Unhappy With Hotels

Regarding “Lodging Some Gripes About Yosemite” (Letters, Aug. 12), I can add that when the park concessionaire messed up our reservations and was forced to refund us the money it had held from October 2000 to June (about $140), it took almost six weeks to get the refund. Can we buy stock in this company?

As for the shorter hours of permitted stays, I cite Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort in Santa Barbara, which has a check-in time of 4 p.m. and checkout time of 11 a.m. You get 19 hours for your “day.” We paid $316 for a second-floor room (no elevator, with parking a couple of blocks away). But, hey, they gave us two chocolate chip cookies when we checked in, and we could have walked to the beach if we’d had time.

JERI TURPIN

Mission Viejo