‘Secret hotel’ booked on Lastminute.com was anything but four-star

I booked a four-star hotel in Amsterdam using Lastminute.com’s Top Secret Hotels service – taking the risk of blind booking in return for a discount.

When we received confirmation we would be staying at the Memphis Hotel Museum Square, Amsterdam, we checked its website and discovered it was undergoing a major renovation.

Judged by reviews on TripAdvisor, it would appear construction works are far more extensive than suggested, with plumbing issues causing flooding, intermittent access to hot water and staff proving unhelpful – hardly what you would expect of a four-star hotel.

We complained to Lastminute but it has taken the view that the booking is non-refundable. We have booked another room elsewhere and would like our £160 back. LK, by email

The concept of “secret hotel” bookings, pioneered in the US, can be a great way to get a bargain – I have used them in north America via hotwire.com.

For readers new to the concept, you book a hotel in an agreed area, usually to an agreed standard. Its identity isn’t revealed until after you make the booking, which is generally non-refundable.

It relies on the deal being as promised, something that appears to have escaped Lastminute.com, which offers secret hotels alongside conventional bookings. We feel that a hotel undertaking major repairs should not be sold in this way.

We asked Lastminute for an explanation and it was quick to offer a full refund. It accepts that it didn’t handle the matter as it should have, and has offered a sincere apology. It claims the listing did include a mention in the hotel description of renovation work, but that this may have been missed.

When we looked, it was in tiny writing at the end of a long description.

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