De-Laila Houseboats

I had booked three double classic non smoking rooms for six family members. Although the reservation was confirmed by Hotels.Com and e mail to this effect was received by me, on reaching the houseboat, the reserved accommodation was denied to us. The houseboat owner refused to accept that the reservation made by me was for three double classic rooms even after showing the confirmation email from Hotels. Com. He continued to insist that the reservation made by me was for three studio rooms instead. As per him the room description given in the email was wrong and asked me to contact Hotels.Com for solution. He offered to accommodate us in studio rooms which were much inferior to the rooms booked by me. He also insisted that this was not a single booking but three different bookings and therefore he could only offer the rooms( of inferior quality) on three different boats separated by considerable distance. Contacting the Hotels.com executives for a solution did not achieve anything.More than two hours were spent in this process. As we were travelling as a family, the offer made by the houseboat owner was not acceptable to us and we had to find another hotel at our expense. Although Hotels.com promised to refund the reservation charges, it was a terrible experience, not expected in a booking made through Hotels. Com. Hotels.com should tweak their policies to guard their client's interests and make the hotels accountable.