Vista Marina Hotel & Resort Newly Wed’s Nightmare

Comments

1. MARK says:

   May 23, 2008 at 11:10 pm

   VISTA MARINA HOTEL & RESORT
   OFFICIAL STATEMENT
   In Reply to Internet Message circulated by Dr. Abigail Fernandez-Bautista, DMD

   Vista Marina Hotel and Restaurant is a simple and unassuming hotel that stands in the splendid heart of the Moonbay Marina within the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. While it has been in existence for barely four (4) years only, it boasts of as one hotel that managed to gain tremendous success and exceeded targets far more than the expectations. While we cannot claim to be a perfect resort, the fact that the average occupancy rate is significantly above industry standards and guests continue to come back and avail of our services and amenities, we can only humbly say that we have excelled in the hotel service market, met customer satisfaction and built a name of comfort and a sanctuary home away from home.

   However the news story being spread around via internet by Dr. Abigail Fernandez-Bautista, DMD was something totally unexpected. While we could not dictate what customer comments and feedback for our service would be, we feel deeply aggrieved that it would be best to present also the true and accurate facts surrounding the incident if only to give the public an assurance that in this service industry, callousness and lack of sensitivity had never been a deportment in any of our guest dealings.

   We are seriously called upon to present our side of the story:

   It was only around 11:40 pm after the wedding reception of Mr. Dax Bautista and Dr. Abigail Fernandez held at the Vista Marina Resort & Hotel on May 10, 2008, when the front office clerk, Ariel Talavera, received a complaint from Mr. Mark De Guzman claiming loss of valuables consisting of cash and cellular phone. Immediately, the Internal Security, Alfonso Pastrana, was called to assist the complaining guests. The Operations Manager, Anthony Bacunawa, also came in to talk with Mr. De Guzman suggesting a thorough check first of their rooms as well as their vehicles. When the valuables could not be located, the Operations Manager immediately suggested to the guests to start calling the credit companies to report the missing credit cards. The SBMA Intelligence and Investigation Office was also called upon to look into the situation. Likewise, all employees’ particularly outgoing personnel were immediately submitted to body frisking/bag search in the presence of the complaining guests. All employee lockers and areas where culprits could possibly use to conceal apparently stolen valuables were looked into and the hotel even went to the extent of destroying lockers all for the purpose of solving the incident. Unfortunately all efforts yielded negative results. Likewise, when a companion of Mr. Dax Bautista complained that the room of the bride and groom apparently appears to have been ransacked, Mr. Gener Pangan, immediately inspected the area and fortunately found nothing missing. At about 1:45am, this time around, it was now the laptop of the couple that was missing. It was then at that instance that they started to threaten the hotel that they will be knocking on each and every guest room to inform them of their losses. Thereafter, the IIO came to conduct an investigation interviewing Mrs. Butch, the Operations Manager, the bride and the groom, some housekeeping staff and internal security. The investigation by the IIO continued at the IIO office and all throughout, hotel management cooperated and provided all the necessary information. Despite the series of investigations and attention to all the complaints, the following day, May 11, 2008, while having breakfast, complainants and their guests spitefully talked to other hotel guests, this time already, undermining and putting the hotel’s credibility in the bad light. Moreover, noticeable were that some of the luggages of complainants and companions were already tucked in their vehicles when the standard practice is that boarding of luggages should be done only after check-out procedures had been completed.

   Understandably still aghast over the incident the night before, at around 9:30am of the following day, the Operations Manager, Mr. Bacunawa, talked to Mr. Bava and the mother of the groom. The latter was extremely nice and understanding of the untoward incident. Mr. Bacunawa also talked with Mr. Edgar Bautista who at that point expressed willingness to explore the possibility of a settlement. The hotel made an offer but apparently turned down by the couple. On the other hand, Mr. Mark de Guzman settled to be paid P 15,000.00 cash with two (2) rooms costing P 3,080.00 per room as well as mini-bar consumption in the amount of P 1,040.00 be freed up to them. Mr. Mark de Guzman signed a Quitclaim with a full declaration forever releasing and discharging the hotel from any liability arising out of or in connection with the complained incident and being fully paid to his satisfaction.

   Later on, the father of the groom, Mr. Edgar Bautista while settling the hotel bills, opened the matter of settlement back with the Operations Manager. After a series of negotiations also finally agreed to a compromise and settled to accept the amount of P 38,000.00 as replacement for the alleged missing laptop and voluntarily signed the Quitclaim as release of the hotel from any and all liability and for full and satisfactory settlement of their claims. .

   While everything seems to have ended well with the quitclaims having been executed, the complaining guests did not stop there. Mr. Edgar Bautista together with a certain Mr. Bava sought an audience with the President of the resort hotel despite the fact that the Operations Manager already handled the issue to the satisfaction of the complainants. The President in his office received Mr. Edgar Bautista and Mr. Bava and even expressed apology for the inconvenience the incident may have caused. But what should have been a cordial reconciliation resulted to an unpleasant meeting when Mr. Bava, who is not even an aggrieved party to the alleged incident, insisted that what was offered “was not enough”. Mr. Bautista and Mr. Bava raised voices and yelled to the President right at his very office.

   All these scandalous actuations, screaming litany in the hotel lobby insinuating questionable trustworthiness of the hotel continued no end despite a prior mutually acceptable scheme of settlement. Not being satisfied of the damage they have caused to the hotel, Dr. Fernandez-Bautista went further to the extent of irresponsibly circulating via internet the news story as if totally nothing has been reached between her father-in-law, Mr.Edgar Bautista and the Hotel Management and not fully disclosing that Mr. Mark de Guzman likewise had released the hotel from any and all liability.

   While hotel officers could not immediately bring to fore the culprit, hotel management lost no time to conduct a serious investigation on the matter and took every reasonable step available to attend to the complaint. We insist that the “Hotel is “not responsible for accidents or injury to guests or for any damage/loss of money, jewelry or valuables of any kind” as clearly indicated in the Registration Form filled up by Dr. Abigail Fernandez-Bautista. But nevertheless, the Hotel management, if only to relieve these guests of their tension, discomfort and worries, answered for the loss and offered payment to compensate for whatever damages the incident brought to their party which was accepted by her relative-complainants. While the Hotel knows that the feelings of anxiety and depression can never be compensated, we did, with all honesty, took every step to address the issue and exerted our best efforts to exhibit genuine empathy and understanding of the feelings of these guests under such a situation.

   We reiterate that acts of dishonesty and thievery within the hotel are never tolerated. We reiterate that we have diligently exerted efforts to protect and ensure the safety and security of our guests at all times. We deny the allegation of Dr. Fernandez that such incident is a normal occurrence in the hotel. We deny that we coldly attended to the complaint brought to us. We deny that nothing was done to address the incident complained of. We completely deny that the complaint fell on deaf ears and complainants were brushed aside for no reason by security.

   Dr. Abigail Fernandez and her husband, Mr. Dax Bautista chose Vista Marina among the so many hotels around Subic Bay Freeport Zone and even in the entire Philippines for the venue of their wedding reception last May 10, 2008. While we do not exactly know the reason for their choice, we can only surmise that the hotel’s reputation for outstanding service, superior amenities and strict attention to details of its friendly staff were factors that gave way for their decision. On the part of the hotel, we delivered a well prepared and carefully crafted wedding reception which admittedly made this special event truly memorable as it was evident that the couple was satisfactorily fulfilled after the wedding program that ended at 10:30pm. It was just unfortunate that circumstances beyond our control arose. Yet, in spite of the satisfactory service during the wedding and the quitclaim already executed by her relative, Mr. Mark de Guzman, and her father-in-law, Mr. Edgar Bautista, Dr. Fernandez, still managed to circulate a twisted news story via the internet in a clear attempt to damage, ridicule and put the hotel in a bad light not only in the tourism industry but in the local and international community as well. When the complaining parties already released the Hotel from any liability, what else is there to make the Hotel answerable for? What else is there for Dr. Fernandez to claim redress for? The matter of damage done to Vista Marina by the act of Dr. Fernandez is totally immeasurable and irreparable. Definitely no amount can compensate for the damage caused. While this matter will be properly referred for appropriate legal action, all the good name and reputation Vista Marina Resort and Hotel had painstakingly built in the tourism industry through the years have gone to drain by Dr. Fernandez’s malicious, malevolent and scheming devise and biased and one-sided presentation of the story to embarrass and defame the Hotel.

   In the middle of this severe crisis that befell the Hotel, we shall be forever grateful to all loyal Hotel guests who stood by and continued to patronage the Vista Marina Resort & Hotel despite all the defamatory stories presented against its reputation. We appeal to the public to weigh the facts and solicit your fair judgment in drawing a fair conclusion. Hotel management and staff shall continue to stand by our commitment to give the best quality service and amenities and utmost customer satisfaction at all times. We sincerely hope that the success we have reached given the limited period of our existence and the truly satisfying Vista Marina experience that has become a byword in the tourism industry be the sole benchmark of the clients in still choosing Vista Marina as their supreme choice of Hotel.

   THANK YOU
   THE MANAGEMENT
   VISTA MARINA RESORT AND HOTEL
   Moonbay Marina, Subic Bay Freeport Zone
2. Rouges and Rascals says:

   October 6, 2008 at 1:48 pm

   Vista Marina Hotel Still a Haven of Crime

   Most of us read the email circulated by Dr Abigail Fernandez-Bautista about the hotel room thefts and management disregard at Vista Marina Hotel in waterfront road Subic Freeport followed by the subsequent email from the hotel that was an attempt to have us believe that this was an isolated incident and that they acted with honour.

   We have learnt the hard way that Vista Marina’s email was merely a publicity smoke screen and that thefts of guests property not only remains a regular occurrence but that the staff and management still act in exactly the same slimy way as was described in the email of Dr Fernandez-Bautista.

   Early in the morning on September 8th, 2008 some friends of my wife arrived from overseas and the hotel that I had booked for them had just sprayed for cockroaches so due to the smell they moved to Vista Marina Hotel without my knowledge.

   On that evening we all went out for dinner and drinks. When my wife and I picked up our friends my wife and I went up to their room and my wife witnessed that our friends left their high end cell phone sitting on the table next to the TV. This fact we are all certain about. We left the hotel to go out at approximately 7:30pm.

   By 9.30pm one of our friends called the cell phone of my friend and it was turned off, suggesting the phone was taken from the room between 7.30pm and 9.30pm

   We dropped my friends back to the hotel later that evening and they went straight to sleep, the following morning they realised that the phone was missing, of course they checked everywhere including moving furniture in case it had been knocked off the table but it was no longer in the room. At about 11am they spoke to the hotel management, receiving a sarcastic and uncooperative response so when they advised us of the theft around 12:30 lunchtime my wife called the SBMA Police.

   The manager showed us a monitor that was supposedly the CCTV footage of that night, however as the CCTV only makes a recording when there is movement there is no way of knowing it the system is started, stopped, paused or if there is movement outside the movement area. The CCTV also does not cover the balcony doors where it is possible to go from balcony to balcony to enter the rooms.

   When the SMBA Police where at the Vista Marina Hotel in the presence of the manager my friend asked “do guests in this hotel get robbed often?” all the SBMA Police and the manager just looked down at the ground and did not say a word, in this case silence was a strong expression of the problems that are still occurring in that hotel. Unfortunately my friends had never heard of the famous wedding day robbery or the appalling record of the Vista Marina Hotel. They thought that as the hotel was inside the SBMA controlled area it was safe with a level of protection

   When waiting for the boat to Grande Island, a woman who seemed to be the manager of the ferry terminal, told my friends that the same thing had happened 3 days earlier, and there was nothing on the CCTV that time either. She also told us that she had heard this happens once a week. If this is true why isn’t SBMA acting to close down this haven of crime, why does SBMA not uphold the safe image of the Subic Freeport?

   When my friends came back from the Grande Island they filed a police complaint, and again went to see the hotel manager to ask if the hotel was going to do anything, unfortunately they were again met with sarcasm and continued suppression of information or the ability to speak with the owner.

   The manager had clearly been through this situation a number of times. He was prepared with a smart answer for everything rehearsed and delivered with a really annoying smarmy smile.

   Part of the manager’s defence was that he claimed that the hotel does not clean the rooms unless requested. However, my friend’s room was spotless after they had been out for the day. The rooms were cleared, bed made, and new towels given. So why does the manager claim that they don’t makeup rooms that have guests when they do? Who is he trying to protect?

   A week after the thefts we wrote to the management of Vista Marina Hotel who didn’t answer, a week later we wrote again questioning there care for customers and they wrote back with a letter signed only “The Management”, we feel concerned that the owners or “management” act in such a guilty way that they need to hide their identity. Imagine if I was to check into this hotel and insist on registering as “The Guest”.
   In their letter they said that they were not settling the matter because my friend had involved the Police. I checked the Police report and the police report was filed three days after the incident was reported to the management, so let’s be clear, they had three days to settle this before the robbery was formalized to the police and we gave them a further two weeks of emails to settle the matter before going public. They continue to hide their identity, not compensate the guests and act with contempt to the unsuspecting public as well as SBMA.
   To add insult to injury my friends have now discovered extra charges in fact they even charged the rooms to their credit cards twice. It seems when they target you they go for all they can.

   Enough is enough, when you search in Google or Yahoo about Subic Bay you come up with dozens of stories of people getting their belongings stolen from their rooms and extra charges billed to their credit cards ONLY in the Vista Marina. Vista Marina is the ONLY hotel with this disgraceful public reputation it’s time for the SBMA to terminate the lease of these undesirables who are dragging down the reputation of Subic.
3. Godofredo Gomez says:

   March 14, 2009 at 12:14 pm

   nakoryente ang anak ko don sa gardin nila!!! whin i check ang dami wire, delikado anu!!! kung may mahal kayu sa buhay ninyu wag ninyu papuntahen sa vista marina baka mawalan ng buhay and mahal ninyu sa buhay!!! nakakalungkot…