Mercure Saga Karatsu Resort in Karatsu

On my recent 8-day solo trip to Japan, among all the hotels I booked, yours was the most expensive and the one I had the highest hopes for. However, my actual stay was incredibly disappointing. This significant letdown compels me to provide serious feedback — your hotel utterly betrayed my trust.

Two weeks before my trip, I booked a sea view room at your hotel via the Trip.com app and specifically requested a high-floor sea view room in the booking notes. My primary goal was to ensure a superior sea view experience during my stay. I later found out that your hotel's guest rooms are located on floors 4-9. However, upon check-in, the front desk directly assigned me the lowest available room on the 4th floor. This completely contradicted my primary request when booking and significantly diminished the value of a 'sea view room'.

Upon realizing the issue, I immediately contacted the front desk, hoping to be moved to a higher floor, even just a few floors up to improve the sea view. However, I was informed that 'an additional fee would be required to switch to a higher floor.' This left me particularly incensed:

1. If your hotel has a tiered pricing structure for sea view rooms based on floor level, this policy should be clearly stated on the booking page, including the 'total range of guest room floors' and the 'floor range included in the corresponding price,' rather than concealing crucial information and misleading consumers. To demand extra payment only after check-in clearly demonstrates a lack of integrity.

2. I booked two weeks in advance and specifically noted my high-floor preference; this was not a last-minute, unreasonable request. Even if an adjustment wasn't possible due to full occupancy, a reasonable explanation should have been provided. However, the front desk offered no further explanation, simply presenting 'paying extra' as the only solution. This dismissive and profit-driven service attitude starkly contradicts your hotel's premium pricing and positioning and undermines guests' trust.

Your hotel projects an image of 'quality service' through its high pricing, yet in reality, it conceals information and implicitly demands extra payment. This is completely unacceptable to me. I strongly urge your hotel to address the following issues:

1. Disclose your floor-based pricing rules to provide a transparent booking environment for consumers.
2. Issue a formal apology to me for this service failure and optimize your front desk service procedures to prevent future guests from experiencing similar issues.