Baffling Payment Methods. Anyone speak Spanish?

[jordieshapiro]

Hi Community,
Your advice is so helpful to so many first time travelers!

I'm corresponding with Hotel Acaya, and seem to be very close to confirming our stay there. They speak almost no english over there and I'm having a hard time understanding how they'd like me to pay or reserve my room.

Below is a snippet of their last email. Citibank is mentioned, and I can't understand how it can be relevant. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Para confirmar la reserva, preguntamos un deposito : donde usted vive?
Tenemos cuentas en peso y dollar en Republica Dominicana y cuenta en
CITIBANK en USA.


Thanks!

[Rocky]

Originally Posted by jordieshapiro

Hi Community,
Your advice is so helpful to so many first time travelers!

I'm corresponding with Hotel Acaya, and seem to be very close to confirming our stay there. They speak almost no english over there and I'm having a hard time understanding how they'd like me to pay or reserve my room.

Below is a snippet of their last email. Citibank is mentioned, and I can't understand how it can be relevant. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Para confirmar la reserva, preguntamos un deposito : donde usted vive?
Tenemos cuentas en peso y dollar en Republica Dominicana y cuenta en
CITIBANK en USA.


Thanks!

No way in the world anyone serious would write that the way they wrote it.
Must be a scam.
It sounds like they wrote it in an other language and used a translator program.

PS: Do not send them any money or personal info !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[KateP]

Originally Posted by Rocky

No way in the world anyone serious would write that the way they wrote it.
Must be a scam.
It sounds like they wrote it in an other language and used a translator program.

PS: Do not send them any money or personal info !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I agree with you. This does not sound or look like your standard correspondence from a hotel. Believe me, I work in the sales department of one.

What they're asking is where do you live and they're informing you that they have accounts in pesos and dollars in Citibank in the US.

[Chip]

Originally Posted by jordieshapiro

Para confirmar la reserva, preguntamos un deposito : donde usted vive?
Tenemos cuentas en peso y dollar en Republica Dominicana y cuenta en
CITIBANK en USA.


Thanks!

The translation is as follows:

In order to confirm you reservation, we ask for a deposit. We have accounts that accept pesos in dollars here in the DR and an account in the US with Citibank for wire transfer of funds.

I took the liberty of adding the last part as this is based on my experience here in the DR working with some businesses and banks. I personally think doing a wire transfer is relatively innocuos in that you don't have to give out your credit card number, on the contrary the hotel gives you their info and you go to your bank and do the wire transfer to them - very common here.

You just need to make sure that it is a reputable hotel ie, did a friend recommend it to you or was it found by a web search? If the latter, post a thread on the forum to see if anybody here has stayed there before.

[jordieshapiro]

I hesitate to believe that this is a scam. I found them through searching message boards and reading tons of mostly good reviews. I spoke briefly (although ineffectively) to the owner on the phone. And I'm convinced this place exists. If this turns out to be a scam, I will let you all know. Thanks.

[Chip]

Originally Posted by jordieshapiro

I hesitate to believe that this is a scam. I found them through searching message boards and reading tons of mostly good reviews. I spoke briefly (although ineffectively) to the owner on the phone. And I'm convinced this place exists. If this turns out to be a scam, I will let you all know. Thanks.

More than likely it isn't. As I said, what they are asking for in terms of a deposit and payment methods are very common here. Let me know if you have any more problems, I'll be glad to make a phone call for you too if need be.

[CG-LT]

Hotel Acaya exists, is open and it´s located on the Playa Bonita, it's run by French folks and has a good reputation - have had friends stay there....

Hope this puts the op at ease a little,

[Rocky]

Originally Posted by CG-LT

Hotel Acaya exists, is open and it´s located on the Playa Bonita, it's run by French folks and has a good reputation - have had friends stay there....

Hope this puts the op at ease a little,

Now that explains the poor Spanish.
As I said, it's Spanish from a translator program.
It's all wrong, but if they are French and don't speak proper Spanish, I can see that making sense, except that they must not be too bright, if they can't even ask a local to check to see if what they write makes sense.

[benetlyne]

If they are french and talking to someone speeking english why would they translate in spanish ??? maybe a wire transfer through western union would be a good idea.

And beside if you look at there web site the prensentation is in french, spanish and coming soon in english. Someone must be talking english there

Ben

[Rocky]

Originally Posted by benetlyne

If they are french and talking to someone speeking english why would they translate in spanish ??? maybe a wire transfer through western union would be a good idea.

And beside if you look at there web site the prensentation is in french, spanish and coming soon in english. Someone must be talking english there

Ben

Apparently not, nor in Spanish, as that part of the website is also "under construction".
Anyhow, the good news is that their lack of linguistic skills indicates something other than a scam, although I still wouldn't be giving personal bank info online to anyone.