hotel. When I called to complain, they said they could give me a 10% discount but otherwise their hands were tied. They said I should talk to the hotel manager at the new hotel (Charles Hotel). I talked to the hotel manager at the Charles Hotel and she said she could do nothing, since I'd booked the room through Hotels.com and it was a "confidential rate" booked through a third party and that they could do nothing for me.
Until early this morning I was stuck in this overpriced and expensive room. Yes, it was scent free, so I was not getting an asthma attack, but I was paying over $1000 a night for a hotel that was not worth more than $350-400/night. At the time, I didn't know what to do about the situation. I could not afford the rate. The Charles refused to help me. Hotels.com refused to help me.
Finally the sales manager for the Inn at Harvard Square (sister hotel to the Harvard Square Hotel) contacted me directly and offered me a less expensive place to stay as well as a guarantee that the room, linens and lobby would not be heavily perfume scented, and she apologized for the poor treatment I received from the staff at the Harvard Square Hotel.
But I am still stuck with this outrageous bill for my brief stay at the Charles, courtesy of Hotels.com. I don't mind paying my fair share for the room, for the time I stayed there, but I am not paying over $1000 a night. That's just insane. I'm just an average person, with a disability. I should not be penalized because of my disability or my need for a place to stay.
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