Hotel has told us there will be no power from 11am-5am

[Geometry88]

OH and I have booked a night away at a 5 star spa hotel in a few days' time (£400 for bed and breakfast including spa access).

The hotel have emailed to say due to an emergency they need to re-boot their power systems so there will be no power throughout the hotel from 11pm to 5am. They say they have selected this time in the hope guests will be asleep.

They are being very casual about it but IMO we are paying a lot of money and I don't expect there to be a 6 hour power cut ! We are rarely asleep before midnight, will be wanting to charge our phones overnight, and I don't expect to be stumbling around in the dark if I wake up in the middle of the night needing the toilet.

According to the T&Cs it's too late to cancel but I think we should have the choice to given the circumstances? I'm thinking as a minimum we should be offered some form of compensation on point of principle? Or even being able to reschedule to the following evening (which might work ok for us) at the same cost?

I'd ask to reschedule. £400 and no power from 11pm to 5am us ridiculous! I would call them to do this, it'll be more effective than emailing.

Glad it is all sorted out and you asked what I would have done in your shoes.

I doubt the emergency though and think it is one of those alleged emergency works that crop up at the end of the financial year. Like roadworks.

A couple of points - re-boot their power systems. As an electrical engineer of over 20 years exp, id love to know what that is supposed to mean - Its absolute rubbish.
If they kill power, battery backed emergency lights will illuminate, you probably have one in each room so youll be sleeping with the light on.
Alarm systems etc are all backed up with batteries, you should get a few hours out of those and the lights. Should.
To close, if this work in known about in advance it isnt emergency work, its planned work - Badly planned.

Id demand money back, or a honking great discount

For me it would be unacceptable because I use a CPAP but can see their reasoning.

I wouldn’t be happy either OP.

I'm really glad you've been able to move the date. I would be pretty miffed too.

Lots of people talking about fire alarms and such, but in most hotels surely the door locks wouldn't work in a power outage. Which is fine if you're in your room and can lock it from the inside but surely a big security risk if all of them unlock when the power goes out.

Charge a phone in the car.
Take a torch.
Go to bed early and make love.

Emergency lighting will only last for 3 hours, and will then need a 24 hour recharge. It is illegal for them to have the hotel occupied for the duration.

Bollocks. Where did you get that percentage from? I don’t know many people going to hotels and being in bed by 11pm. I’m up past that at home, let alone on a couple weekend!

I'm glad you have rescheduled - but I hope if it is the following night that things are ok by then re hot water etc. Things can go wrong with something like this. I would have had to cancel/reschedule, because like others on here I have a CPAP machine. Hope you can check with them before you have to travel that everything is back to normal, water has heated up and SPA room isn't still cold

I had this happen recently during a hotel stay. The emergency generators were still working so there was emergency lighting etc. The electricity was down for less time than they estimated as the estimate was conservative. Even though it didn't really affect me, I managed to negotiate a very late check out (3pm) on my last day on the back of the scheduled power outage.

I think it's reasonable to be able to reschedule at no cost. Yes, of course you could "manage" but for a special and expensive treat, who wants to do that?

Charge your phones during the evening and you can watch a film/TV programme on your phone/tablet.

This.

I hope you can change your dates.

And what about the air con/fan? Is it every night?

They have given you notice. They cannot help it if they have to reboot systems and have tried to do it at the least disruptive time (i.e when most people will be asleep).

Just cancel or are you after a freebie?

What happens to people who need a fridge for insulin or other meds? On paper it doesn't sound like a big deal but I can see how this would be really problematic for a fair few people.

What "systems" could they possibly have that need a planned, site wide shutdown to reboot, especially if by doing so, it puts people's lives at risk?

I'm not sure if you're implying I'm just after a freebie or if it's a genuine question.

The way I see it is I've agreed to pay my £400 in exchange for a hotel room with power. I wouldn't expect to be able to change what I've agreed to (e.g. turn up and say 'due to an emergency I've only got £350 for this now') without consequence, and so it shouldn't be the same the other way around.

As mentioned, it's all sorted now as they've let us stay the following night instead.

Take a power bank to charge your phones.

it’s really a non-issue imo.

I'd deffo reschedule @Geometry88 . You're not a charity, you're paying for it. If you were going for a week it'd be different, but you're going just for the night effected. I would mainly be wanting it to probably be warmer than it would be with no heating (I'm a night owl, too.)

@Geometry88 Glad you were able to change the night. x

I’m shocked at the number of people who think this is OK. Electricity is a basic, at any time of day or night, in an expensive hotel. I’m glad you swapped your reservation.

How much power are people using between 11pm - 5am?

I don't get it.

Mumsnet is like a parallel universe sometimes

£400 a night to watch a film on your phone?! Do you really think that's acceptable?