Amsterdam Plaza Hotel & SPA

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding the highly unsatisfactory experience my family and I had during our stay at your hotel. We initially booked our stay from the 23rd to the 25th of August by accident, instead of the intended dates of the 16th to the 18th of August. Upon realizing this mistake just an hour or two after booking, we promptly contacted the hotel to request a date change. Unfortunately, we were informed that a change was not possible. Given the circumstances, we kindly requested a refund, expressing our deep apologies and explaining that the booking was an honest mistake. However, our request was repeatedly denied, despite the fact that we had booked only shortly before contacting you. The booking was for 1,800, a significant amount that my family cannot afford to lose. Due to this we reluctantly decided to proceed with the booking, even though it meant missing a planned meeting with our family from the UK, who were only in Palanga during the week of the 16. To resolve this issue, we contacted Booking.com who informed us that the payment was still held by them and had not yet been transferred to the hotel. Booking.com approved our refund request, stating that they only required confirmation from the hotel to process the refund. We were relieved and hopeful that the matter would be resolved.
We then called the hotel again to explain the situation, emphasizing that Booking.com had approved the refund and that the hotel would soon receive an email confirming this. The representative I spoke with was understanding and assured us that they would look out for the email. However, after waiting for over an hour without any followup, I called again. This time, a different staff member informed us that they had not received any email from Booking.com. We contacted Booking.com once more, and they confirmed that the email had been sent. I attached this confirmation to this complaint. When we called the hotel again, the response was shockingly unhelpful with a staff member rudely stating that they would not process the refund under any circumstances. We were deeply disappointed by this.
A member of our group later called the hotel, to be falsely told that the hotel held the funds, contradicting what we had been told by Booking.com. Despite the ongoing frustrations, we ultimately decided to stay at the hotel during the booked dates. Upon arrival, we found that the hotel did not meet the expectations of a 5star hotel.
The most distressing part of our stay occurred on Saturday morning. As we approached our table for breakfast, we were immediately confronted by a staff member who questioned whether we had a room at the hotel, without so much as a greeting. This rude and accusatory approach left us stunned. She then insisted that we had not paid for our child, despite our repeated explanations that our booking included three people in a luxury room and two in a standard room, making a total of five guests. We were shocked. Despite there being clearly five of us present, she continued to insist that we had not paid for the child. This incident was humiliating and has left a negative impression on our experience.
Sunday morning, this same staff member, Jurate, continued to give us looks, as though we were trying to avoid paying for a non-existent 6th person. When we checked out, the receptionist attempted to charge us an additional €450, claiming we hadn’t paid for the child. After some back and forth reiteration that our booking was for five people, the receptionist finally apologised. This whole ordeal was completely unnecessary and extremely frustrating. It’s clear to us that Jurate was responsible for this and her behavior throughout our stay made us feel unwelcome, as though we didn’t belong at the hotel.
Given the circumstances, we intend to escalate this complaint to the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Lithuania and the Lithuanian Consumer Association.