"Spent 45 Minutes Searching for Booked Luxury Hotel, Only to Find Out It Was a Different Place"

Fake Hotel Listing in the U.S. Revealed as a 'Phantom Hotel'
Nonexistent Brand Used to Attract Guests
AI-Generated Luxury Room Photos Posted to Lure Customers

A mid-range accommodation in Las Vegas, United States, has been discovered luring guests with a non-existent luxury hotel brand as a 'bait-and-switch' product, prompting an investigation by the authorities.

On August 23 (local time), ABC News reported that Ariana Patino, a resident of Utah, recently booked a purported luxury hotel called 'Palette Las Vegas' on the reservation site Booking.com for a trip to Las Vegas with her younger sister.

'Palette Las Vegas' (left) and OYO Hotel and Casino (right) falsely registered on the reservation platform. Booking.com

The images of the hotel posted on the platform showed a clean and upscale facility. Patino said she booked a three-night stay with high expectations.

However, upon arrival in Las Vegas, the sisters reportedly spent about 45 minutes wandering the area without being able to find the address listed in the reservation. The building closest to the given address was a mid-range hotel called OYO Hotel & Casino.

Patino had deliberately excluded this hotel from her search after seeing negative reviews about hygiene issues on travel platforms.

"They wanted to see which name would attract guests": Bizarre Excuse

Upon entering the hotel, she realized that the check-in desk she saw in Booking.com’s Palette Las Vegas listing photo was identical to the front desk at OYO Hotel.

OYO Hotels' AI-Generated 'Palette Hotel' False Advertisement. Booking.com

When she told a staff member that she had booked Palette Las Vegas, the staff replied, "Yes, this is it." The staff then explained, "We posted the accommodation under a different name to see which hotel name would attract more guests."

When Patino requested a cancellation, citing false advertisement, the hotel refused, saying that the cancellation period had expired and that she would have to pay a cancellation fee of 200 dollars (approximately 270,000 won).

Nick Ewen, Editor of the travel industry media outlet The Points Guy, commented, "While it is not uncommon for hotels to change their branding after mergers or acquisitions, deceiving customers by advertising a non-existent hotel to solicit reservations is downright misleading."

Fake Logos, Signs, and Even Bedding Created by AI

An investigation revealed that OYO Hotel fabricated a fake street address and used AI image generation and editing technologies to combine the brand logo onto the building exterior, signage, and bedding, then uploaded these images to reservation platforms.

OYO Hotel and Casino room interior photo. Expedia

As the controversy grew, OYO Hotel explained, "We were considering separating room sections to operate under a different brand, and due to an issue, the listing was posted online before remodeling and signage replacement were completed."

Afterward, Patino filed complaints with Booking.com, her bank, and corporate ethics evaluation agencies. Booking.com stated, "We have removed the phantom hotel 'Palette Las Vegas' from our platform and are proceeding with the refund process."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.