Best hotel, how to shop for the best hotel guide

How to shop for the best hotel and avoid disappointment

Searching for the best hotel for your vacation can be challenging, with so many different properties and booking options. Choosing the wrong hotel or booking site can take your trip from one of excitement to a real disappointment. And if it’s a nonrefundable room, you’ll have to pay for that disappointment. 

Let’s keep that from happening.

Vantage Travel Ocean Explorer, a cruise ship on the ocean at sunset.

Help! Vantage Travel canceled my cruise. How can I get a refund?

In the past month, pleas for help from distressed customers, vendors and even employees of Vantage Deluxe World Travel have flooded my inbox at an alarming rate. That’s the Boston-based company that announced bad guys had hit it with ransomware at the end of April. At that time, the tour operator’s website went offline, as did its call center – for an entire week.

Since then, it’s been all downhill for the customers of the once well-respected and beloved operator of luxury tours. Today Vantage Travel appears to be in a state of suspended animation. It has officially canceled all its cruises and land tours through June 10. 

Although Vantage Travel has not publicly announced that it will continue to cancel more cruises, it is inevitable. In fact, a Vantage Travel employee sent me an internal memo yesterday that announces that it will cancel all tours through Aug. 28.

The once-lively vessels of Vantage Travel are turning into immobile ghost ships without passengers or crews.

The Maldives, blue ocean, blue sky, tropical trees.

A roaming charge nightmare: waking up to a $2,452 cell phone bill!

Vacationing in the Maldives was a dream come true for Marilyn and Terry Thomas. That is until they got hit with a $2,452 roaming charge nightmare from Spectrum, their cell phone service provider.

The couple says they were soundly asleep as Terry’s phone racked up this shocking roaming charge after the hotel’s internet went down. 

Now, as the due date for this giant bill is rapidly approaching, they’re asking Consumer Rescue for help. The couple finds it hard to believe an idle phone could accrue $2,452 in roaming charges over several hours. 

But Spectrum says that phone did incur those roaming charges, and it expects the Thomases to pay the bill.

Can we rescue these consumers from their roaming charge nightmare? Let’s find out.

Marriott threw away stored luggage in Auckland

Marriott threw our stored luggage in the garbage! Who owes us $5,000?

When Marriott takes over The Stamford Hotel in Auckland, New Zealand, employees discover and throw away some seemingly abandoned luggage. (Surprise! It wasn’t.)

Two weeks later, the owner of those bags turns up at the Marriott looking for her now discarded belongings. Emily G. says the previous management assured her she could safely store her luggage at the hotel while traveling – and never mentioned that the property was about to switch hands.

Now Emily is asking Consumer Rescue for assistance. She values the contents of the suitcases Marriott tossed in the garbage at $5,000 and hopes we can get it.

But does Marriott owe her anything for the bags it trashed, and what should you do if you need to store your luggage abroad? That’s what we’re exploring today.

An Airbnb nightmare: NYC vacation rental problems.

An Airbnb nightmare: Am I looking at blood stains in the bed?

Koji Kawana and his family were looking forward to an exciting five days in New York City. The group had a tight schedule with plenty of activities planned. What they hadn’t planned for is the Airbnb nightmare that was about to confront them.

Now Kawana wants to know: Shouldn’t Airbnb refund him for this nightmare of a vacation rental?

Filthy garbage outside a vacation rental

A filthy vacation rental is not my thing! How do I get a refund?

When an Airbnb host directs Andrea Walker to use the service elevator in the building where she is renting an apartment, she’s slightly suspicious. However, when she opens the door to the unit, she knows she definitely won’t be staying. The Airbnb host apologizes for the state of the filthy vacation rental and quickly agrees to a refund. 

So why does the host later tell Airbnb that Walker spent the whole weekend at the property?

This is a ship on the ocean owned by the company Vantage Deluxe World Travel.

Vantage Deluxe World Travel: Here are the true tales from bewildered customers

Attention Vantage Deluxe World Travel customers: The news isn’t good if you’ve got a trip planned with this tour operator. The unfortunate reality is that you might not be going anywhere. 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, my consumer advocacy team has been fielding a heavy volume of Vantage Travel complaints. But recently, the number of pleas for help from customers of the troubled tour operator has skyrocketed. 

On April 21, things went from bad to worse. That’s when the Vantage Travel website suddenly went offline and its phone system stopped working. Simultaneously, the administrator of the tour operator’s Facebook page disabled commenting.

But not before angry Vantage customers began sharing disturbing stories.