Serena Hotel ignores requests for comments

Adrian Portanier Mifsud sent this letter to the manager of the Hotel Serena in Xlendi, Gozo, on September 6, 2006:

I refer to your reply to the Bank of Valletta. I tend to disagree with your reply that this case was about a no show. May I kindly remind you of how the case evolved.

I called at the hotel on Thursday, July 6, to book a room for my family (two adults and one four-year-old child) for the night of July 8, and was quoted Lm28, which I confirmed and was asked for a credit card number.

On Saturday we arrived at your hotel at around 1 p.m. to check in. There was another couple waiting to check in, and the man at the reception desk said that the only two rooms available were a land view suite costing Lm14 per person, and a seaview suite costing Lm18 per person.

It seemed that both of us had booked a land view suite and we were made to decide which of us wanted the seaview suite at the higher price. The other couple accepted the seaview suite and we were allowed the land view suite.

We had already filled in the registration form and we were asked to pay Lm30. When I said that I was asked for Lm28 when I made the reservation, the person at the reception desk said that there was a Lm2 charge for the baby's cot. Upon seeing my son, he said that my son is to pay 50% and not only Lm2 since he was older than two years.

So the price went up to Lm35. At this we refused to stay at the hotel and the person at reception got very angry, tore up the registration form and told us that we were free to choose not to stay there.

Now it seems that you fraudulently kept my credit card details with the intention of charging me just the same, even though you accepted our cancellation (it was purely your fault that we cancelled) and tore up our registration form.

Kindly reconsider your actions and authorise Bank of Valletta to refund the money charged to my card. (Adrian Portanier Mifsud)

First of all, it is sad to note that, in a letter he sent to Mr Portanier Mifsud, the Hotel Serena manager wrote that he considers this unfortunate incident a "no show".

On September 29, 2006, we sent Serena Hotel a request for their comments, to no avail. On October 10, 2006, we sent Serena Hotel a copy of Mr Portanier Mifsud's letter and another request for their comments, still to no avail.

Subsequently, on November 8, 2006, January 3, 2007, and February 7, 2007, we sent Serena Hotel three more copies of Mr Portanier Mifsud's letter and requests for their comments on the case, still to no avail.

In a nutshell, over a period of five months, Serena Hotel ignored a total of five requests for their side of the case. Therefore, in the prevailing scenario, we have no other option but to publicly ask Serena Hotel for their comments.