@russiandwarf
Do customers who book through third party websites get the worst rooms? I have always wondered this when the prices are cheaper!
Not in my experience, usually rooms are allocated as soon as you book by the booking system and in order to sell the rooms in the first place they have to be on there, so that you can't get overbooked, that said though you can 'book out' rooms on third party websites, and I have known in some larger hotels the suites and executive rooms only released one at a time so you get that 'only one left on our site' warning. It's always worth ringing the hotel and seeing what deal they'll do for a direct booking.
@Flatwhite32
Is it legal to cancel a room (citing invalid credit card details, even though this wasn't true) and sell it on at a higher price? This happened to DH and I at the weekend when travelling with our 9 month old DD. The credit card used isn't invalid, and we were left stranded with DD! Hotel is still refusing to pick up the phone.
I don't think there's anything illegal about what they did unfortunately. You can refuse anyone, for any reason. It's a shitty trick though, and I've known it happen in less reputable places, I've had similar experiences myself too! Sometimes there will be a genuine mistake made, regarding cards and numbers, but in the event of this, a good hotel would explain and apologise. It sounds like a screw up to me to be honest and they're ignoring you. I'm sorry you got stranded, I've dealt with people coming to us having had similar happen, or even being locked out of the building while going for a meal! 75% of hotel success is based on reputation, and those kinds of tricks do not give a good reputation! Did you get somewhere to stay in the end?
My advice is an email detailing the particulars of your booking, if you get no joy then hit every 3rd party website they're on with a truthful review!