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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think if you book a hotel room, they should have a room available for you?

62 replies

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 26/10/2018 12:47

Booked a room in the Holiday Inn for one night for a work trip, several days in advance. Turned up 11pm to check in, absolutely knackered, and was told they were fully booked and didn't have a room for me. They claimed their booking system had gone down and my booking was lost (lies...)

An hour later - and only at my insistence - they found me an alternative hotel and put me in a taxi to get there. I suspect that if I was more meek they'd just have left me stranded - tiny town, no car.

After making a complaint, they admitted they routinely overbook their rooms in the same style as RyanAir, barely apologised, claimed other hotels do it and by way of apology gave me some loyalty points to a scheme I don't use on a take it or leave it basis. And then they had the cheek to ask me to remove my 1* TripAdvisor review...!

AIBU to think it's CFery to overbook hotel rooms like this?

OP posts:
dontalltalkatonce · 26/10/2018 14:54

So what if you know you're going to get in late?

mastertomsmum · 26/10/2018 15:00

Overbooking does happen but if one turns up and has a room booked then if they have no room then they need to find you one.

What's all this pay in advance nonsence. That's only possible/necessary on a package deal. Yes, most hotels ask for credit card details when booking. There may be a no show fee, but you are not a no show if it's still the same day you booked for.

chrisinthesun · 26/10/2018 15:03

It is standard practice to overbook, but rare for them to leave you stranded.

They should always find alternative accommodation for you. And pay for you to get there if you have no car.

It really annoys me that they do this, because if someone doesn't turn up, the room is still paid for/charged for. So it's really just a way to make extra money. And if everyone does turn up, it causes huge problems - when there are 55 bookings for people/couples/families, but they only have 50 rooms.

Double booking is a pain for the staff too, when they have (understandably) angry customers, just wanting to go to bed, and they have to spend half an hour on the phone, ringing around other hotels trying to find somewhere for the customer.

Time this was stopped!

CantWaitToRetire · 26/10/2018 15:09

What's all this pay in advance nonsence. That's only possible/necessary on a package deal
@mastertomsmum - lots of hotels offer cheaper rates if you pay in full in advance. These rates are usually non-refundable.

It's ridiculous because presumably even if a guest doesn't turn up they are still charged for the room - so they're not losing any money they're due
@kaytee87 - the room rate is only part of the revenue for a hotel. They also expect to make money on food and beverages and other services such as spa treatments if they do them, hence why they'd rather have someone in the room rather than it sitting empty.

chrisinthesun · 26/10/2018 15:10

@mastertomsmum

What is all this 'pay in advance nonsense? That's only possible on package deals.'

Errr you're wrong.

You have obviously never stayed in a Travelodge, a Premier Inn, or an Ibis. A number of other hotels do it too. It's often cheaper to book and pay in advance. But yes, it is definitely a thing.

You need to get out more if you think there's no such thing as booking and paying for a hotel room in advance.

Jaxhog · 26/10/2018 15:16

It IS crazy, but lots of hotels do it. Even if you've already paid for the room. A lot of hotels expect to be paid in advance, and not just cheap ones or chains.

Unfortunately, even more people don't bother to turn up after they've booked, which means Hotels generally expect to have free rooms. If they don't get a % paid for, they go bust. This is why hotels overbook.

mastertomsmum · 26/10/2018 15:16

Experienced traveller, many times in hotels. Booking all the time. The 'how to' is do it on terms that are customer friendly or don't give them your custom.

Paying in advance other than a deposit/guarantor is not the norm.

You will be telling me next to use Trivago etc. to book. Booking anything via sites like this means no guarantee.

If you want a service economy that serves the customer then vote with your feet and stop trying to say it's the norm. It's neither the norm nor what one should put up with.

mastertomsmum · 26/10/2018 15:20

This thread seems dominated by people who don't think the hotels can do as they wish. They are not airbnb's

chrisinthesun · 26/10/2018 15:22

@mastertomsmum

Oh dear. Can't admit you're wrong.

Many hotels do a 'book and pay in advance' system.

Just because you have not noticed that the hotels YOU have been to do it (and they probably do,) that doesn't mean they don't, and that no other hotels do it!!!

Paying in advance other than a deposit/guarantor is not the norm...

Errr, yeah it is. For many hotels. And NOT just 'airbnb.' As I said, you need to get out more!!! You are spouting nonsense.

chrisinthesun · 26/10/2018 15:23

@mastertomsmum

Oh dear. Can't admit you're wrong.

Many hotels do a 'book and pay in advance' system.

Just because you have not noticed that the hotels YOU have been to do it, that doesn't mean they don't, and that no other hotels do it!!!

Paying in advance other than a deposit/guarantor is not the norm...

Errr, yeah it is. For many hotels. And NOT just 'airbnb.' As I said, you need to get out more!!! You are spouting nonsense.

kalinkafoxtrot45 · 26/10/2018 15:26

I usually give my credit card details to guarantee my room for a late arrival, and if it’s a new hotel or I’ll be really late, I contact them in advance. If I was denied a room I’d booked and paid for, I’d raise merry hell. It’s a matter of personal safety.

chrisinthesun · 26/10/2018 15:27

@Mastertomsmum

And I am an 'experienced traveller' too. Been to dozens of countries over 5 continents, and stayed in 100's of hotels (with my job, AND through leisure,) and many hotels let you book and pay advance.

I literally have no idea why you are denying it, and refusing to admit you're wrong. Confused

mastertomsmum · 26/10/2018 15:31

This is daft, the way to book is on terms that will suit you as a customer. If hotels negotiate down from a secure booking in a time honoured tradition one can buy into that or choose to use the system more wisely.

We seem hung up on 'poor hotels, people not turning up'. The thread is about someone turning up and there not being a room. So, it's the hotel in the wrong without doubt.

My point is book a deal that doesn't do the customer down. That is what the person did and still got messed about. But the least one can do is not fall for silly deals

mastertomsmum · 26/10/2018 15:32

'I literally have no idea why you are denying it, and refusing to admit you're wrong. confused'

If you like to book that way fine, though why anyone on expenses would, I do not know.

chrisinthesun · 26/10/2018 15:37

@mastertomsmum

Ah ha, at least you admit you're wrong now. Grin And that some hotels DO let you book and pay in advance for rooms! Grin

I have always booked in advance because it's my business (that I own.) So the more money I save the better. Grin I have always booked and paid for rooms in advance for my staff too.

butterflysugarbaby · 26/10/2018 15:39

When me and DH book and pay in advance at a hotel, (when we are going away for a few days,) we get to our destination and check in as soon as we are allowed to, so we don't risk the room going.

As several posters have said, it's often cheaper, but often non-refundable, but it's a risk we are willing to take, as you can often get a room for £35 instead of £65. On the many occasions we have booked and paid for a room in advance, we have never ever failed to go. So we have saved a fortune!

OP, I think if you are going to to check in late, you can ring the hotel in the early evening, and tell them you are definitely coming, and they shouldn't let your room go.

Was it not possible at all to have got there earlier in the day, and check in before 11pm?

As I said, maybe ring next time. (Around 6pm if you can.) Even rooms paid for in advance will sometimes be given away if the person is not there by 9-10pm.

mastertomsmum · 26/10/2018 15:40

It is possible to book in advance it's not the norm.

The hotel industry would either laugh or cry reading this thread. Why support crap treatment of customers

chrisinthesun · 26/10/2018 15:53

@Mastertomsmum

First you said THIS (further up this (page at 15.00 hours.)

What's all this pay in advance nonsense. That's only possible on a package deal.

Then you said THIS

It is possible to book in advance it's not the norm.

You are not only struggling to admit you are wrong, but you are also now being inconsistent and changing what you said.

The fact is that MANY hotels let you book and pay in advance for a room. You were wrong and you denied it, and then you admitted it was a thing anyway, but it is not 'the norm...' Actually it is! For many hotels worldwide! You can't POSSIBLY be an 'experienced traveller' if you think 'booking and paying in advance for a room' is rare!

As you are so obnoxious and stubborn that you won't admit you're wrong, when EVERYONE on this thread is proving you are, that means I can't be arsed to talk to you any longer. You're just boring me now, and you are very annoying.

Goodbye now! I will leave you in your 'I will NOT ever admit I am wrong' world!

Dontfeellikeaskeleton · 26/10/2018 15:55

Oh great.

I've booked the holiday Inn for this weekend....

mastertomsmum · 26/10/2018 16:00

It is a deal/package deal. They let you book in advance and pay in advance but it's a deal not a standard practice.

It's obnoxious to laud bad practice. Some posters try to take people down or to task for expressing points of view universally accepted elsewhere. This is one of those silly threads.

Sorry original poster, I hope you know you were right to be cross

If this is not the last word, I say now I don't care. If a la la land where we think a service economy is no longer desirable is where your at live with it but as an experienced traveller I will still book properly

oldsewandsew · 26/10/2018 16:04

I discovered this overbooking policy on my honeymoon!! Can’t say where as it will put me, but a long haul flight, to a very popular honeymoon destination, and then we were told there was no room for us. We were on an island with only one hotel, and we were then put on a boat for a couple of hours to a different one. Fuming was an absolute understatement! This was not the sort of location people wouldn’t turn up to! We were very heavily compensated after kicking off, but I am still angry years down the line (can you tell?! 😂)

BewareOfDragons · 26/10/2018 16:09

That's really crap.

And I would make it clear you're leaving the 1 star review up because they overbooked AND they lied about it, which is absolute shite.

Cherulewis · 26/10/2018 16:20

If we know we are checking in late we always tell the hotel. We landed in Florida early evening and had spoken to the hotel in advance and had it confirmed in an email that we wouldn't get there until 9pm.

In the UK our default hotel is Premier Inn where we pay in advance. Again if we are checking in late we contact the hotel, otherwise you look like a no show.

Original poster
AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 26/10/2018 17:12

I booked on company account and put a note to the booking company that I'd be arriving late. When they're paid or whether or not the message got through I don't know. Not sure I care either - I booked and so I expect to receive what I booked.

If, on arrival, I had been met with "I'm very sorry Mrs Avocado, but there's been an issue with your booking. I'm just going to give the nicer hotel down the road a call and book you a cab to get there. Would you like a complementary glass of wine while you're waiting for the cab?" I would have accepted it, but they were indifferent to the thought of having left a lone young woman stranded and I actually had to explain to them why being sent to a different Holiday Inn 15 miles away was unacceptable, and plead poverty to get the cab covered.

OP posts:
ivykaty44 · 26/10/2018 17:22

Just imagine you’ve gone into work and your boss tell you that you’ve got to tell the next booked in customer- you can’t stay at the hotel as we are fully booked. You’re not going to tell them your boss deliby overbooked, the T&C are if you don’t ring ahead we can move you to another hotel

So the hotel staff lied badly, possibly inexperienced and not great customer service

But how would you explain it so you don’t have an angry customer shouting at you and you keep your boss happy