I made a reservation via email for two rooms for two nights (we were a group of 6). Our plans changed and we needed only one night in Brugge, but we were traveling from Amsterdam and had no way to call and change our reservation. The cancelation policy was included in the emails from the hotel, stating "Cancellation Policy: Until 24 hours before day of arrival: Free of charge. In case of no-show the first night will be charged."" So, I was not worried because we would be canceling the second night 24 hours in advance.
We arrived (at 9:30 pm due to traffic and then road closures throughout Brugge. The one-way street that the hotel is on was closed and there are almost exclusively one-way streets surrounding the hotel, which prolonged the delay) and I said "We would like only to stay for tonight, so according to your policy would like to cancel our two rooms for tomorrow night." The man who was working said, "Ohhhhh no. I cannot do this for you. The systems are closed for the night so you will have to talk with the staff who are here in the morning." I said "Then I would be canceling my reservation the day of, which I don't think is allowed in your policy" and the man promised up and down that we would be fine if we talked to his colleagues the next morning. He was adamant that he could not do the cancelation so we checked in and went to our rooms- both were nice: a double bed and a single bed which were comfortable, the internet worked well, and we went to bed soon after arriving.
So, after breakfast the next morning, I went and spoke with the front desk. There were two women working who spoke very good English and after I explained my situation, they said, "You may check out today if you'd like, but we must charge you for the rooms since you are now canceling less than 24 hours in advance." I was surprised and could not believe that they expected me to accept a 274€ charge for rooms we wouldn't be staying in, so I asked if I could please talk to a manager or supervisor. A woman named Stephanie came and spoke with me. After I explained what had happened thus far, she said "I'm sorry, but this is our policy. Who knows if we can fill these rooms tonight? Since you reserved them, you must pay for them because that is our policy." I explained that the cancelation policy was unclear in it's wording, and that the way that I understood it was that we were canceling the second night of our reservation as soon as we could. Heavy traffic, road closures, and having no Belgian cell phone prevented us from speaking with someone at the hotel before our arrival at 9:30 pm, which is not an unusual time.
My mother was traveling in our group and was planning to pay for the rooms, so she joined the conversation and asked again why we would be charged for two rooms that we would not be staying in. Stephanie said "Because this is our policy. The best thing that I can do for you is charge for only one of the rooms for tonight." We spoke for a few more minutes and explained what had happened the night before with one of her employees, and that we could not have done more to follow their policy. We also indicated that we would write reviews about our frustrating experience on Trip Advisor and Yelp, and dispute the charge with her credit card company, American Express. This did not sway Stephanie, and so we paid 274€ for the first night for two rooms, internet access, breakfast, and taxes and 130€ for the second night for one room that we did not stay in.
I did quite a bit of research for hotels in Brugge about one week before we arrived, and I checked at least 15 hotels and hostels and Karos was the first that had space. There was such limited availability all over the city, and especially close to the city center, that I'm sure the rooms that we didn't stay in were filled by other guests.
We were disappointed and frustrated by customer service at the Floris Hotel Karos. It was overall a 3.5 star experience besides the glaringly incorrect charge. This is the review I would have written if the cancelation and payment had gone smoothly: "The hotel was a mixture of old and new. The lobby was very modern and tasteful, but the carpet throughout and bathroom appliances were quite a bit older. The beds were comfortable and the wifi was very fast. The breakfast was typical European-style continental with a few kinds of yogurts and cereals (nothing healthy or hearty like bran flakes or granola), as well as a few varieties of fruits and breads. The front desk gave us a very helpful map of the historic streets and it listed about 15 landmarks and museums. A bit pricey, but that's how it goes when you travel to Europe in August."
Bottom line: a nice play to stay, but the customer does not come first at the Karos Hotel. read more