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Unreliable Choicehotels.com
I am a frequent traveler to Canadian tournaments, as I like them, the atmosphere, people, and everything else in Canada. This year I also came to play in a very nice event in Halifax. From there I was flying to California to take part in the US Open. As I had an overnight stay in Toronto, I was happy to find a good deal for an airport hotel on the choicehotels.com website. As I found out later it is a partner of the Canadian Chess Federation. That's why I want to warn the chess community that this platform is very unreliable. This is what happened to me: I had a confirmed, prepaid, non-cancelable booking for the Comfort Inn and Conference Toronto Airport hotel. However, when I have arrived to the place I found out that it is not the Comfort hotel, but Pearson Hotel. Same address, different name, different chain, different owner, nothing common with the choice hotels. Of course, my reservation was not recognized at the hotel reception. Well, I called customer support and spoke to 4 different people from Choice Hotels customer support and reservation department. Long explanations, long waitings... They all were very nice and polite. But zero help for me. No other lodging was offered or any help to cover alternative accommodation. I was just promised not to charge my Visa for the booking to the non-existent hotel. Fortunately, it was not yet charged, though the booking was "prepaid". I had no other option, but to pay cash for the room at the Pearson Hotel. The manager offered me a discount on the rack rate, understanding my situation. But still, it was significantly higher than I would have had with my planned deal. I want to warn all chess players and organizers to double-check the information if making bookings through the choicehotels.com or maybe better to do it directly with hotels.
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You can etransfer to Henry Lam at chesstalkforum at gmail dot com
Transfér à Henry Lam à chesstalkforum@gmail.com
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