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.

@whatshardknock

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. It's let me do a over draft application online on my online banking for £300 Better than nothing. So I'm left with £600 spending money. Spoke with downstairs again and they won't budge on the £200 a night and will only refund the full £800 on check out.

Op sorted it.

I work in a hotel, they can cancel that authorisation and put a block on your room so you can't charge to it! (Sorry if someone has said this already)

Most hoteliers take a hefty deposit these days.
I had to pay it on a staycation whereas I didn't in the past.

Hopefully a pal can lend you some extra cash until your deposit comes back.
Enjoy your trip.

@whatshardknock

I haven't got a credit card. I paid for hotel with my debit card and it's my debit card they've reserved funds on.

That's standard and will be in the terms and conditions, you did read them didn't you?

If you can afford £800 spending money for 4 days then I'm sure you aren't short of a bob or two and will cope. Either way there is lots to do in London for free so you aren't going to be bored.

I don't know about in the UK but in America there is often a warning notice at reception saying that debit cards will take much longer to refund or unblock funds, a credit card is recommended.

When I went on holiday to Iceland this happened and luckily I had handed over a credit card I wasn’t going to use on holiday or else it would have took most of my credit on my holiday credit card which I don’t pay charges on. So best to check what card you use or you can be left high and dry like OP unfortunately was.

Hope you enjoy your break OP now you have some spending money.

Just seen you have £600 - that's more than I've spent all summer on days out and so on so you'll be having a fantastic time. £600 is masses of money to fritter spend for 4 days.

I used to be a Front Desk Manager in a 5 hotel (well 4 x 5 hotels over 17 years actually, but anyway ) Ah OP, this is really common, especially in a higher-end hotel. I expect the reason they're being difficult about removing it is 2 fold. Firstly, if you did do a runner or wreck the room (I know you won't, but people do) they they need to have a way of charging you, and secondly, once they've put the pre-authorisation on your card, it's really, really difficult for them to get it off. The bank won't really help with cancelling it, they'll likely just say 'oh, it'll drop off in a few days and that's it.' If however, you do manage to get it cancelled, the hotel won't know, their systems aren't that sophisticated that it would flag up.

Although in danger of coming across as 'cancel the cheque' never, ever give a debit card at a hotel reception, especially in a higher end hotel, they will hold a lot of your money, and it will be quite difficult to get it back in the short term.

Apply online or use app and apply for overdraft

if it's going to have a serious impact on your break to have reduced spending money you could get a "payday loan" - these are normally a very bad idea because most people who take them really can't afford them and are spending money they don't have, but you do have the money. google "instant credit" and there will be a barrage of organisations happy to give you funds within 10 minutes. Typical APR will often be 50%+ but you would be repaying within a couple of weeks so it might only cost say £50 to borrow a few hundred pounds for a short time. its risky but you may feel it is worth it to be able to enjoy your break.

I think some posters have been slightly unkind to the OP.
If you're well off and well travelled, and/or if you stay in hotels regularly for business purposes then yes, you'll almost certainly be aware of this common practice. But I'd suggest that a significant proportion of the population rarely or never use hotels at all and it's therefore far less likely they'd have been aware this might happen. Many people only ever stay with friends or family if they travel, and stay in B&Bs or on campsites when they holiday. Similarly, if they book a package holiday - which might be the only time they'd ever usually stay in a hotel at all - it's unlikely they'd be asked for a 'just in case' card deposit (I never have been).
All of that notwithstanding, then yes, of course it's good practice to thoroughly read T&Cs but given they're often literally small print and in unnecessarily complicated legalese, I feel hotels should make this particular condition far more obvious and transparent so guests aren't caught out.

There’s some unpleasant snobbery here from —smug— MNetters who are oh so used to expensive hotels and credit cards with high limits. I have a credit card with my bank and it’s limit is £2000 as I don’t want to get into a lot of debt

So you would have been fine in the OPs situation, as you have a credit card to use in addition to spending money for the trip?

But you do know you don't have to spend up to the limit whatever it is, and it is a good idea to always have plenty of spare capacity above your normal spending pattern, should this sort of situation arise. You don't have to have a high salary or expensive hotel habit to have access to decent credit limits. I earn a pittance by Mumsnet standards and I have access to several credit cards with limits of between £5-10k for various reasons, none of which involve getting into debt. Even my DM who has spent her entire life being a PT low paid worker or SAHM in an average income household, and is now a pensioner has a couple of credit cards with five figure limits.

Or are you saying that you're not able to manage your finances in a responsible manner and are confusing a payment tool with free money?

You could explain and perhaps ask them to empty the minibar as you don't intend to use it.

I’m not rising to it barbara. I’m not going to give myself access to thousands and thousands I could never repay: I don’t think that’s behaving irresponsibly, in fact I think it’s the opposite.

There certainly is a lot of snobbery here. Not to mention projection both from the "I only stay at the Ritz how did you not know this you pleb" and the "I found a thruppeny bit down the sofa for a tub of marge so think yourself lucky" sides.

As it happens, I only stay 4 or 5 star because it's my travel treat to myself. And I've never had to pay more than a £50 deposit as surety. So, it might be usual, but it's not a blanket "always".

Glad you have sorted something with your bank OP and have a lovely time. Do leave a "hotel was lovely but" warning on reviews when you leave.

As I understand it the hotel don't actually 'take' the money, they just ring-fence it, basically checking that you're good for it. You may still be able to draw from a cash machine or use your card without going into your overdraft, despite the ring-fenced amount.

When you check your account are your 'balance' and 'available balance' different figures?

I work in a hotel as a receptionist. If you don't have a credit card then yes we will take a safety deposit for the room as if you damaged anything you could essentially leave without us being able to charge you for it. Smoking in the rooms is a £100 charge for instance, housekeeping would have to check your room before we refunded you on check out

I had saved up money for my trip.
I wanted to stay in a nice hotel as a treat.
I had budgeted by spending money and had more than enough.
The £1000 was money I had saved so I could stay in a nice hotel for a treat.

You can't spend the money reserved by the hotel because the amount is deducted from your available balance.

If you could, there would be no point doing the preauthorisation as the money would be no longer there if the hotel did want to take it, either for bar bills or damages.

@whatshardknock

I had saved up money for my trip. I wanted to stay in a nice hotel as a treat. I had budgeted by spending money and had more than enough. The £1000 was money I had saved so I could stay in a nice hotel for a treat.

You shouldn't have to explain yourself OP!

If I'm visiting family and friends or making a quick trip somewhere for an event or whatever I'll stay in Premier Inn or Travelodge, but on a holiday or a special trip then I'd never stay less than 4 unless it was a particularly spectacular 3 or there was literally nothing else available.

I have a credit card with my bank and it’s limit is £2000 as I don’t want to get into a lot of debt.

but that's not how credit cards work.
I have several cards each with a limit of between 5 and 6 k. I do all my spending on them but pay them off the same day.

It's always a good idea to have a credit card or two for situations like this and emergencies. You don't have to spend up to the limit.

It's definitely not universal for 'naice' hotels to do this. Quite a few I've stayed at seem to take a copy of a card but then not put a pre-authorisation on it (or if they did, it wasn't for a sizeable amount of money).

Generally it's useful to have a credit card which isn't really used for anything other than pre authorisations though - especially if you hire cars when travelling the preauthorisation can be quite a lot of money. We pay for an annual excess insurance for hire cars so it's more about making sure that cards you use aren't tied up with pre authorisation charges. In some countries, self service petrol pumps also place quite a large preauthorisation charge on the card which can take a while to drop off.

It's daylight robbery and they cannot legally hide such a term in their terms and conditions. Leave them a stinking review on Trip Advisor about how unclear this charge was, the absolutely shysters.

There is no need for any hotel to do this. I'm a regular business traveller as well and have never been asked for this. Pre-authorised credit card for extras, sure, but they have never actually taken an amount upfront.

It's a lot OP even if you were expecting some kind of hold from the hotel.
Some people can be disparaging about credit cards but if you're savvy (you can read up on Money Saving Expert) they are incredibly useful - for building credit history, giving you security on purchases over £100 (that you won't get with a debit card) and for situations like this. Plus a bit of cashback on some. Treat it like a debit card iyswim and not "free money" though - ie always pay off the full amount every month and don't be tempted to rack up any interest, otherwise any financial advantage is immediately lost.