Hapdesko Homestay

We booked five rooms for three nights, but on arrival were told only one room was available. When we asked the counter staff why, they calmly told us to speak to the boss. The person they called was rude and said we could leave if we didn’t want the available room. We couldn’t stay or get a refund, so we had to book another hotel at our own cost. Booking.com couldn’t do anything about it either. This is a very bad homestay. They cheat and lie. Everything they post on Booking.com is a lie. There’s no pool, and it’s more like a bungalow with multiple families staying there.

Our trip was left stressful and disappointing, and as a tourist I felt scammed and helpless. Hapdesko Homestay handled the overbooking badly: instead of the room we had booked, we were moved to a worker’s room. The host had a bad attitude, refused a refund even though our promised room wasn’t available, and dishonestly described the downgrade as a room exchange. The proposed refund by bank transfer to a Batam bank account was impractical for tourists without local accounts. The host also failed to keep his promise about the refund or compensation method. When we raised the issue, he wouldn’t take responsibility and said “upper management” wouldn’t allow a refund. We later found out this so-called upper management didn’t even exist, and the host refused to give us a contact number when we asked. I strongly advise fellow travelers to avoid this place. There are many better, more reliable options in Batam.

We were fooled by the nice photos. After one night, we booked another hotel. There was no privacy, the rooms and toilet were dirty, and hygiene was poor. Workers kept coming and going, and they slept in empty rooms. The entrance door was always open, with cats going in and out. It was the worst nightmare. I suggest foreigners don’t book this place for a holiday.

Please don’t book here, or you could have a nightmare. Seven of us went on holiday and booked a five-room bungalow and a two-room bungalow. When we arrived, the worker said the owner had already rented out our units by the room, and only two rooms were available, shared with locals. We were shocked. We called Booking.com. Customer service listened to the whole story, said they would call the host, then put us on hold for 30 minutes and hung up. The call was directed to the Philippines. We called back many times, but they kept hanging up after hearing the problem. The host wouldn’t refund us and told us to make do with the two rooms. We had to book another hotel and lost the money for our three-night stay. Booking.com was also involved in this scam, in my view.