My family has used Marie at Galvan's Travel for approximately five years. Our first large family…read moretrip, about four years ago, was overall enjoyable, but there were several issues that should have been red flags. One family member's extra airline seat ticket was not provided to us, creating stress before our flight, and we had difficulty reaching Marie regarding our early morning departure. When we arrived at the hotel, there were also booking issues that resulted in an hour-long check-in process. Despite those problems, the remainder of the trip went well, so we decided to book through her again.
This most recent experience was far more disappointing.
Over the last three years, our trip dates had to be changed several times due to family emergencies and other life circumstances. Throughout that entire process, we had booked two king-bed rooms and one double-bed room. At no point were we told that king rooms were unavailable.
About a month before our trip, a family member noticed that the itinerary listed double beds instead of king beds. She contacted Marie, who told us she had checked with the hotel and confirmed that the hotel had king-bed reservations on their end.
When we arrived after more than 5 1/2 hours of travel, exhausted, hungry, and overheated, the hotel informed us that we had never been booked for king rooms. We contacted Marie, and her response was, "Okay, so what do you want me to do about it?" The tone and attitude were shocking and unprofessional.
She told us our options were to accept all double-bed rooms or try to move to a different hotel. She claimed she contacted the hotel to resolve the issue, but it wasn't until my sister-in-law spoke with another hotel employee that a manager became involved and worked on correcting the reservation. Fortunately, the hotel staff were kind, understanding, and able to secure one king room for us while we kept the double rooms for the other reservations.
Marie later claimed she paid more than $600 for a king-room upgrade, yet hotel staff informed us that the room types were the same price.
What disappointed me most was not just the booking error but the lack of accountability and compassion. Marie repeatedly commented on how many times the trip had been rescheduled. To that, I can only say that I hope she never has to experience the family emergencies and health concerns that caused those changes. Clients deserve empathy and professionalism, especially when dealing with circumstances beyond their control.
Rescheduling a trip does not excuse booking errors. If the reservations had been entered correctly from the beginning, changing travel dates would not have altered the room types we requested.
Unfortunately, after multiple booking issues over the years and the way this situation was handled, our family will not be using Galvan's Travel again. Based on this experience, we cannot recommend their services to friends or family.
