Sonesta Fort Lauderdale Beach

Not much - we didn’t even get to stay at the hotel I reserved because Get-a-Room, who you (Kayak) are partnered with, overbooked and did not notify us until 11 hours before our departing flight, which is totally unacceptable. See specific details below.

This trip was much more stressful than it should’ve been, and that was due to GetARoom’s overall communication to us on changes, and customer support to help resolve the issue. We were informed less than 12 hours before our departing flight that our reservation at the initial hotel I had reserved, the Sonesta Ft. Lauderdale, was overbooked and would need to contact customer service to resolve. After waiting on hold for over 30mins during my initial attempts to contact customer service, I replied with an email; to which I still received no response or confirmation for over an hour. At that point I contacted Kayak directly as this reservation was apparently booked with GetARoom via Kayak. When reaching a Kayak representative they finally connected me with a GetARoom representative. At that time I expressed my level of frustration and expectations for the alternative hotel that we would need to stay in. In doing so, I was then informed that GetARoom was actually notified of the overbooking on Tuesday (3/30), and yet we were still not even informed of this until Wednesday (3/31) at 7:17pm; less than 12 hours before our departing flight. When speaking to the representative I asked to be guaranteed at least an equal quality or better hotel, and some sort of discount due to the inconvenience. She informed me 2-3 times that I could choose not to accept the alternate hotel and receive a full refund. This is not acceptable as being the only resolution, especially since most airlines do not permit you to change flights within 24 hours, let alone less than 12 hours. At this time I requested to speak to a supervisor and was informed she was the highest member of authority and that was the best that could be done. After being on the phone and hold with her for over 89 minutes, we were finally confirmed our alternate reservations at the Hilton Ft. Lauderdale Marina, to which she stated no discount could be given because it was a nicer & more expensive hotel than the Sonesta. The entire reason we chose the Sonesta was due to an ocean view and location to entertainment & restaurants. Additionally, due to the location of our alternate hotel, we were forced to spend over $225 throughout the weekend in transportation that otherwise would not have been necessary. Furthermore, the “marina view” we received at the Hilton was nothing more than a balcony overlooking the hotel pool, and the ability to see a few boats. The quality of the Hilton, also, was less than desirable, and I have photos showing this. Overall, this was a very disappointing experience given the timing and lack of communication regarding changes to our reservation. Not only was I inconvenienced at the last minute and forced to scramble to secure a hotel, but it took time away that could’ve been spent with my family before leaving. Not only does this add to the already poor reviews GetARoom appears to have, but it also reflects very poorly for Kayak, to which I will also share my experience with them. I would hope after hearing about this experience and the additional costs we incurred due to location change that some sort of reimbursement/ discount can be applied to help remedy this.