The nightmare began on November 29, 2025.
On November 29, I booked a four-night stay at Seoul Boutique Hotel (首尔精品酒店) through Agoda, from November 29 to December 3. Around 11 p.m., I was in a taxi heading to the hotel. Thinking I might arrive late for check-in, I opened the Agoda app to send the hotel a message—only to discover that my reservation had been canceled. Since I was exhausted and urgently needed a place to sleep, I immediately booked another hotel.
I made only one payment, so how did it become two reservations?
After seeing that my reservation had been canceled, I asked the hotel why it was canceled. The hotel replied 50 minutes later, claiming that the reservation had not been canceled. By that time, I had already booked another hotel—Centric Sea.
The hotel unilaterally deleted my refund request message.
I clearly made only one card payment.
But shortly afterward, Agoda showed one successful reservation for Seoul Boutique Hotel (首尔精品酒店). In other words, there were now two entries—one successful reservation and one canceled reservation. This was extremely upsetting, so I requested a refund from the hotel.
I am Korean, and I booked this hotel because its name felt familiar and welcoming. But instead of hospitality, I was met with rude and unethical behavior that left me deeply disappointed. If it had been just one night, I might have let it go. But this was 230 USD. The hotel clearly canceled my reservation and then reinstated it—an obvious mistake and a deceptive act on their part. I visit Thailand often, so I asked whether, if they could not issue a refund, they could at least transfer my stay to future dates. They refused, saying it was impossible.
Agoda’s disappointing and insincere response.
I am an Agoda VIP Diamond member. Although the amount itself may not seem huge, losing 230 USD to a hotel I never even stayed at is unacceptable—and Agoda failed to mediate the situation properly. If the hotel canceled my reservation and then reinstated it shortly after, resulting in duplicated entries, that is clearly the hotel’s fault. Agoda should have held the hotel accountable and protected its customer.
The Agoda support agent was polite, but I truly wish they had taken the customer’s perspective a bit more seriously.
In my personal experience, Pattaya Seoul Boutique Hotel (首尔精品酒店) is an utterly disgraceful and untrustworthy hotel.
If you ever book this hotel through Agoda while you’re on a tight schedule, I strongly advise you to check your reservation status every single minute. If it suddenly gets canceled and you book another hotel, you may lose your hard-earned money. Agoda will not protect you. Remember this well: in my experience, this is the worst and most unreliable hotel in Pattaya.