sudden non-Europe trip (now with hostel problems)

[paint]

Any suggestions for one day and a half in San Francisco in January?

[WillTravel]

I'd suggest lots and lots of walking. I like just going up and down the hills. The Presidio, Golden Gate Park, the Golden Gate bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, the Castro District, many other places - I really like SF.

If you want to visit some interesting places and also have your transport covered, use the San Francisco City Pass:
citypass.com/city/sanfrancisco.html

I'm not sure if you could use its value in 36 hours, though.

[paint]

Yeah I looked at the CityPass when I bought my plane ticket and decided it wasn't worth it, I just won't have time. As far as Fisherman's Wharf goes though that's where I'm staying - I got a room at the hostel there, which gets great reviews.

I'm a little afraid I'll get there and spend all my time trying to figure out what to do, then come back without having done anything. The flight is almost as long as the one from NY to London was!

[WillTravel]

Is that the HI Fisherman's Wharf? I've stayed there, and it's actually a bit of a distance from FW (like 15 minutes walk), but it's in a very beautiful park on top of a hill.

[paint]

Yes - that's the one, WillTravel, how did you like the hostel? The reviews I read said it was in a good location but loud...

[WillTravel]

I stayed there about five years ago. I don't remember it being loud, except that people started waking up very early, so forget sleeping past 7 AM, if that. It seemed most people went to bed before 11 PM or midnight also, as I don't recall any issue otherwise. It's an old army barracks. The basement room had a slight mildew odor. The bunkbeds were not the newest. The main floor room had no mildew odor. There's a continental breakfast with bagels, cream cheese, jam, butter, juice, and coffee. I'd give it a 7/10.

The showers were single-sex but set up so that you didn't have a lot of privacy. One memory is a New Zealand or Aussie girl who started chatting with me about life in general just as I had stepped out of the shower nude! I kept my equanimity just fine, I'm proud to say.

[paint]

Hmm I contacted the hostel to confirm my reservation... they said they had none for my name... and re-booked the room for me at a higher price than my original reservation was for.

[me]

paint said:

Hmm I contacted the hostel to confirm my reservation... they said they had none for my name... and re-booked the room for me at a higher price than my original reservation was for.

hmm, indeed.

i guess that's one way to get more revenue. not sure of the ethics in doing so.

[WillTravel]

Do you have any written proof of your original reservation? How much was the jump?

[paint]

I have a confirmation ID and reservation printout from the first booking which was through hostelz.com... the hostel claims they never got that reservation and sent a few emails that pretty much stated it was all my fault for not booking directly through them. The price jump was only $5 but if I was staying longer than two days that could have really added up... and I got another email today from them that said it is their policy that if someone is booked into more than one room for their stay they will be placed in the higher-priced room for their entire stay, and have to pay the higher price. Example: booked for 12-bed dorm first night, more expensive 4-bed dorm second night because 12 bed dorm was booked for that day... they will (not at the request of the traveller) switch people's reservations so people don't have to switch rooms from one night to the next, but then they charge the traveller the price difference.

In the hostel's defense, they really might not have gotten the reservation from hostelz.com because I just got a fraud alert from my credit card company... they put a block on my account due to recent out-of-state charges. I'm out of state right now from my billing address... I checked the account and I really did make the charges they were questioning... so the "Dear Visa, I'm going to San Francisco" recommendation in the travel guide I bought will probably be a good idea. I've travelled a lot and that's never happened to me before, but I am glad to know that the fraud protection system works.

Back to the hostel - I am still somewhat unsettled about their attitude and somewhat questionable policies that almost seem to amount to "hidden charges." They're really pushy about people booking directly through them... they even have a statement in their profile that can be read on booking sites like hostelz.com that says "Remember that this is a booking agency and not affiliated with the hostel... we do have our own website." That seems benign enough but after all the emails "you should have book through us directly" in an accusatory tone.... and how come the rooms cost more through them than through the outside booking sites??

Sorry for venting - but this is more trouble than I had on my whole trip to Europe last year and I haven't even left yet.

[paint]

Ok I take back the statement I made above about the hostel possibly not getting my reservation from hostelz.com - I just got confirmation from my credit card company that that transaction went through. So not only have I now been charged a higher price for the room I booked, but I have to pay the $7.02 non-refundable security deposit to hostelz.com. I believe, some of that deposit gets paid to the hostel. Note that I am in no way upset with hostelz.com or my credit card company... though I don't know what went wrong with the reservation system... but do I have a right to be angry with the hostel??

[WillTravel]

I don't like that at all. It doesn't seem they're behaving professionally.

I get cheaper prices for hotels all the time than through the hotel's own booking site. It's the hotel's or hostel's business choice to market through other sites.

Another possibility is that you could check your credit card statement and see if you have a charge against you for this. Also, what does Hostelz.com say about it?

[paint]

According to my credit card statement I've been charged a $2 booking fee which hostelz.com keeps even if I cancel my reservation, and about $5 has been paid to the hostel as a deposit. I don't care about the $2 booking fee... but if the hostel got $5 already, and they got another $10 extra when I re-booked directly through them... that's already $15 in extra charges that they've gotten from me because my reservation "got lost." I'm afraid that if I cancel the reservation with hostelz.com that the hostel will then also cancel my reservation that I booked through them. If that happened it wouldn't surprise me if they ran out of dorm beds but offered me a private room for $68 a night. If I don't cancel the duplicate reservation, it wouldn't surprise me if the hostel charged me a one-night room charge for a "no show."

*insert expletives here*

I emailed the situation to hostelz.com and am awaiting a response. This could all be a misunderstanding with the hostel but it doesn't smell like one.

As much as I like the location of the hostel, I have a friend in Berkley, who offered that I could stay with her. Not sure what to do.

[me]

me said:

i guess that's one way to get more revenue. not sure of the ethics in doing so.

i take it back. i am sure of the ethics. it's absolutely unethical! personally, i'd be inclined to cancel using credit card's fraud protection feature to refuse *any* charges from this hostel. i'd also do some "venting" on review sites!

- d

[dumbdiety]

Ohhh this isn't good. You just lemme know paint, and their website just may have some problems in the near future...