Hotel have taken all my spending money ...ridiculous?

[whatshardknock]

I'll currently at a hotel in London (Piccadilly circus )
I'm here for 4 nights (checked in yesterday)
I'm meeting friends who I haven't seen in years.
It's been a bit of a treat it's a lovely hotel and I've spent £1000 on the hotel (which I never do )As a treat after a shit year.
I booked on booking.com
I checked my bank the £1000 has came out and also a pending £800
I spoke to downstairs and the £800 will be refunded after I leave.
That's pretty much all my spending money.
Aibu to think booking.com should have said and also £800 deposit for a 4 night stay is mental surely.

@YinuCeatleAyru Are you always so patronising and rude?

This is standard practice. If you have £1000 to spend on a hotel for 4 nights they will assume you've access to a credit card and/or additional funds, because that's expensive especially when hotels are not fully booked. Call your bank and arrange an overdraft

I’ve never heard of this, I’d be furious! Even staying in high end hotels in America!

Ask to speak to the manager. Get them to empty the mini bar and tell them they’ve left you with no money to enjoy the break.

I wouldn’t have expected them to take or “hold” that amount of money.

Ask for the general manager not the receptionist.

[quote Grobagsforever]@YinuCeatleAyru Are you always so patronising and rude?[/quote]

This is definitely normal. I have travelled on business and the hotel always have a preauthorisation on your credit card to case if you do a runner. If you settle the bill before you check out, you don’t have to pay from that. But it also allows you to checkout just by dropping off the key.

I would still call the bank and speak to them. They might well be able to authorise a short term overdraft.

Although it’s not going to help you now I would most certainly get a credit card sorted as soon as possible and use it for situations like this if you aren’t comfortable using one for everyday.

That's a awful plight, can you speak to your bank, they may agree a temporary overdraft if you don't have another card. Next time stay at either the Travelodge Drury Lane or St Giles at Oxford Circus. Both are good value & affordable by London standards. I once managed to get the Travelodge for £29 for a Sunday night & £60 for the Monday =£90 for 2 nights. Need to book early to get these rates though.

Most hotels ask on arrival " Can we take a swipe of a card for incidentals" or wording to that effect. The choices are yes or no. Hotel then puts a block on charges on your room so room service etc then ask for payment for each purchase.

Mad that they take a deposit "for damages"

It is quite normal if there's no credit card. It would be very easy to run up bills in excess of £200 per day if you add meals, drinks, spa treatments etc. I'm sure many hotels get burned by this if they don't have the policy.

You could ask the duty manager to mark your card that it can not be used for charging items to the room and thus release the funds.

£1000 for 4 nights, wow are you in the ritz hahaha
You are kidding. You wouldn't even get 2 nights at The Ritz for £1,000 for the cheapest room type.

If you get a credit card, try for an interest free one first. Only apply for interest payable card if you get turned down for the interest free one.

@NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite

£1000 for 4 nights, wow are you in the ritz hahaha You are kidding. You wouldn't even get 2 nights at The Ritz for £1,000 for the cheapest room type.

The posters who keep bringing this up and even attaching screenshots. It was clearly a JOKE.

I never agree to leaving a credit card for charging. I pay as I go.

Wow that’s steep! I hope you still manage to enjoy your break away

I don't know why people are saying this is theft and not right - it's standard for hotels to reserve an amount on your card. It'll be in their T&Cs. I see you have sorted the issue and now have spending money, but it is entirely normal.

@NotEverythingIsBlackandWhite Actually I have just googled for fun and you can get a room for £433 per night

I'm curious here - Booking.com don't take payment, the hotel does. Whether it's pre pay or pay on arrival, it's the hotel that makes the charge to the card.

On arrival, did you swipe your card?

if it's 200 per night and you've already been there a night or to tell the hotel to refund the deposit of the nights you've already been there?

You could try calling the Booking.com helpline. They were helpful with me when I was expecting a refund. I was terrified it would not make it back to me but in my case it turned out booking.com was holding my deposit, not the owner (who had agreed to deposit being paid back in writing in the booking.com internal chat - i was simply anxious whether it would really happen), so they were able to confirm that the deposit was heading back my way.

Don't hire a car abroad OP, they take up to £1,500 and block it on your CC until you return the car undamaged. Depending on your CC provider it can take up to 90 days to be unblocked!

Normal practise for a high end hotel I would've thought.

Go and get them to remove the ability to charge anything on the room card. Ask for the minibar to be removed. Then ask them to remove or reduce the hold. Ask for the manager and be firm

£200 is ridiculous. It is £50 at most Hilton’s in London as an example.

Oh dear god. V regular business traveller here. Yes this is very very normal. It is not theft. Usually banks don't 'count' the money as spent so you can draw against it.
Credit card is a better option for the future though

[quote Grobagsforever]@YinuCeatleAyru Are you always so patronising and rude?[/quote]
Eh? What on earth have her posts done to upset you? Are you always so oversensitive?

It's completely normal I'm afraid, I used to have a life and travelled regularly. This kind of thing is why credit cards are so invaluable.