Creeping Inflation & Trends On Luxury Link

[omegaet]

two2go wrote:lhbrown wrote:
Dear obrienkf,

I agree with you that the increases at LL properties are such that it is beginning to quickly lose the auction appeal. Furthermore, I have noticed that LL DOES NOT PROPERLY CHECK OUT THE PROPERTIES they are putting on the auctions (at least not all of them...) and twice now we have fallen into the trap that the properties were less than what we expected (or any discerning traveler would expect), which is another pit fall of these auctions. One of the auction we bought actually bordered on "fraud", they boasted of a One Star Michelin Chef, when the chef had left 6 months ago, but this statement is still on the auction page today.... Furthermore, the hotel was very run-down, large spots on the carpet in the room and in public areas, non-functioning jaccusie tub and sink in bathroom, non-working tv in room, stained curtains and tired looking bedspread, cigarette burns in sheets, lipstick on the glasses in bathroom, bathrobe which still contained dirty kleenex from the previous customer...The hotel was in dear need of renovation and should have never been on LL. I am sure LL has never set foot into this place or it woudln't have been on the auction and Best Buy list. What do you do in a case like this?????


Hi L,
Just trying to catch up on reading the posts that I haven't had a chance to read. The above mentioned problem does not happen very often with LL, but when it does happen it is very disappointing. It has also happened to us once, on New Years Eve 2005. I did not report it till a month ago. What seems very strange to me is that no one from LL customer services has called me or sent me an e-mail on the subject. I am wondering if you have reported your bad experience to LL. What was their reaction? I'm a little surprised that they haven't called the hotel to inquire about the chef & remove the statement about the One Star Michelin Chef.
two2go

LLTravel-fan...did you get your issues addressed by someone at LL? What was the response and what actions have been taken? Have adjustments been made in the representations made on the hotel site?

[lhbrown]

Hi O, and hi two2to,
I just contacted Ms. Diane McDavitt yesterday via e-mail and filed a Formal Letter of Complaint. Ms. McDavitt came back with a very quick response apologizing for the problem and saying that Ms. Taylor and Ms. Letto are going to check into the matter to resolve the problem. Sounds like LL will resolve the problem to a mutual satisfaction, at least I hope. As to the hotel site on LL, it is off the LL Auction and Best Buy list since this was a ski vacation package and ski season is almost over...

[omegaet]

LL-Travelfan....and our guess is the matter will be satisfactorily resolved inrelatively short order.....LL has experienced some "bumps" in their growth cycle, but over all, we find doing business with them to be to our advantage. When problems do occur, we need to "quantify" and report the details to LL.....in essence, we end up being theirbest sources of experiences....good or bad.

[jsattapr2]

Since I am a relatively new community member, at least compared to a number of you, I am wondering if you are still seeing substantial increases in starting prices of auction offerings since you first joined?

[jsattapr2]

Now that I have been more active in this community, I have taken a closer look at some of the more recent auction packages. I think there is a trend toward lower prices and better opportunities to buy at minimum prices. Any opinions?

[bonniejoy03]

Sort of....I seea new package to a property in St. Barths for HIGH season is an amazingly low price...couldn't believe it! However, I see the property in Guatemala (Casa Palopo) has gone up in price? So, not sure. I do see more properties that are very high end but at a lower than normal price but still high end. For example, Temenos in Anguilla was up for bid but the price was very high but still discounted from their regular price.

[kyshel]

I'm seeing some increases due to higher bidding. One of the Bali auctions went berserk and upped the typical offering price by about $300. Same with several other mystery ones. I've dropped out of 4-5 auctions in the past week because prices went way over the starting level and some exceeded the historical price paid. Good for LL--bad for bidders...

[LL_Travelfan]

Hi,
I agree with some increases due to higher bidding. However, for example, in the Caribbean, the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gordea, which rarely offers discounts during the high season, is offering 25 percent off through April for travelers who book its seven-night Reefing the Rates deal by Jan. 5. CuisinArt Resort &Spa in Anguilla is handing out $500 resort credits to guests who stay five nights between Jan. 4 and March 2009. Both properties are or were on LL. It would be interesting to compare these offerings by Bitter End and CuisinArt to LL prices. Caneel Bay on St. John and Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda are offering a fifth night free from Jan. 3 through April 5. And Parrot Cay, on a private island in the Turks and Caicos, is offering seven nights for the price of five between Jan. 10 and March 12. That brings a week-long stay in a garden-view room to $3,875, down from $5,425 a deal that can be combined with an early bird offer of breakfast and dinner for the week at no extra cost, if booked by Jan. 31.
In Europe the Dollar dipped down briefly to 1.26 Euros for every euro spent, but when the Fed last lowered the interest rate down to next to nothing, the Dollar climbed back up to its January heights of 1.48 for every euro spent. Undoubtedly, there are bargains out there, but your really have to look for them. As far as I can tell, LL prices on Europe offerings have held steady.

[bonniejoy03]

I agree...I also saw another property in St. Barths. The price looked great and it was for the high season. This is typically a very expensive time. The package looked fantastic. I haven't seen any special deals for Central or South America yet. Guess the best deals look like the Caribbean...anyone else see any trends?