DUBAI
An Indian bridegroom was left red-faced on his wedding day earlier this month after a five-star hotel in Dubai turned him away, claiming they had no clue about the booking he had supposedly made to celebrate the big day.
The 35-year-old bridegroom S.A. told Gulf News on Tuesday that he was duped by an Australian acquaintance of Lebanese origin who took Dh26,000 from him, promising to book the hotel on his behalf at a special discount but instead pocketed all the money.
“Imagine my shock when I showed up at the hotel in Jumeirah all dressed up and was informed that there was no booking under my name. I called the acquaintance several times but he kept making excuses saying everything was on track. But they weren’t, so I had to call off the wedding. It was a big fiasco and it left me terribly embarrassed before my 150 odd guests. On my wedding day, I had to call them and cite ‘technical reasons’ for the cancellation of the event. Obviously, I couldn’t contact all of them and many did show up at the venue only to return angry and disappointed,” recalled S.A. who eventually got married two days later at Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights on January 12.
“Not only did I lose money and face, I was also left scampering around to make last minute arrangements as no venue was readily at such short notice,” added S.A. who is now contemplating filing a police complaint against the man who allegedly cheated him.
“He gained my trust by dropping names and saying that as a privileged member of a large hotel chain, he was entitled to a 50 per cent discount which I could avail. Who would have thought he would do something like this and that too on the most important day of my life,” said the man who works for a real estate developer.
