To warn you that Travelodge routinely 'overbook'!!

[badger2005]

We had booked to see a show, and ages ago I also booked a travelodge so we'd be right next to the venue. When we turned up ready to book into our travelodge (about 5.45pm) we were told that they had had to move us into a different travelodge in another place - miles from the venue!
This wasn't because of any kind of emergency - they just overbook on purpose apparently and you just get booted out even if you have booked a room in advance.
When we got back home, travelodge sent me an email asking for feedback, and I asked if I could have a refund. That seems to me like the absolute minimum - I booked into a hotel and they reneged on the booking - surely I should get a refund?! But they just blanked me. I don't know if I can get a refund - I'm guessing I will just be talking to a computer about it forever if I try.

I've found out since that not all hotel chains do this. I'm NEVER booking Travelodge again. Just warning you all!

Maybe this is boring, but I'm kind of outraged! Is this just a normal thing these days?

Not boring at all, it's a useful warning. Thank you.

Nearly every hotel does this as they know how many cancellations they get, so overbook a small percentage to offset it, it’s in the terms and conditions you agree to, just this time everyone turned up and as you checked in late you got unlucky, it is shit

doubt uoh will get a refund if you actually stayed at rhe other hotel.

Start a small claims against them: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/small-claims-court/

Bet you they'll want to talk then! And they'll settle before the court case - so decide what you want in advance. My friend got full refund, then the same again for inconvenience (£900 x 2)

Yes I know this, itbest to get there early if you have booked a travel lodge. I believe it's because they get a lot of no shows.

Maybe they should just charge you anyway if you don't turn up like other hotels do.

I've only been to Great Western Hotels who do this too. It's reputational suicide for any hotel with an ounce of intelligence.

I would be really concerned about that, Ive booked Travelodges before for hospital appointments, early flights etc, our plans would have been ruined if we had been moved to miles away due to needing the proximity of where we were

I would expect a refund certainly

No that's shocking. Service not as described at all, if they're offloading paying customers from more popular (more expensive) hotels to less popular (cheaper) ones without even letting them know in advance or refunding the cost! Obviously most people choose accommodation based on location (or it factors quite heavily) so you could have booked with a different company if you'd known this might happen.
Thanks for letting us know. Will think twice before booking with them again.

Practically every hotel does this.

We even have a outbooking process with other local (similar) hotels.

Its not always possible to get there early, we have a travel lodge booked soon for a flight, we wont get there until about midnight because of finishing work and the drive there.

theyve been doing this for years.

remember watching it on watchdog years ago.

i always check in online before arrival to make sure i get the room i booked but its appauling that you have to even think about this, and absolutely, if you book and pay for a room, you should expect it to be available upon arrival.

They've been doing this for years!

I've known about this for a while - when me and DH got married some friends were bumped from the closest Travelodge to one miles away. They didn't check in until after the wedding so midnight-ish. I felt so bad for them 🙁

Yeah I don't think this is unusual or new unfortunately. It's one of the reasons why I try to get anywhere I'm staying as early as possible.

It’s not exclusive to Travelodge and can be a fairly standard tactic by hotels - they won’t necessarily tell you about it

A full refund is unlikely, but reasonable compensation can be for additional costs & disruption

They literally don't. You're kidding yourself that it's ok to treat your customers like this.

I'm a regular traveller all over the world for work as well as holidays and sometimes I have turned up at 1am and I have never, ever been told to go elsewhere and wouldn't expect to, because I have paid for a room in that hotel and that is where I am expecting to stay and who my contract is with.

The companies doing this are few and far between, and are acting disgracefully. This is absolutely not industry standard, far from it.

If you are full, feel free to direct potential clients to other accommodation in your area that they can choose from, but it is reprehensible to take a booking then offload the customer elsewhere.

I didnt know hotels did this.
I would be outraged and expect a refund too.
Best time to raise it was at the hotel but I'd still complain now and ask for refund.
I know airlines overbook and witnessed someone this summer not being able to board a flight back to UK as they'd had issues with online check in so waited until they got to airport to check in.

Wow I didn't know this was a well-known thing! Doesn't it almost make booking a room kind of pointless? I thought that if they took your booking then you were guaranteed a room - excepting obviously real emergencies that they couldn't have for-seen.
For us it worked out okay in the end, but only because we basically ran across the city to get there on time! (No cabs could come in time to take us).
I seriously won't book with them again - it's just too risky if you don't know that you'll actually get a room! And then if you don't get the room you paid for, they don't even refund you! You're just giving them the money really without them giving you the goods!

This happened to me. I complained and they refunded me, mainly because they lied about the new hotel having parking when in fact it was in the middle of the city centre.

The one we booked was just off the motorway for a quick getaway in the morning as we had a long drive.

It's fairly common now I think, but you'd have to pay me to stay in a Travelodge anyway.

That's bloody awful. I take it that if you decided not to turn up/stay somewhere else Travelodge would have charged you for the room (ie this goes one way - they can bump you but you can't bump them)?

Yes this happened to us and we were told it’s what they do with every booking( but conveniently forget to inform you when you book).

We travelled to drop off our son at uni 5 hours away with a car load of stuff. Arrived at 10 o clock which is fine going by the hotel website. Got to check in only to be told because we had arrived late we didn’t get our room because they overbook and others had arrived before us. I threw a fit and said we’d need to sleep in the car park as at this time of night the night before uni starts there wouldn’t be anything annywhere else. He then said he’d email head office to bump us into someone else’s room. So we had to sit and for hours waiting knackered . Finally got a room but woke in the small hours and could hear somebody else arguing with reception having the same conversation but clearly not so lucky.

The room was awful. Damp with a curtain hanging down and noisy. Makes Premier inn look like the Hilton.

I will never ever book with them again. Booked Holiday Inn Express yjis year and it was so much better. Lovely room,cheap with breakfast included and most importantly when I checked they don’t have the over booking policy.

They are definitely not the only hotel that does it.

we shouldn’t have to, but if I am certain I am going to make it to my destination, if the hotel offers online check in, I have started doing that. Once my room is paid for and assigned, I relax a bit more.

5.45 isn’t late! I’m usually travelling for work so don’t get to a hotel anywhere near the time the room first becomes available, often it’s after dinner before I check in, and this has never happened to me. I’m sure many hotels have some system to maximise capacity, just like airlines, but it should be pretty rare. It’s certainly not something I’ve heard about Premier Inns.

Posters on here seem willing to put up with all sorts. Blaming someone for checking in mid-afternoon and losing their booking is not on.

I've just checked my Booking.com, I've stayed in 141 places that I've booked myself in the last 5 years (and there will be more that others booked for me), high end and low end depending on my budget for the trip, this has never happened to me, it is seriously not acceptable and for people to keep saying "this is standard", stop justifying it and push back against it.

Vote with your feet and stay elsewhere whenever you hear of anyone doing this and tell everyone of the places doing this.