Travel Troubleshooter: A closed pool sinks hotel stay for cadets

I thought I would try to see if you could resolve a problem we had with Hotels.com. My husband searched for hotels in the Wisconsin Dells with indoor water parks. My son, who is in college, was bringing home his other ROTC cadets to see Chicago and go to the Dells during their spring break.

My husband found the Polynesian Water Park Resort and called what he thought was their number. He didn't know he had been redirected to Hotels.com and booked the room.

When my son arrived in the Dells, they checked in and went to the desk to get information about the water park. This was midweek and it seems the water park is open only on the weekends during the off-season.

My son and his friends checked out and went to another hotel with an open water park. I called the hotel to see if they would refund their money, and I offered to pay a cleaning fee since they changed in the room.
The Polynesian refused and said if we had booked directly with them, we would have known the park was closed. The problem was, until my husband paid for the hotel on the phone and got email confirmation, he did not know he was on a third-party site. I called Hotels.com and it agreed to pull up the recording of our call, and if indeed they did not tell us the park was closed, they would refund our money. But they haven't. Can you help?

– Renee Fasanella, Arlington Heights, Ill.

When an amenity like a hotel pool or exercise room is closed, that's usually not a reason to check out of a hotel and ask for a refund. But for the Polynesian, I'm willing to make an exception. The water park is a central part of this property.

Complicating matters is that you were connected to Hotels.com when your husband phoned what he thought was the Polynesian. The representative he spoke with should have clearly identified himself or herself as being with Hotels.com when he called.

I think your husband could have done some additional due diligence. Did he ask the representative if the pool was open midweek, or did he assume it would be? A look at the Polynesian's website would have shown that some of its water facilities are open only during the summer, while others are open only on weekends.

None of that changes the fact that if he'd called the hotel, they might have said something about the pool closures, and particularly if he'd mentioned the reservation was for a few ROTC cadets on spring break. I think Hotels.com should have pulled up its call transcripts and listened to the transaction when you contacted it, as promised. Instead, it apparently did nothing.

I contacted Hotels.com on your behalf and got more or less the same response. A month later, I asked again, and this time it responded, refunding the $167 your son spent on his accommodations.

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