I don't think the French B&B actually exists.
First, the
google map isn't verrified. But, if you look at the location on Google Street map, it doesn't really look like a B&B location.
Second, their are three trip advisor reviews. Two are already aliases (
rlivingston and
leekay) we've seen before, with four and five star reviews. However, there is one negative review by a
tripadvisor member:
QUOTE
Arrived at the nondescript entrance, the door was not answered but one of the owners who must have heard his dogs barking came out to take some rubbish. He then started to pour out the excuses along the lines of a builder coming in the day before and accidentally taking the door off. We looked at the room and whilst the fittings were nice the bathroom was still a building site and everything was covered in a layer of building dust. Loose electric cables etc. Owner said he would pay back our £100 deposit but did not have it on him, if we returned in an hour he would have it. Needless to say when we returned in the hour the door was not answered. Do not give these guys any money! In fact lesson we learnt is check with Syndicat d'Initiative before paying money or booking any accomodation.
Third, this
review from the Independent doesn't seem to be real, either. The Independent published an article on Saturday, April 25, 2009 entitled 48 HOURS IN Beziers, with no mention of the Maison de l'Orb. It does list the number of the Beziers tourist office ((00 33 4 67 76 84 00; beziers -tourisme.fr) if anyone wants to contact them.
I don't think it is very difficult to set up a fake B&B -- you are assuming many advertising websites check for reliable sources, and i doubt they do. (IMG:
smilys0b23ax56/default/wink.gif)
With all of these fake websites and companies, the question that might be asked, if the above review from tripadvisor is to be believed, is how much money has been scammed from various people in "fees" for services never rendered?