Problem after problem at a luxury resort turns a family's long-awaited vacation into a holiday from hell

My husband and I and our two sons recently visited the Dominican Republic. Since we had saved for years for this trip, we wanted to stay somewhere memorable. Upon our travel agent's recommendation, we chose Hilton's Costa Caribe Coral, a luxury all-inclusive property on the south coast. As per our reservation, my husband and I had a deluxe room with a king-size bed; our kids were to share a standard double. Our reservation noted that we wanted rooms that adjoined or were at least close to each other and that were nonsmoking.

Unfortunately, the accommodations we were placed in were not what we had anticipated. Our room had two double beds, one of which was broken. My sons' room, which was some distance from ours, had no lock on the sliding door to the balcony, and the air-conditioning unit blew out warm air, which caused both boys to have asthma attacks. And despite the no-smoking signs on the doors, our rooms were equipped with ashtrays and reeked of cigarettes. We complained to the front desk, and its solution was to send housekeeping to spray the drapes, bedspreads, and walls with floral disinfectant. This triggered my asthma and worsened my sons' symptoms.

Again we called the front desk, and this time they promised to move us the next day. Our children were put in a nearby room the following afternoon, but it stank of mold, which was growing all around the bathroom tub and sink. The ceiling was covered with water stains and was sagging in places, and the fan that hung from it shook violently every time it was switched on—it looked like it was going to come flying off at any moment. The toilet kept flushing day and night, and despite promises that it would be fixed, remained this way the entire week. None of us had hot water. We asked that our sons be moved again, but since the hotel was full, there was no place to put them. Of course the mold triggered many asthma attacks in both of them. Numerous complaints resulted in our receiving numerous fruit plates but no solutions to our problems.

After we pleaded with our travel agent—who in turn contacted the hotel manager—we were somehow moved to a suite that day. But this wasn't much better: It smelled like a combination of sewage and mothballs. We wanted to leave, but the travel agent said that all nearby resorts were booked and that if we flew home, we would have to pay hundreds of dollars in change fees, which we could not afford. The travel agent tried to get us a refund, but the Costa Caribe Coral's general manager flat-out refused. On the third day, my husband and I were moved to a third room, but it was some distance from the resort—across the street and two buildings away—and close to a busy highway, so we got very little sleep. We still did not have hot water, our sheets were never changed, and we experienced multiple power outages.

In the end, our travel agent promised us a $400 refund and $200 in travel certificates, but that seems meager compensation considering what we endured. We saved for years for this $7,600 vacation, and frankly, it was a trip to hell. We think we deserve more.
Karen Adams
Medford, Massachusetts