Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula is home, among many other attractions, to the beaches and coral reefs of resort town Playa del Carmen.
And situated in town is the adult-only Hotel La Semilla, a Design Partner hotel of Marriott (MAR) -).
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The hotel takes pride in its Mexican heritage and style. It says it is laid back, simple and has complimentary beers and snacks all day.
Taking these desirable features into account, a prospective traveler recently decided to book a room at the hotel.
But an unusual request from the hotel front desk led to an unpleasant experience that other travelers staying at any hotel ought to be aware of.
An offer to take a discounted rate is accepted
The traveler was a Reddit user identified with the handle turtlerush. Here's how they described what happened.
I recently fell victim to a phishing pre-payment scam involving a Design Partner hotel of Marriott in Mexico. It all started when I received an email (from the hotel reservation email) regarding my hotel reservation, offering me the option to pre-pay via PayPal at a slightly discounted rate, along with a welcome drink as an incentive. I completed the payment three months ago and didn't give it much thought until recently.
Last week, I decided to call the hotel to confirm my reservation, only to be informed by the front desk that no such reservation existed. In response, I forwarded the entire email thread to the same reservations email (that contacted me), which clearly showed my communications with a bad actor who was posing as hotel staff and hotel owner to accept my payment. At this point, over the phone, the front desk claimed that their email had been hacked. However, I'm inclined to believe that there may have been a bad actor at the hotel, possibly even someone at the front desk.
Since then, I've made numerous calls to the front desk and sent emails to the reservations address, requesting to speak with the hotel owner to discuss the best course of action moving forward. Unfortunately, I have yet to receive a response.
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The discounted payment involved the use of PayPal
Travel expert and View From the Wing writer Gary Leff followed up with the guest and gathered a bit more information.
"The guest booked a room on Marriott’s website," wrote Leff. "They also made a second reservation at Booking.com for a lower rate, and emailed the hotel asking them to match the price for their 'book direct' reservation."
It was after that email that the guest received a reply from the hotel.
The reply indicated that the hotel would offer a discount, and add a free drink, if the guest would prepay with PayPal (PYPL) -), which they did. But the hotel later said it had not received the money or to have offered the discount in the first place.
The guest explained to Leff that the person they emailed with "first posed as the front desk, then as the general manager of the hotel asking me to pre-pay via PayPal."
Then the guest included Marriott in the conversation.
"[Marriott] told me that the hotel received PayPal payment with a rate of $666.40 (my Marriott Official booking rate), but I actually PayPaled the person $505.95, as that was the discussed 'discounted rate,'" the guest said, according to View From the Wing.
Because the guest has records of all the communication in writing, chances are the traveler will get the money back.
"Everything was done in writing with the hotel, and someone representing themselves as authorized by the hotel accepted payment so everything should turn out fine for the guest but they're no longer comfortable staying at the property," Leff wrote.
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