HotelKingdom.Com Consumers Beware

Zingas68

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 13, 2002
Messages
17
I have recently made a reservation with HotelKingdom.Com for a one Bedroom Premier Villa at the Sheraton Vistana Village, Orlando. I called the Sheraton to confirm my reservation and after several phone calls discovered that the reservation was for a One Bedroom Deluxe Villa. There is quite a difference in these types of rooms. I was also informed that the Sheraton has a contract with HotelKingdom that only gives them “Run of the House” rooms, which in this case is a Deluxe Villa. There was no guarantee that I would receive what I was told that I was getting. When I informed the HotelKingdom staff, they tried to convince me that the hotel was wrong and I would get what I paid for. Ultimately they settled their dispute with the hotel and now inform me that they are only allowed to reserve “Run of the House Rooms”. I feel as though they have misrepresented themselves and are displaying false advertisement. I would not have found this out unless I called the hotel directly and would have been disappointed when I arrived in Florida. II am attaching the confirmation I was sent which specifically states a One Bedroom Premier Villa. They also, give you a detailed description of the room on the website which they have told me they have changed so that I could not prove anything. I have taken a snapshot of this and will provide if requested. In closing they were unethical, and unprofessional they misrepresented themselves and informed me that I was not the only customer that complained. They have already charged my Credit Card, but inform me that they will refund this. I am not sure what to expect. I do not want this to happen to any other consumer, my vacation would have been tarnished.:(
 
I am thinking of going through hotelkingdom.com also for reses at vistana villiage or vistana resort. can you please explaine what you mean by they only have "run of the house". we are thinking about a 2 bedroom(2 adults and 4 kids). I am not sure about the different room types
 
Hi,

I just read your post and I was quite shocked.. I am staying at VV for 2 weeks in October, I also went through Hotelkingdom.com and reserved a 2 bedroom luxury villa for $120.00 a night with 2 nights free. After reading your post, I gave the hotel a call directly.. I asked them about the 2 bedrooms and was told that all the 2 bedrooms are the same.. I asked her directly if it was a 2 bedroom "luxury" villa or just a 2 bedroom, she said that all the 2 bedrooms were considered luxury and are all the same.. I had made a few special requests ie: top floor, overlooking pool area, preferably corner unit and everything I reserved and all special requests were noted on her computer (she read my requests to me) so it had BETTER (rolling up sleeves) be exactly what the website claimed and what she told me. Everything seems to be correct and in order, I'm sorry for all that you are going through, but like you said.. bring all documents with you.. I am bringing my hotel confirmation which explains the type of room in detail and a copy of the website as well. I would keep calling the hotel directly to confirm your reservation, that is if you are still going to stay there.. if need be.. speak with a manager. I've only heard very good things about this resort and I just hope they are all true. I wish you luck!
 
Wow! I am very unhappy to hear this. We just used this service yesterday to book our last night in FL. We could not get our Vhome for the extra day. They did not charge my card at all but took the number to hold the room. I hope our dealings go better. I will call the hotel to conferm....
 

We have used hotelkingdom.com many times for trips to WDW and we have always gotten just what we reserved. We always make a copy of our reservation and have never had any problem. We will continue to use them for discount reservations but will check with the hotels directly in the future. Thanks for the warning.
 
There was a problem a few months ago with VV overbooking and people being bumped. Several Disers who had made ressies thru HK called them re: this and were VERY well taken care of by HK and as far as I know no one was walked. I also was not aware of VV having Deluxe vs Premier?
 
We have used Hotelkingdom.com twice and never had a problem. In fact, we just returned from a 2 BR stay at the Vistana Villages and it was great. The check-in staff at the V V were very nice. We even got to check in 2 hours early. We called the hotel two or three times before we left to confirm our reservation and to go over our requests. (And also confirmed with hotelkingdom.com). The only request they weren't able to meet was the building request - but that wasn't a problem with us. I would not hesitate to use hotelkingdom.com again.
 
We booked through HK when we stayed at VV and had no problems. We took the tour when we were there and I'm thinking that a 1-bdrm premier villa is part of what VV sells as a "2-bdrm lock-off". This consists of a 1-bdrm villa which has a whirlpool bath (I think normally only the 2-bdrm villas have those). It is shaped the same as a 2-bdrm except where the 2nd bdrm would normally be, there is a suite with a kitchenette and sitting area and a 2nd bdrm attached. The secondary area can be "locked-off" if it is not needed. Other than that, as far as I could tell, you have a choice of a regular 1-bdrm or a regular 2-bdrm (all of which are considered luxury). The people who buy the timeshare here are not buying individual villas, they are buying time in a category of villa, i.e. 1-bdrm, 2-bdrm, or 2-bdrm lock-off, so from what I can see all of the villas in each category have to be identical.

As far as over-booking is concerned, VV has an obligation to fulfill even last minute bookings for the timeshare owners or their guests so, I guess it's possible that those who are not at all connected through timeshare could be relocated to another resort at check-in. I doubt that it happens all that often. If I ever hear of this happening on a regular basis, it will not inspire me to buy timeshare, it will just make me stay elsewhere. It's good to know that HK took an active role in helping those who were caught out (that's better than some travel agencies I've heard of).
 
I just want to ask what the difference is between the Premier & Deluxe Villa's? Also, what's the cash price to upgrade to the Premier Villa?
 
You should also know that if Hotel Kingdom lists it as a new hotel, then it is probably a hotel that has been newly renovated.
 
Just got back from VV booked through HotelKingdom and no problems at all. The only choice I was given by HK was 1 or 2 br. When I asked for more specifics they said they would enter a request, but that was all that they could do. Once I got my confirmation number, I called VV direct to make specific requests and they told me the same thing. They said that they would note my request, but that all rooms were assigned at check-in regardless of how they had been booked.

We checked in early, and were told there wasn't a room available until 4:00 that would meet our request, so we checked our bags at the desk and headed to Typhoon Lagoon for the afternoon. When we got back we picked up our keys and spent a wonderful week at VV. In short the only difference booking through HK seemed to make was the extra money in my wallet!
:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:
 
Hi Markski,

Glad to hear you had a great trip, can you describe the childrens pools at all? Thanks!
 
I can describe the children's pool. We stayed at V V the first week of May. The children's pool area is a roped off area of the large pool. The pool gradually tapers off to an area of approximately 18 inches in maximum depth. It's a zero entry pool from the pool edge. In the middle of the children's pool area is a water fountain play area. The spray from the fountain changes and the children were having a blast. It's a great pool area for even small children because of the zero depth entry. It's quite a large area, so there's plenty of room. There are restrooms located on this end of the waterfall area - which is very handy for small children that may be potty training :cool:

The playground area is also located near the children's pool - on the other side of the fence.

The entire pool is basically one large free form pool that has separate defined areas depending on the depth - ex a children's area on one end and then on the other total opposite end is water volleyball. In the middle is an area that we hung out in with our 5 year old. It's quite large. There's also a separate smaller adult only pool with a hot tub.

V V offers rental of floats but you can find a much cheaper alternative at the drug stores/grocery store located nearby.

Except for the absence of a water slide, this pool is really a nice pool for kids.
 
Thanks ttfn3! Could you tell me, what kind of an area was available for your 5 year old (you referred to it as the middle of the pool), we have a 7 year old as well, but he doesn't swim too well at all yet... We needed what you described as the zero depth end of the pool for our daughter... How is that part of the pool roped off from the other parts may I ask? She's a bit of a daredevil, she'd love to just swim off into the sunset without ever having learned to swim!!! Is there a built in partition or anything like that between the sections?

I'm thinking this would be a really good resort for us to stay in for a few nights before checking into the BWV's... We've driven by the resort many times & I've always admired it and it's location in relation to both Seaworld & Disney....
 














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