Hotel in Rome Switched Rates
 

Dear Fodorites:

I have a new problem. In confirming all my hotel accommodations for Europe for Sep 12 - 23, London/Paris/Rome, I hit a snag in Rome. I was confirmed for the Residenza San Panteleo then they switched me to Residenza Navona First when I had to switch to single accommodations.

In July 2008 They quoted me a price of 70Euro for Sept 19 - 22. I emailed them on Friday asking for confirmation and this was their response....

"Unfortunately, the price that was quoted to you earlier was incorrect. At this time it's high season and the price of a single room is 95 euros a night. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Your room is still confirmed for 19 Sept. Thanks and have a great day!
RNF"

Their cancellation policy on their website says that you have to cancel within 15 days of your arrival. I am within 11 days. If I cancel now, even though it's their mistake, will they will charge me a night's room rate?

What are my options? Should I fight to make them honor their rate or should I just count it as a loss and scratch them off my list for future accommodations.

I don't feel I am at fault here. I am thankful that I found out about it before I landed in Rome thinking I had correctly budgeted for a 70E a night room.

Please advise me...what should I do...the extra 25 Euros will certainly put a bite in my budget, but the fact that they said I still have a reservation and not giving me an option to change make's me think that they know I don't have many options.

thanks!

It sounds like you have a written confirmation for 70Euro. I would stay there and when checking out present the documentation that states the room rate is 70. Pay with a credit card and if they refuse to honor the 70 Euro rate dispute it. Check with your credit card company today to confirm that the hotel must honor the rates quoted. Did you give the hotel a credit card number for your reservation? If so you will have more leverage.

I am a little confused. When did they switch you to a different hotel? Was that because you made a change from your original reservation? Did you receive a new confirmation with rate when they made your hotel change?

In any case, if you have an email confirmation with 70 euro quoted as your rate, I would contact the hotel manager and request that he honor your original rate quote. You have likely received your latest email from someone that has no power or little experience.

Do you have the 70 euro quote in writing?

You have options!

If you can find alternative accommodation within your budget then contact them again and let them know that as they've increased their rates you can no longer afford to stay there and point out you were only informed of the change on such and such a date and yes, you've been severely inconvenienced and had to find alternative accommodation so it would have been impossible for you to have canceled within 15 days of arrival.

or

call them... insist politely on the previously quoted rate. If you have it in writing all the better and then I'd do exactly as adrienne suggested. Do not reply to this current email, present the written quote at check out.

If they'd contacted you much earlier to let you know the price was incorrect then fine but in response to your confirmation email this is totally inappropriate!

Thank you so much guys!

I am very nervous about dealing with this hotel, as I have been hearing about people getting "stuck" when hotels do a bait and switch.

My travel buddy backed out in July so I had to change to a single accommodation. They honored my reservation, but switched me to their sister hotel across the street. The switch confirmation came with a 70 Euro per night confirmation via email.

Yes, I have everything in writing. I secured the room with a debit/credit card. Do I still have any options?

Thanks for your help and encouragement.

You have it in writing so, again, talk to the manager and they will be obligated to honor it.

But I would not wait until check out to debate the issue. When checking in the correct rate must be confirmed.

Call me paranoid, but I would be concerned about calling/writing the hotel and reminding them that they guaranteed it at 70e so I will only pay that. I wouldn't want to arrive in Italy and find I had no room or, out of spite, a bad room (all hotels have less desirable rooms). Yes, you can argue the charge later, but who really wants to do that?

I would probably e-mail them and kill them with kindness. Say you totally understand, but you are dismayed that they didn't contact you earlier to let you know the new rate. Your budget, much as you'd like to stay there, won't allow that so you must, regrettably, cancel the reservation.

I'd bet they come back and offer it to you at the original rate.

Hi dw,

> I would call and ask to speak to the manager, in addition to faxing.

I would politely remind them that they quoted 70E and that I expected them to honor that quote.

I would also be searching right now for an alternated hotel.

If they don't honor the original quote, I would cancel cancel, telling them that I will not pay a cancellation charge.

I would call my CC company and tell them not to honor the charge.

If it does go through, contest the charge in writing. Send a copy of your correspondence.

If this doesn't work out, post here and on www.tripadvisor.com.

The bad publicity is worth a lot more to them than the 60E.

((I))

Thanks bfrac, suze, highflyer and Adrienne. I will present the email at checkout and duke it out.

I'll let you know what happened.

Ira, I did search for an alternate hotel and they all were out of my price range (of course at this late date).

I would call the hotel direct, but as MelJ said, just for complaining they would probably find me a room just below the sewage system.

I think I will just wait and battle it out when I get there. I certainly don't want to reply with an email complaining and they use that as a reason to cancel my reservations.

If I complain now, it will make me too paranoid and I won't be able to enjoy the rest of my trip.

dwebb,

I more be more concerned that they might honor the rate and give you the worst possible room (or broom clset).

Just as an aside, it's a bad idea (ever) to use a debit card rather than a credit card to secure a hotel reservation. They will often put a "hold" on some of your funds to pay the bill and extra charges, and you have no control over how much of your money will be unavailable to you until the dust settles.

Other than that, I completely agree with what everyone has said, and with your strategy.

Definitely get installed in your room before battling this that way they can't switch you to an inferior room. I would settle the bill the afternoon before leaving when there is a day manager on duty in to make decisions. If you have an early departure don't wait until the morning you're leaving to pay for the room when you're rushed to get to the next destination.

My experience in Rome with a hotel was very unpleasant. They insisted I settle bill before I stayed there as I was joining a tour and had two nights there already included, but my first night was on my own dime.They told me it was policy.

I paid in cash, which is what they requested as I had a special cash only rate.
I then stood there, they looked at me,, I said, can I have a reciept. They reluctantly ( it seemed to me) gave it to me. I had a bad feeling about it.

Two days later, we are leaving, they want me to PAY for first night,, AGAIN, I said no, I already paid, because YOU INSISTED IT WAS POLICY!! Desk clerk( different one) then snidely said " do you have the reciept" Ha! Yes I did,, thank goodness. I really felt p*ssed off as I felt I had only avoided being screwed by my own wise insistance I get the reciept , that was never offered.

Biggest clue they were cons was I then met a another single lady travelling with a child( as I was) and she had the exact same thing happen to her at the hotel..

This is not a down and out flea bag hotel. It was a decent place.

I do not trust anyone , I get everything in writing, and I copy and travel with all confirmations.
I also always confirm rate WHEN I check in, I do not agree with doing it later.

Frankly a single room is likely to be a shoe closet anyways,

Bozama, exactly why I advised to confirm rate upon check-in.

have you checked the venere site ? I plugged in your dates and there are quite a few hotels available for your dates, maybe you can find something suitable there.

If it were me, I would really be wondering what other surprises this hotel has in store for me and would not want to deal with them any longer. I would go the route of canceling right away if I could find another place and if not, I would try and clear this up right away and not wait until checkout. I think you are at disadvantage at that point as you have already stayed there. If you try to talk to them now you have much more leverage. Also, it would bother me through my trip to not know what will happen.

Best of luck and enjoy your trip.

Another vote for taking care of this now instead of letting it hang over your head while on vacation. After all, there's a reason why they say honesty is always the best policy. Call them and explain your situation. If they tell you they cannot honor the 70E, be forthright and tell them you will look for another place and if you are successful, you will address the issue of the cancellation fee at that time. If you behave honestly, perhaps then they will also follow suit. If not, then follow Ira's remaining advice in full. Good luck!
--Annie

>> Frankly a single room is likely to be a shoe closet anyways <<

dwebb, if that's the case, try switching to a hostel or a monastery.

Bozama, was that hotel the Res. Canali in Rome? They tried to cheat me at one point when I was staying there solo. It is such a good idea to get a receipt for everything!

Do the hotels in Italy really have to honor an original quote?