I had requested for a hotel with disabled access and a bathroom with disabled adaptation. None of these were available. The hotel was stinking and the rooms were humid and terribly stinky. Since I checked in the hotel at 3.00am, there was nothing much i could do but to spend the night there. Early the following morning, I checked out and moved to an adjacent hotel - Al Hamra Hotel, which was superb, peaceful and the staff there went out of their way to assist. When I complained to the general manager of Al Sharq hotel about the poor conditions in his hotel, he apologised for the inconvenience caused to me and explained that the hotel was being renovated, hence the poor living conditions.
Since I was on a holiday, I was not carrying enough money with me. I phoned expedia and requested them to transfer the funds I had paid to them for my hotel accommodation to Al Hamra hotel. A gentleman by the name of Yatish kept me holding for over half an hour, and finally came out with the brilliant idea that the funds could not be transferred - although both the hotels belonged to the same group. He wanted me to pay Al Hamra hotel and claim the money from Expedia on my return to the U.K. And getting my refund from Expedia has been more than a nightmare. I do not think I shall ever use Expedia again for any service. My experience has been apauling. I will discourage anyone using expedia and Al Sharq hotel again.
