ComplaintsforThe Island Resort

• Initial Complaint

  07/20/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Booking.com confirmation: 2415258926 PIN: 2627 Amount paid: $1705.53 On 6/20/23 $150 paid on 7/15/23 at property for incidentals. We arrived at The Island Resort in Ft. Walton Beach, FL, on 7/15/23. Once entering our room, we noticed bugs on the bed. Upon pulling back the sheets for further investigation, we found several hairs — of different colors and lengths on BOTH beds. There was also food crumbs all over the floor. In the bathroom there was hair on the toilet seat and clumped behind door as well as on the AC unit. We left the room and asked for a different room, but was told they were sold out. We immediately started looking for a new hotel. We spoke several times with a Booking.com rep. The hold up in initiating the refund was on the hotel’s side. Upon looking into it, we found out that the contact info that Booking.com had had not been updated and was no longer in use, so they couldn’t even reach the hotel. We were told by the staff that we wouldn’t get a full refund and would be charged for the first night. We spent 0 time in the room after discovering how filthy it was. In fact, we chose to sit outside in a lightening storm rather than be in the filth. Costumer service as been awful! No managers seem to work there or care. We are now back home, and cannot get through. When we did speak to someone at the corporate level, they told us they had initiated a partial refund of $1200 on 7/16 — although that hasn’t hit our account yet. We asked to be refunded the entire amount, given the circumstances upon which we wanted to leave and that we never were in the room or the pool/amenities. We were told the actual resort manager would have to okay that, but of course we cannot get ahold of anyone there. We want our full refund and the $150 for incidentals that they pre-charged. Our first day in Florida was spent on the phone and at the front desk trying to get a resolution.

• Initial Complaint

  05/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  On 5/4/23 I made a reservation to stay at the Island Resort at Fort Walton Florida. The next day I received an email (attached screenshot) showing that there was an issue with my credit card that needed to be resolved within 24 hours. I did not resolve the issue assuming my reservation would be void if I did not take any action per the email. On 5/7/23 I made a new reservation for the hotel assuming the first reservation was canceled and never having received any confirmation of it being successful. On 5/16/23 I canceled the 2nd reservation made on 5/7/23 after finding out my mother in law was going into emergency open heart surgery. There were no issues with this cancelation and refund because it was within the hotels specified deposit refund window. The hotel never gave me any other correspondence for the first failed reservation. My credit card statement shows the hotel processed the $436.30 deposit for the first reservation originally made on 5/4/23 on 5/11/23 without my knowledge or authorization. If I had know they did that I could have easily canceled and refunded the deposit when I canceled the 2nd reservation and It would have been within the timeframe. There would have been no 2nd reservation if I was notified that the first one was going to be continually attempted until it was successful. Per the attached screenshot I had 24 hours to resolve. The hotel slammed my card 6 days after that time frame. I contacted the hotel and they ignored my request to speak to a manager several times and advised me to contact Expedia, whom the reservation was done. Expedia canceled the whole reservation so I was not charged more and submitted a request for a refund of the deposit since it was the hotel that created the situation. The hotel declined to do the refund and thus declined to take any ownership of the issue at any time. I never received any service from the hotel and they need to refund this.

  Business response

  05/30/2023

  the cxl fee has been refunded per the request

  Customer response

  05/30/2023

  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID 20113177, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. All I ever wanted was the refund for the 436.30
  
  Sincerely,
  
  Neal ********

• Initial Complaint

  05/22/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  All I wanted is a King size bed with a balcony and a view of the Gulf. So I booked a Junior Suite Gulf View King from 5-15-23 to 5-18-23. The booking included a king size bed, two balconies, and sweeping view of the Gulf Of Mexico. What I got was a king size bed, no balconies (it was on the ground floor), and a great view of a sandbar!!!!!!!! I drove 7 hours (one way with a just broken arm) to be totally disappointed!!! Island Resorts disappointed me in 2 ways: - Not providing the contracted premium priced accommodations - Ruining my 3 day vacation!!! Including 14 hours of driving!!

  Business response

  06/05/2023

  Good afternoon and please know I have researched this with great depth as we never receive any kind of complaints about this room type. Mr. ****** original reservation was booked online and on May 9th he called in to the reservation desk to extend the stay I reviewed the phone call and he never mentioned wanting a high floor. I personally went to room number 1162 where Mr. ***** stayed while visiting us and I can perfectly see the Gulf of Mexico and the beach. I also reviewed my Brand.com verbiage to ensure it is consistent with my other room types and is in no way misleading to a guest. There is a small sand dune and some sea oats that are in the landscaping but nothing that would fully explain Mr. *****'s commentary in his complaint. There will be no compensation offered to Mr. ***** for his unwarranted claim. 

  Customer response

  06/07/2023

  
  Complaint: 20084893
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The website explicitly states "balcony"!!!!    A ground floor room does not have a balcony!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***** ********

• Initial Complaint

  05/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  March 24th we arrived at the hotel to check-in in a nice room at the island, after grabbing the key we realized that the room provided to us was completely different from what was pictured on booking.com we refused to stay - handed our room key back and left the property called booking.com to what they said its hotels fault. and front desk at the hotel stated that its booking.com fault. I need to get a refund of 340+ dollars back on my card we did not receive any service and left the hotel.

  Business response

  05/11/2023

  Good day ********,
  Thank you for reaching out about your recent reservation. It's unfortunate and it saddens me that we were not able to host you during your vacation and I truly hope you were able to find suitable accommodation. I have reviewed your attachments about your booking and it is clear that we honored our responsibility to booking.com with the room you had reserved. Thank you for reaching out and safe travels. 

  Customer response

  05/11/2023

  
  

  Complaint: 20047239

  
  

  
  

  
  

  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  We did not stay for the night we were charged. And no, the room we checked in to, was not the room we booked at booking.com

  I need a refund for this night. Or i will Proceed to destin small claims court. 

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Ivan ********

  
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  My wife and I booked a 3 night babymoon with the Island Resort. As soon as we checked in and got to our room, we knew we would have a problem. The room smelled like cigarette smoke and urine, and there was mold in the shower. There was also dirt on the comforter, and the bathroom was filled with mildew. Online the pictures advertise this as a beautiful resort, but this place is more like a cheap motel. The room numbers are paper taped onto the outside of the door, and you can hear a quiet conversation of people outside, next door, and above you. There is zero privacy. As my wife is pregnant, we knew we could not stay there for her and the baby's health. We immediately grabbed our things and went to the front desk explaining our concerns and asking for a new room. They said they did not have any available. We then asked for a full refund and to check out if they could not give us a cleaner and safer room. Because we booked through our credit card, we had to cancel through them. We called them and were on the phone for 4 hours, and we never received a full refund, only partial, despite arriving and leaving right away. In addition, neither us nor the credit card company could get ahold of the manager in the 4 hours we were trying to. As the manager is refusing to talk with us and the credit card company, we are elevating this health/safety complaint to the BBB and asking your assistance in receiving a full and complete refund from The Island.

  Business response

  07/26/2022

  Guest checked in @9:39am 7/7, the guest came back at @3:52 and checked out. We offered to room move them and they declined. I informed guest they would be charged the one day due to the way they booked and have been checked in since 9am

  Customer response

  07/27/2022

  (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
  We did check in at 9:39am. However, the rest of this response is inaccurate. Once we walked into our room, we immediately headed back to the front desk and asked to switch rooms. We were not offered a new room, and were told they were completely booked for the weekend. We then sat in the lobby for 4 hours on the phone with our credit card company waiting to get ahold of a hotel manager. After 4 hours, we gave up, officially checked out around 1:50pm, and walked a mile down the road to the Holiday Inn Resort. We checked in there shortly after 2pm, and I have our check in record from there, so it is not possible that we checked out of The Island at 3:52pm. We asked to switch rooms and were denied, even when we offered to pay a room difference fee. When we checked out, we were NOT told we would be charged. We were not told anything other than all of the rooms were full, and they're sorry we had a bad experience.

• Initial Complaint

  12/03/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  My husband and I booked a two night stay with the resort staying November 21 through November 23. Upon arrival, and when we entered our room we realized we didn't have any of the amenities that were promised to come with the room. We called for housekeeping to bring an iron and ironing board. Housekeeping never showed up. Being on our honeymoon, we had removed all of our clothing and had a moment enjoying each other. 50 minutes to an hour later housekeeping came and did not knock or announce themselves before they entered our room and just threw the door open. To make it clear, we were having sex. Never have visited a hotel where housekeeping never announced themselves or knocked before entering. We were VIOLATED! Not only that but the chair in our small room was full of mold at the bottom and we did take pictures of it. The bed was sunken in in the middle and we also took pictures of that. We had no microwave, and of course no iron or ironing board. This was the worst stay ever. Another housekeeper by the name of Otis told us to file the complaint with the front desk to get a refund on our stay. The young lady at the front desk refused to give us a refund and claimed we purchased our stay through Priceline. That was not true. I called on several occasions and spoke with Lisa and when I begin to ask the more detailed questions to get our issue resolved she hung up on me. I called again and she hung up again because she didn't want to answer my questions. I called a third time and had spoken with Brian and when we were trying to get the issue resolved the line went dead so he disappeared also. Never again will I do business with this resort. They are very unprofessional, insensitive, and the website is misleading. We want our money back, the full price, totaling $273.73. They should be ashamed for how they treated us and how they avoided handling the situation in a manner that is acceptable.

  Business response

  02/02/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/12/03) */ guest has been contacted and a full refund has been given. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/12/10) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) The business stated they would refund the money and sent an email on December 3rd stating who to call to have release the refund which was Agoda. I reached out to them and they said that they had to verify the ok to release the funds. Is December 10th and we still haven't seen our refund.

• Initial Complaint

  09/04/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Transaction date : 5/2/2021 Amt: 477.98 My fiance and I made reservations 5 months in advance for a king suite, ocean view. We arrive to find out they moved us to a small room with dbl beds, pool view with children hollering everywhere. The 'managers' Alexis Bell and Alyssa Froehlich did NOTHING to rectify the situation besides a 'sorry' excuse. They offered us a free breakfast in exchange for the extra money we spent on a suite. Extremely unprofessional. We spent waiting on the manager for an hour just to for her to come and say she couldn't help us. They didn't offer to accommodate or give any concessions. We would like part of our funds back, as this is not what we paid for.

  Business response

  10/05/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/09/09) */ The resort sincerely apologizes for not meeting the guest's expectations. We do our best to ensure every guests leaves satisfied. The room cost difference was $80 so we waived our daily resort fee and offered two daily breakfasts. We understand their frustration as booking directly through a third party site who you pay will require the guest to connect with the third party directly for reimbursement. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2021/09/15) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) After our complaint, I received a call the next day, September 5, 2021, we received a call from Alyssa Froehlich around 10:30 in the morning. She stated that the room we originally booked had become available and that she knew it would be a hassle but asked us did we want to change to the new rooms. I responded telling her that we were due to checkout the next morning so changing to another room wouldn't make sense. She apologized to us for the inconvenience and told us over the phone she would be refunding the $80 difference and to check with the third party company regarding the refund. I called Priceline, which is the third party company, who spoke with Alexis Bell and someone named Paige. They are now stating that they only want to refund the resort fees. This company is Professional scammers. We would like what's owed to us and what Alyssa Froehlich told us over the phone. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2021/09/17) */ The resort will refund the $80 dollars that is in question. Priceline will still need to be contacted but we have set it up on our end. You will now have received $80, resort fee and breakfasts. We are sorry the incident occurred and hope you will give us another chance in the future. Kind Regards, Management

• Initial Complaint

  08/23/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I was told that I would get my refund but it didn't happen. I checked in the hotel and the room was very dirty and with or without covid going on you shouldn't have to lay your head in filth

  Business response

  09/29/2021

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2021/08/24) */ We have researched your complaint and found that a credit of $956.21 had been issued on July 7, 2021 to the 3rd party company who had booked your reservation for you. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please follow up with the booking site that you had made your reservations with for your refund. Thank you.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩