One guest’s stay at the adult-only Hotel La Semilla, a Design Hotels partner of Marriott located in the Mexican resort town Playa del Carmen, took a turn for the worse before it began when the hotel couldn’t find the reservation — that was prepaid.
The guest, a Reddit user with the handle “turtlerush,” claims that they got an email from the hotel giving them the option to prepay with PayPal to receive a slightly discounted rate and welcome drink upon arrival, TheStreet reported.
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There was no record of that reservation when the guest called to confirm. When they forwarded the email chain with proof of pre-payment to the hotel, the hotel said they were hacked, then stopped responding altogether after multiple follow-ups, according to the user.
Digital travel scams are on the rise. In 2022, there were 65,135 reports of travel-related scams in the U.S., which cost people $105.1 million in losses, according to Fodor’s Travel.
More details about the alleged victim’s experience came to light when the travel site View From the Wing followed up: “The guest booked a room on Marriott’s website. They also made a second reservation at Booking.com for a lower rate, and emailed the hotel asking them to match the price for their ‘book direct’ reservation.” That’s when the guest received the hotel’s offer and made the $505.95 pre-payment on PayPal.
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“I’m inclined to believe that there may have been a bad actor at the hotel, possibly even someone at the front desk,” the guest wrote on Reddit.
Because the guest has all the communication in writing, they’ll likely get their money back, per View From the Wing.