"Holiday" Inn, my right buttock.

Here's how the weekend went:

(yes, it's the actual letter I just sent)

Dear Holiday Inn/Travelocity:

We recently used Travelocity to book a trip to the Holiday Inn in (insert place here). The stay was for two nights, August 25 & 26, 2006.

I booked the trip on July 6th. When I booked the trip through Travelocity, I clicked on the "Luxury King" room choice. However, when I received my confirmation, I was booked with a standard "Double" room.

I immediately called the Travelocity 1-800 number to find out what was happening. Since I had no actual proof (the offer and the confirmation did NOT match), I spent ½ hour on the phone with a Travelocity employee. He, in turn, informed me that he called Holiday Inn. The information that was relayed to me was that EVEN THOUGH the confirmation said I had a Double room, this particular Holiday Inn did NOT book Double Rooms. In fact, according to your employee, the HAD no double rooms. ALL they offered to Travelocity was a KING.

The money ($260) went through my account that day.

I called the hotel 24 hours before we left on our trip. I always double check with any hotel—even one I do not book through Travelocity.

When I called I was informed that there was no payment information, that the hotel NEVER booked King rooms with Travelocity, and that there was a mystery Mastercard (believed to belong to Travelocity) holding my room. Furthermore, I was told that the price was $40 LESS than what I was being charged.

I was told I could not have a King room, as they didn't offer these to your company, but that my room was booked. And, while I understand that Travelocity must make money off of these bookings, having a less expensive price thrown in my face three times did not improve my mood.

When I arrived, I went through the same discussion (as the manager apparently didn't bother to adjust any information on my account when I called the day before) with another employee. Finally, the same manager approached the counter and started to lecture me on their policy regarding Travelocity.

At this point I just wanted a room. However, he ended up giving us the room WE WERE PAYING FOR in the first place—as a bonus.

This entire experience, plus the dismal state of this hotel, has ensured that not only will I think very hard before staying at a Holiday Inn again, but has pretty much driven me away from using Travelocity.

Someone is lying somewhere. I understand human error; however it seems to me that this entire experience came through human laziness and a refusal to do one's job.

I realize I didn't call Travelocity the day I arrived and was facing this problem. Frankly, I was in no mood to sit on the phone for an hour while a Travelocity employee told me I was imagining things (as I had no printed proof of the original booking).

I will be sending the same letter to Travelocity. Furthermore, Travelocity STILL has King rooms avalailable as of today. I'm presuming that someone else will end up with the same run-around that I have recieved.

Also, during the stay, the entire hotel reeked of strong chemicals, the A/C unit was barely working, and there was very little water pressure in the shower. The hotel doesn't seem to be very well taken care of.

In a world in which customer service can make or break a company, this kind of behavior and lack of correct information on your primary booking source (online) is a bad sign for what is to be expected from your company,