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.

TBH I'd be cancelling the last night and asking for a refund onto my card which would give me some spending money and cost them a vacancy as I can't believe hotels are that full.

@TooManyDogsandChildren Great idea in theory but in those circumstances the refunds usually take several days to appear in your account, it all depends on your bank.

Whenever I have had this happen it is usually 48 hours, so wouldn't be much help for the OP.

I wasn’t aware of this as a thing - clearly I’ve never stayed anywhere posh enough! I’m pleased I know about it now, if I ever make it to the Ritz I’ll be sure to do it on a credit card.

It can also be non refundable rate. Most likely at that point

That will show on your credit card as you not using them, you should wait until the statement and then pay them off.

No it won't.

That’s incredibly steep. I’ve had ore authorisations before but hot at £200/night.

OP, I undertake a fair amount of business travel and blocking an amount is standard procedure for the reason other posters have given. That said, the hotel/ booking.com could have warned you.

Oh no! I've never heard of that happening. I would have been as shocked as you were OP. That's a lot of money! Hope you manage to find some funds from somewhere or some good free activities...

I'm not one to say splash it all over tripadvisor normally, but if a hotel is blatantly saying 'we need a 200 night deposit against room damage' then that is bloody ridiculous. Pre-charges usually are for incidentals and you can get them taken off by saying lock the mini bar and not ordering room service.

Can they release 200 per night as you stay? Seems a ludicrous amount per night.

Why do people keep saying the money is taken????
It is NOT!

It is put in pending transactions on your account, and unless you trash your room or drink the minibar dry, you won't notice anything different on your bank account. Look at 'pending transactions'. There it sits until you leave the hotel. It does not affect your balance. The hotel don't take the money and earn interest on it!

No idea why people can't understand this

Why should it be on booking . com when it is normal procedure in lots of hotels?

It's like carhire abroad. There you will be up to £1,500 blocked.

Great idea in theory but in those circumstances the refunds usually take several days to appear in your account, it all depends on your bank.

It's not a refund. They don't actually take the money from your account. It just sits as a pending transaction.

Look.... can I explain more.

In February I went to Spain. I hired a car. The charge for that hire was about £100. They 'ring fenced' £1,050 on my account in case I brought the car back bashed up, lost the keys etc etc.

That £1,050 did not as a minus on my balance. My balance reduced by £100 for the car hire, that's all.

The £1,050 sat in 'pending transactions' for about a week after I got back then disappeared.

Sometimes it disappears within the hour of me returning the car.

Sometimes it is longer than a week.

IT IS NOT A REFUND.

The £1,050 dis not show* as a minus on my account.
Mistyped!

Well I have learnt something today.

I thought if say I had £500 in my bank account, paid for something for example £300, then I only had £200 left to use even if the other is showing as pending.

So could you do that and still withdraw £500 in cash, even though the £300 is pending?

@LEELULUMPKIN

It is taken off your 'available balance' but would not show on your 'statement balance'.

So in your example, your available balance would be £200, however, your statement balance would be £500.

Thus, you would be only available to withdraw £200.

Hope that makes sense.

Yes, Thank you that does make sense and is what I thought.

What I didn't realise is that if the hotel put a hold on an amount it didn't work in the same way. Or does it? ..............

I'm confused! 2 hours sleep last night with a non-sleeping DS15 SEN!

It is the same concept, if you spend it in a store, it woudl come off your available balnce and then a few days later show on your statement.

What a hotel does, is 'ring fence' the money. So it will never show on your statement, but excludes it from spending. It will only ever show on your statement if the hotel deems it suitable to charge it (unpaid bills, damage etc)

As such, it will jsut fall off natually and then 'free' up that balance.

Gosh some of these comments. 😱

This is very common in high end hotels. It was clear in their terms and conditions, the op knew it and agreed it.

The issue is the money held which she agreed to was all her money. Which is actually unusual in folks who chose to spend this kind of money in high end hotels. They won’t remove it, because it’s nigh on impossible to do, it’s a shadow charge that drops out when rhe merchant doesn’t confirm the actual

Bottom line is she shouldn’t have agreed it if she couldn’t afford it. Sorry op but that’s really where it is. A hotel stay is not just the actual cost but the hold on the funds.

It is no different to checking into a travel lodge, spending 200 for four nights accommodation, you agreeing to a fifty quid hold, then complaining that fifty quid was all the money you had in the world.

The actual amount is irrelevant, the fact is the charge and rhe actual cost is what is required to stay there for that period. Either you can afford it or you can’t. If you can’t you go elsewhere.

Oh crikey - welcome to London (I mean that sincerely, I hope you do enjoy as much of your stay as possible).
This is a pre-authorisation which protects them from the sort of customers who charge a load of stuff to their rooms in the hotel restaurant/bar then leave, or who damage stuff. I realise that's no comfort to you when you weren't that kind of person, and they've done it on your debit card though.
In case of future emergencies, it may be a good idea to have a credit card that only you know about, which lives in a drawer except for when you're on hols, when it lives in the room-safe. It won't hurt your credit rating to have one (it often improves it, bizarrely, ) and if you lose your wallet or some-such, it's a life saver.

God I'm booking a london trip for next week glad I see this, going to book a premier inn or something I think. That's shit OP how bloody annoying. Can you borrow from someone??

What hotel is this so I do not book it??

@LEELULUMPKIN

Well I have learnt something today.

I thought if say I had £500 in my bank account, paid for something for example £300, then I only had £200 left to use even if the other is showing as pending.

So could you do that and still withdraw £500 in cash, even though the £300 is pending?

No. You’d only be able to access the £200.

In the op case she had £1000. Now £800 is showing up in pending so she can only access £200. The £800 will never be taken and she will be able to access it again later.

@ILoveFood87

What hotel is this so I do not book it??

Welll it’s not a premier inn is it, and if you read the terms and conditions and don’t just tick the box you’ll know what the deposit is.