How often does this happen?
Feb 16th, 2002, 08:23 PM
#1
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How often does this happen?
I was reading a few threads and noticed that there was a common concern about showing up at a hotel with reservation and confirmation in hand, but the hotel doesn't have a room for you when you arrive. The hotel has overbooked, never received your reservation from the booking agent (some of which were prepaid), lost your reservation, or comes up with another excuse.<BR><BR>Here's the question, has this happened to you? When and where did it happen? What was the excuse and what did the hotel do about your predicament?<BR><BR>I'll start. Four years ago when I arrived in Geneva, the 4 star hotel that I had a reservation at did not have a room for me. The reason why was that the United Nations was called into full session due to the recent Pakistani/India crisis (1998). I had prepaid the hotel through British Airways and had a voucher in hand. <BR><BR>Here's what the hotel manager did for me -- found me another comparable room, sent me to the hotel in a cab (gratis), and said I was welcome to stay at the new hotel (which I did not pay for) for the duration of my stay or return to the original hotel the next day. I opted to return to the original hotel, as I had made arrangements for a car service to take me to the airport 4 days later. The room at the new hotel was very nice, but I returned to the original location the next day in a cab (paid for by the hotel), and got a room. But, I had paid for a standard room and was upgraded to a suite with a view of the lake. Besides that, I received a call from British Airways apologizing for the problem, and when I arrived at the airport on my way home to Boston via London, I was upgraded on both segments from coach to first class. I was well compensated for a few hours of aggravation.<BR><BR>Looking forward to reading about your experiences.
Feb 16th, 2002, 09:00 PM
#2
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It happened to us at the not-so-great Plaka Hotel in Athens. The desk clerk insisted we did not have a reservation and appeared unwilling to give us a room, until I produced the reservation print-out. <BR><BR>Wherever possible, I take a written confirmation with me.
Feb 16th, 2002, 10:11 PM
#4
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It happened to us at the not-so-great Plaka Hotel in Athens. The desk clerk insisted we did not have a reservation and appeared unwilling to give us a room, until I produced the reservation print-out. <BR><BR>Wherever possible, I take a written confirmation with me.
Feb 16th, 2002, 10:33 PM
#6
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The only time I had a problem was during the Europe Cup in Paris. The hotel mysteriously didn't have a room for one of our group members ("the people in the room didn't leave"), so he ended up in an attic (?) or something where to go to the bathroom he had to go down a ladder (!). I hung around the desk the next morning until someone checked out and proclaimed: "Now there's a free room!" Sometimes the French can be very frustrating...<BR><BR>And, of course, I had all the correspondence between the hotel and me, including proof of the deposit we had sent.<BR><BR>But that was in the 80s, and I have never had a problem since, even booking through internet services, though the only one I have used is www.france.com
