PROTECTING OUR ST. AUGUSTINE VISITORS FROM EXPLOITATION BY MOTELS

The excellent banner headline lead story in this morning's St. Augustine Record by Stuart Korfhage exposes the dishonesty of WYNDHAM HOTEL GROUP's HOWARD JOHNSON franchisee here in St. Augustine, to wit, TRIPAL SHAH and MOHINI HOSPITALITY LLC, 137 San Marco Avenue, St. Augustine, Florida 32084, GeneralManager01235@wynhg.com, www.staugustinehojo.com)

The franchisee is in apparent blatant breach of its year-old contract to provide rooms for a wedding for Lisa Dolyak and Trey Gillette.

The dishonest hotelier is dishonoring the Dolyak/Gillette wedding party's confirmed, faxed, signed, contractual commitments, backed with their credit card imprints -- dishonoring $60/night reservations for 20 wedding guests -- to make $250/night for the same rooms taken by concertgoers for the Mumford & Sons' "Gentlemen of the Road" concerts. This is fraud and a stench in the nostril of our Nation's Oldest City.

MOHINI HOSPITALITY LLC, the local franchisee, canceled its reservations for the Dolyak/Gillette wedding; then General Manager TRIPAL SHAH made reservations for a block of rooms at a Days' Inn five miles away.

Dolyak/Gillette wedding participants wanted an in-town, local feel and planned to walk or take the trolleys.

That is what they contracted for and that is what they shall have – such dishonesty by local lodgings is an embarrassment to every St. Augustine resident.

Three conclusions:
1.Our Nation's Oldest City, St. Augustine, Florida, must preserve and protect our growing global reputation as a prime tourist spot – we must begin regulating and inspecting motels here, preventing further visitor exploitation.
2.WYNDHAM HOTELS, HOWARD JOHNSON and MOHINI HOSPITALITY LLC must honor the Dolyak/Gillette wedding party's reservations or else face possible breach of contract litigation – no doubt, several local pro bono lawyers will volunteer after reading today's article to pick up the phone and help this couple.
3.WYNDHAM HOTELS, HOWARD JOHNSON and MOHINI HOSPITALITY LLC will have the chance to answer to the City Commission February 25th. I plan to request that Commissioners direct that an ordinance be drafted, based upon the bad experiences of the Dolyak/Gillette wedding party, et al.

What do you reckon?