Is Hotel Lina a rip off?

[live_for_life]

I stayed at Hole Lina one night and they insisted that they swipe my credit card for 500 US dollars as a hold. Is this normal practice at Hotel Lina or can I just pay cash next time if I choose to stay there? Or is Hotel Dona Elivra a better place to stay if my Dominican novia wants to stay the night? At Hotel-Condo Albatros in Cabarete the security guard made every woman I brought to my room produce her cedula and he kept it at the office for the time the Dominican lady was in my room. Will my novia need her cedula at Hotel Lina or Hotel Don Elivra if she chooses to stay the night with her novio?

 

[Berzin]

Regardless whether this is the hotels' standard policy or not, just go to another hotel. There are many good ones in Santo Domingo.

I have never been asked to place a mandatory deposit on a room via my credit card and I would not stay in a hotel that would require one. Sounds like too much of a scam to me.

And the collecting of the cedula for overnight guests IS(or should be) standard practice at any decent hotel. This is for everyones' safety, including yours.

 

[Hillbilly]

That is an absurd practice. Go to another hotel.
Somehow, I get the feeling you are a lamb among wolves. So be careful...

HB

 

[amparocorp]

i have had hotels in the US put "holds" on my credit card. it is quite common. let's say you are a deadbeat, your CC limit is 5000, you have already 4800 in purchases, you check into a 100 $ a night hotel for 2 nights, no problem. the trouble for the hotel starts when after 2 nights you go to the front desk and inform them that you will be there for 2 more nights. you are maxed out and if they let you stay they are screwed. and, what about signing for food and drink? that's why the "hold", and what about damage deposit? are you going to inform the front desk that your "girlfriend" needed the towels back at the strip club she works at. the only problem is that some hotels do not release the hold till a week or so after you've gone, it takes their bookeeping dept. that long to catch up to the paper trail left by housekeeping, food and bev., front desk....etc..........................i flew into miami once and was denied a rental car because "holds" had not been released from all the hotels that i had stayed at during the previous month. i had not been out of the US.

 

[amparocorp]

to, live for life, i was not implying your girlfriend, just, girlfriends in general..........

 

[pyratt]

It has been my experience at Hotels Palacio y Mercure for them to take an imprint of my credit card for $1000DRP (for the mini-bars,) but not a "hold" on the card....I highly recommend both hotels to friends.

It has also been my experience at many hotels to have them hold my GF's cedula when she is on the property. Now, I book a "double" and have them make a copy of her cedula...and add her name to the file. We walk in and out without the hassles of stopping for security...

We looked at Dona Elvira, cute place, but we thought for the money.. it was over priced....and booked December at "our old faithful" spot....I guess there's something to be said for kind service, a solid breakfast buffet and a good location.......good luck

 

[rubio_higuey]

because "holds" had not been released from all the hotels that i had stayed at during the previous month.

And that's the problem in the DR. If you use a VISA/MC debit card (e.g. Check card, etc.), even after a hold is released, it will not be returned back to your card - and I am not talking about Visa Electron cards, but regular embossed VISA/MC cards that are connecting to checking accounts. Neither a hotel nor a bank will get the money. It gets stuck in CardNet system. Long and tiresome process then follows to get the money back.

Sometimes also the same problem happens with CREDIT cards (e.g. Capital One, Citi etc.)

 

[rubio_higuey]

I do cash deposit for incidentals. Most of the times it is refunded back to me in full (no incidentals). I don't make phone calls from a hotel phone (I have Orange Max, so no need to worry about recharging balance), and I don't use overpriced minibar.

I refuse to give any card to a hotel. If they havce a problem with it I tell them I didn't bring any card with me. But usually telling them I have a debit card only (even though I have a CC as well) suffices enough, because most of the front desk staff knows about problems with debit cards in the DR.

The only place I have never had a problem with ANY card issued from abroad was at car rentak counters making deposit in USD, because they use VisaNet instead of CardNet. The same does NOT apply for DR issued cards, because they don't go through VisaNet, only through CardNet.

This is my rule:
- No card deposits, holds, authorization on ANYWHERE-issued ANYTYPE card, anywhere in the DR. Straight purchase only. If not avoidable and urgent, using foreign issued CREDIT card, using a VisaNet system only for holds.
- No card deposits, holds, authorization on DR-issued ANYTYPE card, anywhere in the world. Straight purchase only.

 

[rubio_higuey]

We looked at Dona Elvira, cute place, but we thought for the money.. it was over priced....

I stayed at Dona Elvira once, nice place, ridiculous breakfast (2 toasts with marmelade) and glass of juice and cup of coffee. Overpriced for the value.