ROYALE PLACE

I booked and paid for the Royale Green View House, Northampton, on 27th December 2022 for our stay of 31st December 2022 - 4th January 2023. On 28th December 2022, I got a message from Booking.Com informing me of cancellation by Royale Green View House due to overbooking, and offering an alternative which turned out to be Royal Place, Northampton. Though the overbooking was an issue between Booking.Com and Royale Green View House, I decided to accept the alternative arrangement without raising an issue on the unfairness done to me. On arrival at the property on 31st December 2022 around 6:45pm, we noticed material difference between the pictorial representation of the state of the Royale Place property on Booking.Com website, with the actual state. It was mouldy, difficult to breathe and in a deplorable state. My son has breathing allergies and was immediately showing signs of discomfort. I was, to say the least, shocked by what I saw. I did not believe it to be fit for health and safety needs of Booking.Com's customers. I immediately called Booking.Com and made a complaint. Rather than find me another place, I was offered "free cancellation" as a remedy and was told I could find another accommodation. Because I did not want to leave my family out in the cold while arguing with Booking.Com, I decided to book a different place. Unfortunately, while money was deducted from my account for this new booking, I never got a booking confirmation. I complained again to Booking.Com whose agents suggested I either find a way to contact the new property on my own for them to accommodate us, or I find some other place and await a full refund by the property after a few days. This was on a cold new year's eve when business activities were mostly wound down for the new year festivities. I chose not to expose my family to further suffering, and approached a rival of Booking.Com to find a solution. My needs were listened to and quickly sorted by this rival.