Does A Bora Bora Hotel Owe This Honeymooning Couple Anything?

I think the hotel should give them a good will refund on their mark up of the room (probably 50%). Also, they should check their credit card they paid with...my Chase Sapphire would pay for this.

Whn one of us couldn't get there on a pre-paid reservation for three rooms, they let the rest of us have a credit of the entire forfeited amount to use in the restaurant.

Seems everyone agrees the situation sucks, and suggests travel insurance. It sucks for all parties. The hotel is under no obligation to do anything -- the events leading to the couple missing the flights is completely out of their control, and the hotel shouldn't suffer the economic consequences. Any generosity from the hotel would be a bonus -- and can build goodwill. I have a couple instances where I got lucky, and was able to have the hotel make an exception -- so it never hurts to ask. We have to realize that the workers at the hotels are people too, and can show compassion -- but sometimes are at the whim their superiors. Below are two instances that I can think of where hotels granted exceptions for me: 1) Sheraton in Macau -- I was traveling with my wife in China. Before our visit to Macau, my father suffered a stroke back at home. We had to cut our trip short. The reservation was made on SPG website, and was the non-refundable rate. The hotel was under no obligation to do anything for us as it was not their fault for my father's illness or our cancellation. They initially offered credit for a future stay within 90 days. After stating that it wouldn't be possible for us to return in short a time, and seeing of they could make an exception, one was made -- they offered a full refund. They did require documents from physicians stating my father's condition, which we submitted. We were very grateful -- this incident certainly built goodwill, and we will certainly be back to that hotel on our next trip back. This saved us about $750! Not sure if my Platinum status @ SPG had anything to do with their generosity. SPG support could only request on our behalf, but it was up to the individual hotel to make that decision. 2) We were planning to travel to Seoul. A few days after making the non-refundable hotel reservation @ Hotels.com, news struck of an outbreak of some disease (I think it was MERS?). Airlines were not offering any travel advisories, and CDC did not post any notice either. We contacted Hotels.com, and asked them if they could talk to the hotel about making an exception, as we were genuinely concerned about traveling into an area.. They did, and the hotel made an exception. Certainly those are more extreme circumstances than what this couple experienced (as plane/weather issues are fairly common in travel). All I'm saying is that it doesn't hurt to ask. The most they can say is no.

I am in the travel industry and a specialist for the destination of Tahiti. I would say in most cases these days, travel insurance is imperative but especially for a destination like this: expensive, prone to possible issues and when it comes to the airlines (which you can read in the very, very fine print in their contract of carriage) they do not accept responsibility for much. Other entities (like hotels) are not responsible in cases of 'force majeure', which translates to 'acts of god'...something outside the control of anyone. Travel insurance is the way to go. Only travel insurance would cover this. I would have gone to bat for the client to see if I could get the hotel to offer something to make up for it, such as a credit for the spa or a comp dinner. There are things the hotel can and will do, especially when they have an existing relationship with a TA who brings them business. Sometimes it takes some diligence (as in you wear them down...which I've been known to do when I feel there is a worthy case). But, insurance is the way operative word in travel these days. There are too many variables not to get it. And somebody erroneously said that travel insurance would not cover this, but that is not the case in the insurance I sell clients. It will cover them for the lost hotel night, any other expenses incurred because of the issue. I've even had the insurance cover the cost of new flights when a client had to purchase for an emergency return AND cover the cost of the original return flight as well. GOOD insurance is what makes the difference. The St Regis is not a 'money grubbing' hotel. They're a small (all the hotels in Tahiti are small) hotel in the middle of the South Pacific. Almost everything has to be flown in and the costs are high to operate there. The management of this hotel is made up of good people who attempt to do an excellent job for their guests. This hotel is in a far away location, not a city hotel with very different operating circumstances. The details as far as something in the way of compensation (not a refund) should have been handled by their agent. The planes that fly to the outer islands are small (66 pax max) and the nonstop are often booked, which is when people are put on the flights that include a stop over. Finally, not sure why people feel so compelled to nasty/ angry responses? Why all the snide remarks? Is this the only way some people have to relate to others? That's pretty sad. And you'd think for the people lucky enough to get to travel they might have a more magnanimous perspective. I certainly have. And I've learned from all my years in this business, just because I know the things I do that is no reason to believe everyone knows it all. In fact, isn't that why we exist and isn't our purpose to help people navigate all the serpentine possibilities that might come up? Give the anger a rest. Compassion feels a lot better.

Everyone expects a guarantee that their life will be perfect. Boo-hoo, so sorry, that is not reality. It's a miracle that ANY flight gets you to your destination on time and in one piece. You book complex trips to remote locations in parts of "the developing world" and sometimes things go sideways a bit. It's part of life. Deal with it.