To Leave this hotel room empty

[katemiddletonsothermum]

OK, I've cocked up. I was convinced that a certain event was on a certain data, so I booked a hotel room. I booked it as an advance purchase so it's non cancellable and non transferable.

And now, of course, I discover that this particular event is the week after, so I'm going to have to book ANOTHER hotel room.

If I tell the hotel that I'm not coming on that first week, won't they just keep my money and then rent out the room again? AIBU not to just not turn up? After all, it's my room and I've paid for it. Why are hotel room bookings becoming like train tickets, ie 40 different prices for the same thing?

I could try and explain this to the hotel but I doubt they'd be sympathetic as the confirmation email clearly says that it's non refundable and non transferable

The event is in August so it's not like it's next week. So the hotel would have plenty of time to re-sell my room.

We had advanced purchased a hotel room last year, DP was very poorly and we couldn't make it to hotel. Phoned them up and they moved it to another weekend. I know it's a bit different but it's always worth asking.

I thought this was going to be a thread asking for advice on stealing everything in your hotel room.

I thought that too FetchezLaVache. That would have caused even more outrage.

Hodoooooor

Hotels do overbook rooms. From the threads I have seen on MN, people have turned up at a hotel and told no rooms were left despite a booking having been made.

You're comparing apples and oranges there Zad. It's petty to prevent the hotel from making money just because you can when it makes no difference to you at all, a refund isn't an option.

Don't be such a dog in the manger. All hotels overbook by a certain percentage anyway. It certainly won't be left empty.

We had a hotel last year we didn't turn up for, two rooms. Dp and I had a row and didn't go. It never even occurred to me to call the hotel and tell them. It was a Premier Inn, don't even know if you can call them directly.
But I didn't not call them from spite, just never crossed my mind. I knew we wouldn't get a refund.

On a business trip with a colleague, she asked to share my room because she didn't want to sleep alone and worried that she might sleep through the alarm if she did drop off.

So we not only cheated the hotel by not telling them they could re-sell her room, but also the company, who could have booked one room for the two of us if they'd known.

I feel very resentful towards her for dragging me into her web of deceit,

You've got nothing to lose but 5 mins of your time and the cost of a phone call if you ring them up and politely explain that you made a mistake but would be very grateful if they could consider changing your booking. You never know until you try.

Good luck

Gosh you're having a bad day, OP. Are you OK? I don't suppose the kid on the moped meant to knock off your mirror.

I thought you were going to run off with the bed and basin too.

Ask politely, explain you've cocked up. Either they'll be kind and understanding and change it or they won't. Always worth asking though.

Why don't you try and sell it on?

www.roomertravel.com

Worth a go...

All these people saying the business needs to make money they already have made money and by you not turning up its not costing them anything. The room won't need housekeeping, no cost of getting the linen cleaned, and if you've booked and paid for breakfast they've saved on that as well.

I would definitely try and get it changed to the correct date, its hard with the bigger hotel chains they tend to stick firmly to their T&Cs but more independent or smaller changes that rely on repeat business will be more inclined to be helpful and there's really no harm in asking.

And if you have no success try and sell it yourself or I don't know phone up a local homeless charity see if they want it for the night and a least someone is getting the use of it.

Hotels do overbook rooms. From the threads I have seen on MN, people have turned up at a hotel and told no rooms were left despite a booking having been made

Not when it has been paid for in advance.

I truly hope the people on this thread whining about businesses making money aren't actually running businesses.

Hodooooooooor You don't think people turn up at hotels without a booking late in the evening (worked late, missed train, etc) because they can't get home? Doesn't need to be a queue if the hotel is almost full

At midnight? Seriously, you think the Travelodge staff all over the country are just waiting for the stroke of midnight so they can resell the bookings of rooms, that have already been paid for, to the desperate folk waiting in reception on the off chance of a room?

If you book directly with the hotel, they are often more flexible and will offer another date. If you book through a site like Booking.com it's not so easy, but still worth a try.

If the Op is still reading before phoning then the tack I would take is obviously politely asking if it is possible to move the booking and then offering to pay the full transferable room rate for the date you don't want if they would be able to transfer that way. Then you may have to pay more but you wont lose out completely and that may allow their system to make the transfer. It may not be a case of whether the individual you speak to would like to be able to help you, the way the booking is set up, they just may not be able to.

Hodooooooooor, as noted upthread I've certainly known a case when a hotel re-let a room when a guest didn't turn up, so I don't think you can assume that it will never happen.

OP same thing happened to me! TWICE!

This is what I did: I rang booking.com (is that who you booked through - if not, ring whoever it was) and said that I'd just received a letter from the NHS giving me a date for a specialist appointment that I'd waited months for, and it clashed with my non refundable hotel booking, and could I please change the date. They rang the hotel, the hotel said yes and they changed it. They did not ask to see any proof of my story. The second time it was much nearer the date, and I simply rang and said I was ill and they allowed me to delay the date by 2 months.

The point is, it is no skin off the hotel receptionist's nose if you stay on day X or day Y. You are simply changing the date, not asking for a refund! The hotel still gets its money.

Try it! The worst that can happen is, they say no. I've done it twice and they've always said yes.

Hello! I'm back.

I phoned the hotel who were very nice and moved my booking. I'd booked directly with them so they didn't mind. But........

.......

Because the Races are on that week, the cost of the room has doubled. So I had to shell out another £60.

Mumsnetters, chew on that...

Oh that's good news! You still saved £60 though as you'd have had to pay for the empty room plus the new room otherwise. Hope you enjoy your trip!

Well it's unfortunate that the cost increases but understandable if there's an event on. Still made a saving though as if you'd rebooked for that weekend it was going to be double anyway.

Well even though you had to pay another £60, it was only another £60. Not the full cost of the room for the 2nd night.
I think it's worked out reasonably. I know it sucks having to pay extra but that is the way of it for hotels, some dates are more expensive.
At least you saved some money eh?
Car get fixed ok in the end?

I phoned the hotel who were very nice and moved my booking.

It's always been my experience that aside from a few arsy airlines, date changes on "no refund, no changes" advance deals are fairly easy. I did exactly what the OP did, mis-booked a room and then had to shift it and pay the balance because it was a more expensive date. They were helpfulness itself, and of course that means that I've now stayed in the same hotel, occasionally at rack rate, when I've been back in the city.

The hotel will have known for some time that the races are on that week, since most major race meetings (the type that would encourage people to come from afar and need hotel rooms) don't change dates much from one year to the next and so they will have set their room rates accordingly based on supply and demand. So if you'd booked the correct date originally, at the time you booked the wrong dates, you would almost certainly have had to pay the higher rate then too.