Reclamo N° 58081

Italian Consulate in Hong Kong (and indirectly Police in Venice) have advised me that you would look into this matter of the American-Dinesen hotel in Venice advertising and charging for one kind of accommodation and then forcing tourists into a much worse accommodation in their “annex” building. They showed me the certificate that their small hotel has the 4-star rating but refused to show the same for my room in an attic of a separate building without lift. The hotel operates at least two unmarked “annex buildings” and has more beds in such annexes than in the small hotel they advertise. The implication is that the scale of deception is large and worth your effort to stop it – others have also called the hotel a scam, cheat, or similar in their online reviews. I prepaid EUR 225 per night for a 4-star hotel without breakfast but the management informed me that it is an acceptable business practice in Venice to substitute for a much smaller and shabbier room that looked nothing like what had been advertised. My room lacked much of what would be expected from a 4-star accommodation. The security there was poor, which left my wife frightened. My small and isolated room in the attic without lift had only slanted ceilings. The light-bulb, without any decorative or diffusive cover, was on a cable spanning the entire room horizontally. The bathroom did not have any ventilation duct or fan. Two of four bathroom lights did not work. The shower cabin was in near darkness. One plastic chair in the room for two did not fit the expectation of a 4-star hotel. The kettle with the DIN-standard electric plug did not fit the power outlet. I doubt that this room could have the 4-star rating in any country. Their deceptive practices included the advertising of the availability of a guest parking “nearby” – whereas the hotel is on an island surrounded by canals, without any car-park on it; the nearest car-park is some 2 km away on foot and much longer distance away by boat. The note in the booking confirmation states that “the room type and bed type will be allocated upon check-in. It might be a higher room category, but subject to availability upon arrival.” This note, they argued, allows them to put me anywhere they want. Believing that fair business practices would benefit all long-term and hoping for your assistance in resolving this issue, Sincerely, Alexandar Djordjevich