I'm w/Canterbury, there is little reason to pre-pay for much of anything unless you are on priceline &/or getting a deal. And anytime you do that, you take that risk. Over the course of time, you'll hit some bad hotels...

< Why would a hotel clerk check in a clearly intoxicated guest, especially one who was making her very uncomfortable by flirting, asking her personal questions, and arguing with her.>

Just as you state the "OO" can't know what is going through your mind....you cant know what was going through the clerk's mind.

How about this scenario...

When the men realized that they had too much to drink....they decided to check into a hotel rather than driving home. Shouldn't the hotel sell them a room?

Or how about all of the weddings, parties,etc held in a hotel. After serving the guests drinks....should they tell them they are too drunk to be a guest at the hotel..and put them out on the streer?

Quite frankly, I'd have put a lot more faith in your original post if your complaint would have been that Travelocity didn't deliver to you what you saw on their website.

Instead you maligned guests in a hotel lobby.

BTW, truckers don't travel in a group, they travel solo.

SAnparis,
Yes, I readily admit the mistake was ours in booking from the road. We were simply exhausted and wanted to drive directly to a hotel from the highway rather than drive around looking for a place. We'd been traveling for almost two weeks and had fantastic luck relying on travel reviews in books and online, but had not prepaid for anything. I guess it was the end of the trip moment of weakness, BUT, in all fairness to ourselves, the reviews for this property were so fabulous that we KNEW it would suit our needs.

All in all, one bad experience in two weeks is not bad.

I'm curious now. Does anyone know?

Is it true a hotel can legally deny a room to a person who is drunk... heck, who needs a hotel room more that an intoxicated person???

momof2 - Your post on what would make you not check into a hotel after arriving is totally irrelevant.

No one says that you should have stayed there. You were certainly under no obligation to do so, and to leave was fine. Do whatever you feel is best, even if your reasons for doing so make no sense at all to others.

The point is that if you feel there is real danger (again, not just unpleasantness), work through the right channels to get a refund and have travelocity and the like change their listing. But you're not entitled to a refund of a prepaid reservation because you didn't use it if you can only show that you simply found the place unpleasant.

Again, leave if you feel the need, but don't expect compensation unless you can prove real wrong-doing.