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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hotel called me unreasonable!

141 replies

YorkshirePuddingsGreatestFan · 03/09/2023 08:49

I’m going to an evening event with my daughter that should finish by 10pm. Looked on booking.com and found a hotel 10 mins walk away. We should be back at the hotel and in bed by 11pm so I’ll get a decent nights sleep before driving home the next morning. Booked and paid for the room on a cheaper non-refundable advance rate.

About 20 minutes later, the hotel messaged me with a generic message saying they often hold functions on Friday and Saturday evenings so there might be loud music playing until 12.30am. I messaged back and asked if they had a function booked on the Friday evening I had booked to stay.

A lady from the hotel rang me and confirmed there is a birthday party booked on the night we were staying. She explained the music curfew is 12.30am so by the time people drink up and leave the party, it’s usually quiet by 1am.

I said that wouldn’t work for me as I want to go to sleep earlier than that and asked to cancel. She refused the cancellation as it’s a non-refundable rate but said they would move the booking to a date when they don’t have a function as a goodwill gesture. I explained that we need a room that night after an event.

She asked what it was and I explained and said we were looking to sleep from 11pm. She pointed out we were going to be out for most of the party and would only be disturbed for two hours. She said I was being unreasonable as it’s reasonable to put up with two hours of disturbance during an overnight stay.
I disagreed and I never would have booked it if I had known there would be loud noise until 1am and asked to cancel again.

I was told it was my fault for booking a non-refundable rate through booking.com. I am being unreasonable as the hotel has been courteous enough to tell me about the party in advance and it’s not their fault that I’m incredibly precious about noise. She refused to refund and said there was nothing further the hotel could do.

I rang booking.com who agreed with me and cancelled it with a full refund.

It’s the hotel that was being unreasonable not me isn’t it?

OP posts:
Maltaw · 03/09/2023 09:45

There is nothing wrong with hotels having functions but they have to make that information clear.

I had a similar situation to the UK where the hotel only let me know, by email, a few days before I arrived. I was really pissed off. The hotel knew about the event and knew they should tell me but didn't bother to actually tell me until it was too late to rebook anywhere else. I was pissed off about it as I wanted to go to sleep at 10.

JenniferBarkley · 03/09/2023 09:50

Maltaw · 03/09/2023 09:45

There is nothing wrong with hotels having functions but they have to make that information clear.

I had a similar situation to the UK where the hotel only let me know, by email, a few days before I arrived. I was really pissed off. The hotel knew about the event and knew they should tell me but didn't bother to actually tell me until it was too late to rebook anywhere else. I was pissed off about it as I wanted to go to sleep at 10.

I really wouldn't expect to be informed about a function, especially at the weekend. Hotels have function rooms and it's a big part of their business, it's taken as read.

YetMoreNewBeginnings · 03/09/2023 09:53

If the hotel has made the point of contacting guests in advance then clearly they are expecting the particular function to be excessively noisy, or their soundproofing is unusually shit.

Normal hotels don't contact guests to pre-warn them about functions when they are just going to cause a normal amount of hotel-staying noise.

Though it's downright bizarre to contact guests, but then seem surprised when they want to cancel.

Maltaw · 03/09/2023 10:05

It is normal for hotels to have functions but if it's a small hotel and a noisy and late function then it's not ok to surprise guests with it.

It's not usually an issue in larger hotels.

AnneValentine · 03/09/2023 10:08

rookiemere · 03/09/2023 09:00

I wonder why they bothered messaging you if they weren't prepared to refund if it didn't suit. Have you tried going through booking.com to see if they will help.

Did you read the whole post…?

PickledPurplePickle · 03/09/2023 10:09

Contact Booking.com

AnneValentine · 03/09/2023 10:09

I said YABU because this is pretty standard for hotels, I’m surprised they rang you tbh. It’s one of the reasons I use premier inn. No function facilities.

AnneValentine · 03/09/2023 10:09

PickledPurplePickle · 03/09/2023 10:09

Contact Booking.com

Why aren’t people reading the whole post?

MrsGalloway · 03/09/2023 10:12

The hotel were being unreasonable. Obviously hotels might have weekend functions but if they are going to disturb other guests then they should tell you that before booking. I’ve been offered a reduced rate before when booking a hotel where the only room left was over the function room.

narniabusiness · 03/09/2023 10:16

I stayed in a hotel du Vin Winchester and they put us in a room directly over the function room. Didn’t tell us there was a wedding going on. I only found out when I phoned reception to ask why I could hear a band tuning up. We had a child with us so they didn’t get to sleep until 1 in the morning either. I had paid up front when booking otherwise I’d have walked straight out.
So you are not being unreasonable. I think hotels are being unreasonable by charging for rooms you cannot enjoy.

icallitasplodge · 03/09/2023 10:19

We stayed at a hotel with a huge function, it’s a famous uk wide spa group and the entire hotel was filled with wedding guests. I didn’t hear a thing!

we weren’t informed first though. My feeling is that you should be able to cancel because there will be other hotels close by that don’t have functions on and you could have easily booked those under the same circumstances that you booked this one. You should be able to cancel, and so you have.

resolved.

Whatswhatwhichiswhich · 03/09/2023 10:22

It’s a Friday night, personally I think YABU. It’s a hotel that holds functions, on a Friday night no one is going to be looking to wind down before midnight.

AtomicBlondeRose · 03/09/2023 10:24

Yes it’s normal for hotels to have functions at weekends. But for this one to explicitly contact OP shows they know there’s a problem and must have had complaints before! So for them to then claim OP is being unreasonable is completely illogical because they were only contacting her in the first place because there’s an issue.

I stayed in rooms over a pub where they had gigs and were clearly used to street noise being a problem. It said this at the time of booking and they put earplugs in the room. If I’d then complained, that would be unreasonable. But if they told me after booking and then I changed my mind based on that, that’s on them!

Maverickess · 03/09/2023 10:25

The hotel are being unreasonable, where I work we only book the rooms that will be disturbed by the function direct so we can tell people before they book. They're taken off 3rd party sites because we can't tell people until after they book about a function they may be disturbed by.
We've tried putting it in 'hotel information' but no one bothers to read it, and then get annoyed because they weren't aware of some information about the hotel.
They should have been willing to refund you though - if a guest cancels and then requests a refund through booking dot com the hotel can agree to this and they won't pay the commission if they do, if the hotel cancels they're still liable for the commission even if the booking doesn't go ahead.

singlemumhelp · 03/09/2023 10:29

My partner gets funny about me going out. I went out last night with a friend to a concert but he felt threatened because she is gay whereas I'm
Not but still felt it's like I could cheat. Anyways he got rather drunk and when I was home had told me he slept with the lead singer of the bands gf years ago:
Turns out after I spoke with his ex that this girl
Is her friend and the girl is just a band follower as she's a big fan. She's now telling me it's disgusting and he needs sectioning and that I am off my head for even staying with him ans she believes he shouldn't be around his kids. He didn't drink around them and what he does when they aren't there isn't a issue but it's hard. I mean she very often gives me her opinion on him; we speak as we have to work together as she's now got a job qt my work place; and because of the kids but I sometimes feel stuck in the middle as I see his view in a lot of things but then I also see her view with some things: some things he is unreasonable but then other times I feel she is the one being unreasonable: like he said he would pay for uniform if she sent the receipts so he can pay half. I have no issue with that as I do the same I always send the receipts but she believes it's unresonqbkw

I understand his abandonment issues with being abandoned a lot as a child and having one partner sleeping with our boss. I also understand the jealously because I get like it at times. And i can be just as stroppy about hu going out; as
I just being y reasonsabke thinking she's being a bit of dick.

singlemumhelp · 03/09/2023 10:30

So sorry that post wasn't meant to be on here! I was meant to be starting my own postX just ignore me I am stupidly tired 😂🤦🏻‍♀️

GCAcademic · 03/09/2023 10:36

I hate it when hotels do this, and act like it's normal for guests to be kept up till 1.00am.

I once stayed in a hotel in York in advance of a conference at the university, along with several other of the conference speakers. There was loud music until 1.00am and none of us were able to sleep. I really struggled to be on form for what was an important work event, but it wasn't as bad for me as it was for the professor who suffered from CFS and had received short shrift from the hotel reception staff when she tried to explain her health condition and ask them to move her to another room. None of us were given any warning of the party.

Minniliscious · 03/09/2023 10:44

Another one 🙄 how do people not read the full OP? It wasn’t even that long??

Georgyporky · 03/09/2023 10:46

Well done for getting a reply & refund from booking.com.

I've only used them once - never again. They were not interested in complaints about a ghastly hotel, even though their description on b.com was a pack of lies.

PuttingDownRoots · 03/09/2023 10:50

Its not reasonable to expect guests to be disturbed by unconnected events on their premises.

Hecate01 · 03/09/2023 10:52

You booked through a third party site so the hotel wouldn't have been able to refund you. The receptionist should have told you that and handled it better but in all fairness they notified you ahead of your arrival, the hotel I work at never does that and we always get noise complaints. You had your refund so problem solved.

Puzzledandpissedoff · 03/09/2023 11:07

There is nothing wrong with hotels having functions but they have to make that information clear

Exactly - but they'd rather like to have the function and the room income, so they try dodges like this

You already had your answer in Booking.com agreeing with you, OP, but I hope others also complain to them because that way they could well end up being removed frrom the site (happened to me when new owners of a hotel had trashed the place and were using the previous owners' listing to carry on getting bookings)

Anyport · 03/09/2023 11:38

You booked a room at the cheapest price and didn't ask any questions. That is on you.

Cailin66 · 03/09/2023 11:45

Booking.com are great, and this is why I book thru them. Full refund and rightly so. You have the power of a big organisation behind you. The hotel made it clear, after the booking, that there would be noise. The noise was not acceptable to the OP, who was specifically booking in order to sleep, and the hotel were bang out of order to not cancel for her.

If the hotel had put it on their website that there is noise until 2 pm then the fault would be with OP.