Help needed in Belize! Stranded by Porto fino

[Jan -Portofino Belize]

Hello, my name is Jan van Noord and I am the owner of Portofino Beach Resort. We are experiencing hurricane Ernesto at the moment and for the safety of the guests we have evacuated. I can understand that it is disappointing when you are a diver and you are evacuated inland, but there was Hurricane Warning for the entire coast of Belize, which means mandatory evacuation, and also no option of going to another beach destination in Belize.

Mr. Martin Walker, arrived in Belize when the evacuation was in progress and we contacted them on the airport to inform him of the situation and that we would arrange for a pick up from the airport to Midas Resort in San Ignacio. We choose this hotel because it is close to the town (safety and accessibility after a hurricane), they could accommodate all of our guests, their amenities include amongst others air-conditioning in the rooms and a beautiful pool. We have also sent one of our managers to this resort to assist the guests (questions and concerns, updates, possible inland tours, we have paid for food and beverages for the guests, although that is not included at our resort), unfortunately she was still on her way there with our other guests when Mr. Walker arrived.

I was informed that on the airport Mr. Walker started fighting with other guests of Portofino because they were picked up by their Destination Management Company and punched their driver. Mr. Walker was later picked up by the transport company we had arranged. When he arrived he called our resort and informed us that he didn't like the accommodations and demanded a refund. We tried to calm him down, and asked him to wait for our manager. Apparently at that time he threw the telephone at the front desk clerk and the conversation was terminated.

I called him back later and got his wife on the telephone and I informed her that we agreed to a refund (although that is not policy - as we are and cannot be responsible for the weather), so they could look at a hotel more to Mr Walker's liking as per his request. I gave them the address of San Ignacio Hotel, where I was informed that they had one room available for one night. Mr. Walker had indicated he was going to make arrangements himself to return home, as we had not arranged his international flight (we never do that; we are strictly a - small - hotel). Later I was called back by the owner informing me that he didn't want Mr. Walker in his resort any more, as he was threatening to set fire to the resort and behaved very abusive.

My last communication with Mr. Walker was when San Ignacio Resort called us, as Mr. Walker wanted to charge the room to us, although we had already agreed to a refund. I got him on the phone, and informed him that we cannot pay for his stay there as we had agreed to a refund. The conversation ended with Mr. Walker screaming and shouting, yelling bloody murder and threatening with physical violence as he indicated in his initial post.

As to the other guests (we have 31 people there now), the atmosphere is good and yesterday they all had dinner together in town, compliments of Portofino. Although the eye of the hurricane has not come ashore yet, we think we will have minor damage and we are looking forward on welcoming our guests back on Thursday.

I am very sad that Mr. Walker is so unhappy about his visit to Belize, but we cannot control the weather, and I am very sorry we were not able to calm him down enough to understand the realistic options at that moment.

Kind Regards,
Jan van Noord
Portofino Beach Resort Belize

 

[peterbj7]

I know absolutely nothing about this case but I was puzzled what the problem was. Now I have read Portofino's post the problem seems to be the guest. Portofino seem to have gone even beyond what they might be expected to do. In my dive center I have (rarely) also had people as difficult - one reason I closed the business.

 

[Magnolia3]

Ah... well...this is WHY one should pay attention to weather this time of year when one is traveling anywhere in the Carribean. Yelling never got anyone anywhere. He is lucky that the gendarmes did not give him a nice comfy room in the local jail. Throwing phones, threatening arson? really? :shocked2:

Help!

We got screwed by the Porto fino hotel in ambergris caye and got dumped at some place in San Ignacio that is between an rv park and a leper colony! Jan the owner basically told us we were on our own. We have a hotel for one night, on our own dime, but I can't reach Expedia on any of their numbers from here, my cell is useless.

My email is martinwalker66@gmail.com. Can anyone provide any advice, pointers, ways to get in touch with Expedia, a couch?

Thanks

---------- Post Merged at 10:00 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 09:09 PM ----------

If you scream and shout enough, finally things happen. Had to yell bloody murder and threaten physical violence, but emergency is over.

Minus about a million points for jan vannorden (sp?) at porto fino. Don't recommend doing business with that lying sslime

---------- Post Merged at 11:34 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 11:31 PM ----------

Yes I know about the hurricane. It's not about that, it's all about the way management at porto fino handled it, or didn't handle it. I don't know about interesting, looks like a boring trip with no diving.

Really??? Then you know that hotels on the offshore islands have to be evacuated. If you knew, then perhaps you should have stayed home or make a plan B. It sounds more like poor planning and bad behavior on your part than the hotel owners.
One uses common sense when an area is under Hurricane Watch/Warning.

 

[DandyDon]

I was surprised that anyone wanted to go to AC yesterday. I guess I am more storm shy after intentionally flying into the path of one, then retreating - and losing my trips expenses that I could have claimed on insurance if I had just canceled.

 

[Mike]

I was surprised that anyone wanted to go to AC yesterday. I guess I am more storm shy after intentionally flying into the path of one, then retreating - and losing my trips expenses that I could have claimed on insurance if I had just canceled.

You should have thrown a phone.

Curious what the OP thought Expedia was going to do for them? Give them a link to track the hurricane?

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I was informed that on the airport Mr. Walker started fighting with other guests of Portofino because they were picked up by their Destination Management Company and hit their driver. Mr. Walker was later picked up by the transport company we had arranged. When he arrived he called our resort and informed us that he didn't like the accommodations and demanded a refund. We tried to calm him down, and asked him to wait for our manager. Apparently at that time he threw the telephone at the front desk clerk and the conversation was terminated.

Later I was called back by the owner informing me that he didn't want Mr. Walker in his resort any more, as he was threatening to set fire to the resort and behaved very abusive.

My last communication with Mr. Walker was when San Ignacio Resort called us, as Mr. Walker wanted to charge the room to us, although we had already agreed to a refund. I got him on the phone, and informed him that we cannot pay for his stay there as we had agreed to a refund. The conversation ended with Mr. Walker screaming and shouting, yelling bloody murder and threatening with physical violence as he indicated in his initial post.


Kind Regards,
Jan van Noord
Portofino Beach Resort Belize

Thanks for the response. I was very curious about the case, as you have generally very positive reviews. I'm interested now in whether Flightlead has any type of explanation for his actions or rebuttal to your defense. This is in no way meant to incite any type of conflict; the incident just piques my curiosity.

 

[Downing]

Well, I was suspicious from the start. "Stranded between an rv park and a leper colony"? That's a little, make that a lot, over the top. That's what I meant by whipping out your credit card. No one is holding a gun to your head to make you stay anywhere. Be prepared to be flexible and move on if need be. The San Ignacio Resort Hotel is very nice and certainly beats hanging out next to an RV park. Only a cab ride away.

Btw, I've been to SI a few times and never noticed a leper colony, lol.

 

[flareside]

During a hurricane evacuation, any accommodation beats sleeping on an elementary school floor. Always make the best of what's offered.

 

[scubawife]

Sounds like the hotel did a great job with their guests during a difficult situation. Personally, if I'm traveling to the Caribbean during hurricane season and there's a system heading right to where I'm going, and it's supposed to make landfall within a couple days of my arrival, I'm contacting my accommodations and the dive shop (if they're not the same place) directly and getting first-hand information on whether or not I should come as planned, delay a day or two, or cancel. Of course, whether the airline is flying or not also factors in. Just because the plane is going doesn't mean where your staying is able to receive you. Checking ahead would have told this guy that he shouldn't come. The fact that the hotel was still accommodating him when he chose to arrive on the day the were evacuating guests, I think, shows they have great customer service. He wasn't even checked in at their property, they really didn't have to do anything for him. For the sake of the guests were taking it all in stride, it's probably for the best that these people moved on to another hotel. It would have otherwise been a miserable experience for everyone.

 

[xspect]

It always amazing when someone post something outlandish then when the facts come out. We never hear from them again.