After staying in this hotel for 3 weeks last year we were happy to book again for our trip to Florida, but as we had already driven on a road trip from Boston to Florida we were looking for a good rest after a long journey.
However, it didn't start very well, we had requested to pay for the hotel prior to our arrival, but being as the payment hadn't been taken we had to at reception, not really a problem, I always use a Halifax Clarity Credit Card when not at home in the UK, I have used the card for a few years without any problem, it is highly recommended by myself, I don't get charged for using it abroad, and I don't get charged for currency exchange.
I handed the card to the lady on reception and she proceeded to input the details then handed it back to me for to insert my pin number, a big surprise, the card was declined, this has never EVER happened to me before, the lady took the card back and tried again, same result, declined again, 5 times this happened, I didn't know what to do next.
I'm not stupid, I do carry two alternative credit cards plus my debit card, I try not to use these whilst abroad because of the charges, but I had to resort to my Nat West card to pay the bill, I will get charges for this.
I don't have a phone number whilst in the USA, I've never had a use for one, I just use a sim that I can use the internet which does serve my purposes, so I cannot phone my credit card company, plus, its a 5 hour time difference, so contact will be difficult, I contacted them next day via a remote bot, which was helpful and I was able to get my problem across but not totally resolved, the bank did try to phone me but the lack of a phone number meant they couldn't get through.
The card worked intermittently throughout the rest of the trip but I still had to rely on my other cards.
When I got home I spoke to the bank, they told me that the card had been declined because the expiry date had been inputted wrong at the reception desk, instead of the UK format of 01/28, sha had tried 28/01...5 times, I just wonder what the 28th month is in that persons head, it did cause problems, embarrassment , stress and it will cost me when I get my bill.
The first night also had its drama, in the middle of the night, someone in the adjoining room tried to break into our room, we were woken by the sound of the door handle being tried and loud banging and kicking, we had to call security, who did turn up and they did check up on us.
First day we noticed that we only had 3 coat hangers, we requested more but we never got any, we had to used the drawers as a alternative.
Th sink in the bathroom would not hold water, it took 3 attempt's over 2 days to sort it .
Yes, its a lot of complaints and the hotel is beginning to look tired but the staff are lovely, helpful and mostly cheerfully go about their business. The hotel is clean but does need modernisation in places.
A change in circumstances means we won't be returning, but I would recommend, but only if they address the problems that are within there control.
