There’s no doubt the way we book holidays has completely changed over the last decade: with the rise in AirBnB and Trip Advisor now we can all be our own travel experts. Or so we think.
We have all given up on asking travel agents to sell us package holidays - sorry Club 18-30 - and instead pick out flights, accommodation and activities for ourselves. Trying to save some money in the process.
But one holiday maker, Jenny Kershaw, has summed up the potential pitfalls of booking a place you have never seen IRL before.
Kershaw shared two photographs side-by-side of the swimming pool at her hotel in Vietnam. One was the swimming pool as it appeared on the booking website, and another was the pool in real life.
Not only was the pool absolutely tiny - think oversized bath rather than Olympic lanes - but it also looked like it had seen better days.
In fact it was so small that there wasn’t enough space on the ladder to fit all the lettering for ‘welcome’.
Although Kershaw took the news well (she found it “funny” and didn’t want to make a formal complaint), the hotel has now updated the website to say ‘jacuzzi’ and Booking.com got in contact to resolve the issue.
But her tweet inspired other people on Twitter shared their own extreme examples of a very millennial problem.
And some shared their own tips for making sure you avoid a game of expectation vs reality with your hotel facilities.
A millennial solution to a millennial problem.
Booking.com issued a statement on the tweet saying: “Our overarching aim is to provide our customers with quick and easy access to transparent information and visuals that empower them to find the stay that’s just right for them in the most seamless way possible.
“Only customers who have actually stayed at a property are invited to leave a review and these are never edited in any way, as we believe it’s important for consumers to have access to the good—as well as the not so good—so that they can make an informed decision about where they book.
“In the very rare instance that we detect a potential disconnect with the way a property is presenting themselves, whether it be their photos or the facilities they claim to offer, we take the matter seriously and seek to make adjustments so that they’re setting accurate expectations for our customers.”