Texas customers book Groupon mystery vacation in Florida. Then they get to their Wyndham: ‘We’re right next door’

Booking a “mystery vacation” is a leap of faith by design. The idea is that a person pays a set—and often more affordable—price. Then a booking service surprises them with the destination and hotel. Most of the time, that gamble is part of the fun.

Unfortunately, one Texas traveler's reveal took a turn the moment she stepped outside her Florida hotel.

Groupon mystery vacation gone wrong: ‘That's the jail'

Texas travel content creator Megan (@maggiemily98) shared her hotel reveal after booking a Groupon mystery vacation. Her video has since accumulated more than 466,000 views.

“Alright y'all, here is our hotel, it's the Baymont by Wyndham,” Megan said, panning her camera across the hotel entrance. She filmed herself entering the lobby and then the elevator. But when it was time to go down the corridor to her room, she and her partner found themselves outside.

And that's when they saw the strangest thing.

“That's the jail,” Megan said, pointing her camera at the complex directly across from her hotel. As she and her partner walked in the corridor to the open air, the jail glowed under street lights. “Apparently, we're right next door to the jail.”

Megan then approached their hotel room, ready for a “room reveal.” She opened the door to a dark room furnished with two beds, and found herself unable to turn on the light.

“Oh, oh, oh, okay,” Megan said, flicking the light switch on and off to no avail. “Light switch doesn't do anything.”

Panning the camera to her partner, she asked, “What do you think? Should we sleep in separate beds?”

Her partner, who did not respond, did not look particularly impressed.

Megan filmed the rest of the room in silence, documenting the desk area and bathroom before plopping face-down on one of the beds.

‘Not the Conjugal visits motel'

Viewers in Megan's comment section voiced strong reactions to the jail reveal, with one person joking, “Not the Conjugal visits motel.”

“Groupon would be hearing from me,” a commenter wrote. “'Cause ain't no way I'm staying at the convict corner inn.”

“When I think ‘Groupon mystery vacation,' this is exactly what I imagined,” another said.

Others were convinced that, jail notwithstanding, the room itself didn't look too shabby.

“I really don't think it's that bad lol,” a viewer commented. “I would definitely be checking for bed bugs, but it appears clean through the video.”

One commenter even described a strikingly similar experience with the same chain.

“Wyndham did this to me too in Orlando,” they wrote. “I bought a hotel through hotels.com, and it was Wyndham Suites… when I got there it was an old Motel 6 which was half closed, and there was [adult] work and drug dealing outside. Do not trust Wyndham.”

@maggiemily98 Our Groupon mystery vacation hotel in Orlando. Baymont by Wyndham north millennia #orlando #groupon #travel #fyp #traveltok ♬ original sound – Megan

Is this a one-off problem, or a larger pattern?

The viewer in Megan's comment section who claimed they experienced a bait-and-switch in Orlando isn't alone. 

Better Business Bureau reviews of Baymont by Wyndham properties include a guest describing a room that “looked nothing like the picture” after booking through a third party, calling it “the old bait and switch for sure.”

A Tripadvisor review of a different Baymont location similarly describes a room booked through Hotels.com that didn't match its online photos, calling the property's cancellation policy a way to “force you to give up your funds.”

Complaints about Groupon's mystery vacation product are also documented beyond Megan's video. Countless TikToks chronicle “mystery Groupon Trip reviews,” with one creator accusing Groupon and its mystery vacation vendor of “running a scam operation.”

“They use bait & switch tactics, high-pressure upselling tactics, and complicated and questionable contract language to lock customers in,” the creator wrote in her caption. “Despite THOUSANDS OF COMPLAINTS, Groupon … continues to support this vendor and side with them over their customers. Ridiculous.”

Buzz News reached out to Megan via TikTok comment.