Nate D.
Complete health hazard and zero accountability from Costco Travel — Do not trust them with your family
I am a loyal Costco Executive Member, but after my recent experience with Costco Travel, I will never use or recommend their travel services again. They completely failed to take care of us and left my family stranded in an absolute dump. We booked a European vacation package through Costco. While our first stop was great, our three-night stay at the Meliá Sevilla in Spain was a total health and safety nightmare. The second we walked into our suite, Room 531/532, we were hit with an overwhelming, toxic smell of industrial bleach. The hotel front desk admitted they were fully booked and couldn't move us, and their only solution was to tell us to open a window. It was completely obvious they were flooding the room with bleach to mask a systemic moisture and black mold problem. The room was incredibly run-down and flat-out unsafe for my two young daughters, who are nine and twelve. There was visible black mold caked along the bathroom and shower seals. On top of that, the shower caulking had completely failed. Every single time the shower was used, water poured out and pooled heavily across the tile floor, creating a massive slip hazard. To make matters worse, one of the two toilets in our suite was completely broken the entire time. Outside in the hallway, the carpet was so badly buckled and rippled it was a major tripping hazard, and the room itself had gouged-out walls and broken woodwork. The worst part of this experience wasn’t just the hazardous room, it was Costco Travel’s disgraceful customer service. I called them twice from Spain begging for help to relocate my kids. The first agent I spoke with actually blamed me for the situation, telling me it was my fault for choosing the cheapest hotel option in the package. The second agent told me the only way they would move us to a safe hotel was if I paid an extra $1,000 per night out of my own pocket. When we got home, I sent full video and photographic proof of these hazards to an In-Travel supervisor named Ian. Costco completely ignored the evidence and went radio silent for over a week. I eventually had to file a credit card dispute just to get their attention, which the bank's automated system ultimately rejected simply because we physically slept in the room. The bank completely ignored the fact that Costco's own agents gave us no viable alternative in a foreign city. Only after the bank dispute wrapped up did a Costco escalations specialist finally reach out to me. Costco talks a big game about vetting their partners and taking care of members, but when a real health and safety crisis happened, they abandoned us, kept our money, and hid behind a bank technicality.