Hotel Luxe Stay

I booked through BOOKING.COM because the hotel was available and close to the airport, which mattered since I had an early flight the next day. After a long international trip, I arrived as a solo female traveller from NE India, tired and expecting a straightforward check-in. That’s not what happened. The front desk first asked me to show the app rate, around Rupees 800 plus taxes. One staff member then said there’d be another 500 rupees under some pretext. I declined because Booking.com showed the final price. They fiddled with their computer, then said the amount on their account was different. Suddenly, the rate showing on my phone had changed too, to 1,00,000 Rupees plus taxes for one night in a 2 star hotel. It felt like a scare tactic. They blamed BOOKING.COM and casually said, “Yeh sab toh hote rahta hain.” I could see through what I thought were lies. The front desk suggested I cancel in the app and stay for an inflated 1,500 instead. It might sound like only 600-700 rupees extra, but they seemed to be trying to avoid the commission to BOOKING.COM as well as raise the price. I asked to speak to the manager, but got nowhere and was also screamed at. I left and have filed a complaint with Booking.com. This was absolutely unacceptable, and I’m warning others about this alleged malpractice.