HotelHelios

This review is mainly being written due to a negative experience we had with the front desk. In general, the hotel was fine; breakfast was continental, the rooms were cleaned several times a day which was very nice, and the beach club was lovely. However, we had one bad experience when we checked in that was so upsetting that we feel compelled to leave a review. Prior to arriving in Santa Margarita, I contacted the front desk to ask for some restaurant recommendations and for help making a reservation. This person at the front desk (whom I will not name) did assist us with making a reservation. I also made a reservation myself for another restaurant just to have some options, as we were traveling with a large group of people who may want different things. I was also able to secure my reservation for a later time, which would be helpful because we were to be traveling for 4 hours that day. After reading the reviews of the first restaurant more in depth, many of which noted that it is a popular tourist trap, and after a long travel day, we last minute decided to go with the place that I reserved myself. We informed the front desk staff of this in person when we checked in, and her attitude instantly changed. She became clearly upset that we decided to not go to the restaurant where she had made us a reservation, said that we may have to pay a fee to no-show, and that she’d speak to the restaurant and let us know. At no point prior did she ever tell us there would be a no show or late cancellation fee, nor did she ask for our credit card info when she helped us with the reservation, so this was very surprising to us. We went up to our rooms to unpack and get ready for dinner, assuming the conversation was over. However when we came back downstairs, we passed her desk and she said that she spoke with the restaurant and because we are canceling late, we have to pay a fee. We said to her that she never told us there was a fee, and we were never asked by her or the restaurant to provide them with our credit card information, and therefore we will not be paying anything. This resulted in a heated back and forth with her, during which she repeatedly said that it is very wrong for us to be canceling so late, and even went so far as to tell us that we “shouldn’t make a habit” out of doing this. We were completely shocked that a person working in hospitality would treat their guests this way. We understood that it was a last minute decision, but again, we were never told of a late cancellation or no show fee in advance nor did anyone ever ask us for our credit card info. If we were liable for a fee, we would have just gone there. We are used to this practice and understand that this exists, but we were not made aware of any potential consequence when she made us the reservation. Instead, we felt bullied and insulted. This person seemed oddly personally offended when we let her know that we’d be canceling, which seems to have led to the scolding. This was a terrible way to start our stay in SM, and we were grateful to have worked with other front desk staff for the rest of the trip because she put a really bad taste in our mouth. It’s a shame that this happened because we loved SM, but will not be recommending this hotel to anyone we know.