I was fortunate to snag a great deal for a 5* hotel in Lisbon. I was pretty sure the price I found on a booking site was a misprint/mistake as it was 1/4 the price of the other rooms, but was not the lowest room category. I held my breath until I paid in full and got the confirmation from the hotel. But should I be worried if they question price once I check in? Will they try to charge me more? Any experience with mistake rates at 4*/5* hotels?

Thanks

Hi C,

Your hotel confirmed the room and the rate?

That is the best that you can hope for.

Enjoy your visit.

What was the rate? Sometimes good deals can be had - I've been very lucky in several cities.

I notice you said on "a" booking site which suggests it's not the hotel's booking site. Is the confirmation you received from the hotel or a third party booking site? It shouldn't make a difference, but it may. I would confirm the room and price again before you leave and if the confirmation is not from the hotel itself, I'd be a bit concerned.

I wouldn't confirm the rate specifically. If you want to be absolutely sure, just say - I am confirming the prepaid reservation I made through ....

Last year Expedia posted a mistake rate for Hiltons in Japan. I paid ~$3.00 per night in Tokyo and ~$3.50 per night in Osaka. 5 nights in each hotel. I believe the rate was suppose to be $300-$350 per night. At first Expedia and Hilton said they won't honor the mistake but after 100s of people protested they decided to honor most of the reservations. The only ones they didn't honor were the ridiculous reservations for 1 year or so. It was cheaper to stay in a hotel then rent an apartment for year. They also put some restrictions on the reservations. The person named on the reservation had to be there for the check in, as some people were re-selling the reservations on e-Bay and such, but the honest week long, 2 week long reses were all honored. I ended up in mini suites on Executive level floors with access to Exec lounge due to my Diamond HHonors status. Free breakfast, free finger food during the day and free booze in the evening. Best deal of my life.

Thanks. I will keep my fingers crossed.
Deal (no longer available) was $550 including tax for 3 nights Lapa Palace including breakfast and dinner each night...not as good as the Japan deal, but still a savings of $1300 off the "real" rate.
Will post back when I return.

Hi AA,

Good for you.

I agree with another poster. Since you booked via a discounter, I'd confirm with the hotel that you actually have a room reservation with the hotel.

April this year, I found an error on the Kensington H.I. (London) website. I had been following it & the cheapest prices were 145pounds - no breakfast. One day I found it for 145 US dollars w/breakfast. When I tried to book, it reverted to 145pounds. I printed the original quote page with the $145, called Customer Relations, got switched to a "special" department, faxed the page I printed, & the $145 USD was honored. Since we stayed numerous nights, it was a big savings for us & their breakfast was great, not just continental. Nice hotel too.

Good luck, Julie

There are literally thousands of stories on the net for "too good to be true" hotel rates not being honored at check-in. Almost all were not resolved in favor of the traveller.

What booking site did you use? I would still follow up with the hotel, say maybe faxing or emailing them a copy of the booking and ask them to confirm it. Better to know before you go...

Call me crazy, but I'm thinking of not alerting them to a potential mistake rate before I show up. It will be more awkward for them to turn me away if I'm standing in front of them with my luggage. I'll have some phone numbers for other hotel choices in my back pocket in case....

On second thought, you're probably right to not bring the rate to their attention. I would still do something like WillTravel said, a follow-up fax or email just with the dates, name, etc and not mention the rate.

I had a similar, but not as dramatic experience as Julie. I was planning ahead for a business/pleasure trip a couple of years ago--I think Auckland and the third party booking site got the currency wrong, which meant a nice discount. I tried several ways to make the site revert to the correct amount/currency but it wouldn't, so I booked and waited to see what would happen for awhile. I eventually received a phone call from the booking site telling me about the problem, that the site had agreed to honor the rate for any reservations for no more than a few nights and make up the difference to the hotel, but not honor long stays.

If I had not received the call, I would not have waited until arrival unless I was willing to pay the higher price--I figured the hotel might say their price was their price and I would have to pay and take it up with the booking site.

You could contact/email the hotel and inquire whether they honor reservations booked through xyz booking site without mentioning you've already made a reservation. Then carry their confirmation (hopefully!) along with the confirmation received form the booking site.