Woman books hotel only to turn up and find out it’s shut down and the management have run off with her money

Being scammed in this day and age is easier than ever. Even things you’d never think could be a scam, are scams, for example, booking a hotel. One woman was conned out of her money by the owners of a hotel in the U.K. after booking it online and finding out that the hotel is abandoned.

The Arncliffe Hotel in Blackpool seems to have closed its doors to guests but the management are apparently still taking people’s money. Beth, one of the many people who were a victim of this awful scam, took to TikTok to warn others about what the hotel management were doing to their customers.

“I’m making this video because I don’t want it to happen to anyone else,” Beth states at the start of the clip. She claims that she had booked a stay at the Arncliffe hotel for her and her kids on the popular booking website, Booking.com, however, before they made the 13 hour coach trip to the seaside town in the North of England, Beth decided to double check the hotel. 

Seeing reviews claiming it had shut down Beth emailed to check that wasn’t the case. She received a reply from hotel management telling her everything was fine and wishing her a safe trip, but upon arrival in Blackpool she would be met with an empty hotel. Turns out the managers have been doing this for weeks, scamming multiple customers and yet the hotel was still listed on the website when Beth looked.

What’s going on with the Arncliffe Hotel?

Reviews on TripAdvisor show that Beth was telling the truth and prove that she wasn’t the only one to be tricked. One review described the hotel, saying it “looks shut down but are still taking bookings.” They also claimed that their request for a refund was denied. While Beth was able to book another hotel in the city, she has yet to get her money back, but hopefully she will be able to.

It seems like hotel management scamming guests is on the up, from dodgy Airbnbs to seemingly more trustworthy Hotels, nobody is safe these days. 

It seems the hotel is no longer available to book on booking sites although that comes as little comfort to those who have already been scammed by the sleazy business practice. In a second video Beth shared a message exchange she had with someone supposedly working for the hotel in which they apologized for the error and gave her a customer service number to call, however, it’s not yet clear whether she was able to get a full refund.