After driving for 14 hours and arriving at our hotel at 2:30 in the morning, we were advised that our room had been "sold" earlier in the day. We responded that there must be some mistake... We had made the reservation and confirmed for late arrival with our credit card about 4 weeks earlier. We had a print-out of the emailed reservation confirmation number.

The woman at the desk said she was sorry, they had no rooms. Her manager had instructed her earlier in the day to sell our room (and 7 other guaranteed rooms on a sheet he provided her with the confirmation numbers highlighted) despite the fact that it was shown as being guaranteed by a credit card. She had simply done what she was told. She indicated that the manager was not available. Further, after checking briefly, she indicated that all rooms in the area at other hotels were booked. There was nothing she could do for us. After driviing up to 3 or 4 nearby motels with "no rooms", we proceeded to drive for another 7 hours to our ultimate destination.

What are our rights in this situation? This was a Fairfield Inn (a Marriott hotel) in Macon, Georgia. So far, we have done the following:

Called Marriott: they were going to follow-up with the hotel, but said we needed to deal directly with the local operator first. Marriott confirmed that we were stiffed on our reservation and also that the local hotel violated Marriott's policy of finding us another room.

Called the Fairfield Inn. The manager claimed he had been there when we arrived, despite what the woman at the front desk had told us when we repeatedly asked to see someone in charge. He kept passing the buck, claiming Marriott central overbooked, and that the woman at the front desk had been inherited by him when he took over. He asked what it would take to make us satisfied. We said we would get back with him. He would not make us an offer.

We are now deciding what to do. What does Marriott owe us, not only for stiffing us on the room we had guaranteed, but also for the inconvenience and emotional distress of having no room at the end of a 14 hour drive? What should we ask for? Does each state have its own regulations that might apply in addition to Marriott's own policies? How do we find out?

If you have any suggestions or ideas, we would be most greatful!

It seems outrageousl that you cannot rely on a confirmed reservation.

What a day you had!! According to my hotel GM hubby, you should look for a 2 to 3 night stay at any Marriott, not the Macon Fairfield Inn, Macon not being the kind of city you are likely to be frequenting.

If the manager of the Fairfield is unwilling to provide this remedy, your dealings should be directed to Marriott Consumer Affairs, and a letter to Bill Marriott wouldn't hurt your cause either.

You are correct in your assessment that the Fairfield manager is trying to let himself off the hook. Overbooking happens in hotels just as it does in airline reservations. Usually you are aware you have a potential problem early in the day and try to make arrangements in advance with another local hotel for a block of rooms at a "walk rate", to accommodate those guests that might have to be walked. If you are one of the unlucky ones, (but lucky enough to have another room available locally) you can expect the hotel that walked you to pick up the cost of the hotel you are "walked" to, as well as crediting your card for the charge for their room. If you are in town for a multi-night stay and there is room available in the original hotel the next night, it should be offered to you with an upgrade, if available.

Good luck. Let us know what the Fairfield manager comes back with...

Olive Oyl is right on the target with her response. Actually, you're "lucky" (if that's the right word in this situation) in that it happened with a quality hotel operation like Marriott. I'd be very surprised if the Marriott does not respond fairly quickly and that you are not compensated in some way by them. Just make sure that you are pleasant but firm in all your communications (just like you did on the forum).

Write a detailed but adamant letter to Marriott headquarters. It won't hurt to say you asked for advice here -- publicity is much more compelling than legal or moral responsibility.

Similarly: Copy in the Better Business Bureau for the Macon area. Send a letter to the Macon local paper and even the Chamber of Commerce.

For future reference, you may want to call ahead if you're going to be very late. Past midnight, the hotel may assume you will be a no-show and "risk" giving away your room. If I'm planning to be arriving past 10 or 11, I always call the front desk in the morning and ask for them to make a notation on my record. I've never been bumped in years of traveling except for the one time in Dallas when the hotel asked me if I wanted a free room at the hotel next door in exchange for giving up my room. I said yes.

I have another Marriott horror story...

But first, what an ordeal for you. You count on the better "chain" hotels (Marriott, Hyatt etc.) to operate based on their reputation for good service.

OUr family also had an awful experience with Marriott. We booked an apartment at the Marriott Renaissance in Amsterdam last summer (a four star property). When we got there late in the afternoon, we were informed that there was no bellman service, because the property was located next door. After carrying (lugging) our luggage (for 5 People)three floors up a steep staircase, we walked into a filthy apartment. The cobwebs looked like something from a haunted house. The bathroom had caked feces inside the toilet bowl. The carpet was filthy etc. They refused to come clean it due to the lateness of the hour. I got my own cleaning supplies and did it myself. We then tryed to order room service because we were exhausted; they informed us that the apts. didn't have room service.

Yes, we complained and yes we did try to find a room elsewhere. We could find nothing since we required two (adjoining) rooms. They did reduce our nightly rate (we had to stay in this hell hole for four nights) by 30 Guilders a night. Big Deal.

Just the opposite happened at a Hyatt in San Francisco. My husband and I were staying at a property on Union Square when I cut my finger badly on a jagged piece of metal on the bathroom door in our room. to make a long story short, the manager couldn't have been more accommodating and insisted that the room was comped for our stay of three nights. What a difference in management.

As Olive Oyl advised you, we did write to Bill Marriott. A couple of months later we got a letter of apology and that was it. We never pursued it further because we figured that it was an international hotel and we'd never get any satisfaction.

When arriving quite late, I have had some luck calling the hotel on the morning I depart and asking to have a room "assigned" to me with a notation of the extent of my lateness and why (driving, making difficult connections, etc.). This has afforded us some protection from the unfortunate ordeal you experienced or from being assigned the last room next to the elevator shaft. Give it a try - can't hurt.

The only thing that would have made your trip easier would have been to call the hotel to let them know you were on your way and would get there very late and PLEASE hold your room. Sometimes when people don't get there until very late it is expected that the room can be sold. But you are very right that a provision should have been made.

Instead of just sending a letter, I would call Mr. Marriott's office at the corporate location in Kansas City and then send a follow-up letter. That woudl get a more immediate response.

What happened should NEVER have happened and the hotel is under corporate policy to find you another room if you have a confirmed reservation, but the one sticking point may be that you did not call the hotel directly.

Good luck with your complaint.

I, too, would be very surprised if Marriott Corporate didn't send you at least a voucher for the number of nights you had booked originally. One incompetent manager gives the whole chain a very bad reputation. Jim makes a very good point. If we're going to be arriving late to check in, I always phone during the day and advise the front desk (not whoever answers the phone) of our estimated time of arrival and re-confirm the reservation. I also ask what time the shift changes and call about 1/2 hour after that time and re-confirm again. My husband thought this was nuts until he arrived at a Sheraton following a long flight and many delays after midnight and the hotel "walked" him to a horrible alternative.

A letter to the local newspaper and the BBB?
Sheez! This kind of stuff happens thousands of times a day in the US. It's often beyond the control of the hotel, and hardly something anyone would consider newsworthy.
OliveOyl is on target. You should expect a 2-3 night comp. That's fair, Marriott will likely see it this way. They offered me similar compensation for a much lesser 'offese' recently.

With booking software, this is hardly beyond the control of the hotel. Many factor in projected "no shows" based upon sophisticated history and formulas for maximum "fill", including likelihood of no show if not checked in by 8PM. And, get paid twice for confirmed no shows. Whenever every other place within miles is fully booked as well, whatever is going on locally is factored in too. While the situation may not be "newsworthy", forums on the web, such as this one, have enormous power - in both directions. Otherwise I never would have known about certain chains that deliberately overbook their "prime location" and "walk" confirmed reservations to much less desirable "sister" properties.

There is another reason why the hotels overbook and sell room that have been "guaranteed" with a credit card.

The hotels hope the original booking party is a no show. That way they get to charge your credit card for the first night IN ADDITION to charging the party that actually gets to occupy the room This allows them to charge each party for the first nights room.

Tips on writing letters that have worked for me in the past:

1. They should be short, unemotional and to the point.
2. They should very specifically state what compensation you expect to receive.
3. Send it to 2-3 executives responsible for customer service (VP of Consumer Affairs, VP of Operations, etc. - get actual names from a web search) and be sure that each of the addresses knows it's going to the others by listing them on a cc: line at the bottom of the letter. Also send a copy to the CEO/Owner with the others cc'd. This way the CEO can simply forward it on to the right person with a note to "take care of this".

Thanks for all of the thoughtful replies. We are putting together our letter now.

Question: We will be in London in June. Would we be perceived as greedy or pushing it too hard to suggest a couple of complementary nights at the London Grovesnor Square Marriott? Your thoughts please...

Well, John, how about trying a more subtle approach. As others advised, first make your specific request for the compensation you expect. When concluding your letter, you could, if you wished, mention your abiding preference for all things Marriott, as evidenced by your plan to use their accommodations in London. If Marriott intends to be responsive to you, perhaps they'll make the connection and offer compensation for London. Who knows ... but that's the way I'd try it, and then just take my chances. More fun that way. But to get involved in pressing for specific compensation for a specific hotel, well, it doesn't seem smart or persuasive. Good luck, cha.

I like Leone's approach, John, and in answer to your question, to go from a Macon GA Fairfield Inn to London Grosvenor Square, might be pushing things. No harm trying, but I'd be real surprised if you had any success! That's a great hotel in a fantastic location and as with all London upper end hotels, very expensive.

For management, though we can stay free at any of our chain's hotels within the US, when we were in London, our *employee* rate at our chain's hotel was $300+/night, and at that it was a bargain!

Hotels overbook out of necessity, not because they are trying to "double dip" on no-show charges. I don't know of ANY hotel manager that wouldn't gladly give up the practice if possible. For several years, I was a Front Office manager for both Omni and Westin. We overbooked because there really are a few guests EVERY DAY who simply don't arrive OR cancel the reservation. Also, many corporate guests book for five days and stay two, leaving 3 empty nights. I remember being overbooked by 100 ROOMS (!) a week prior to arrival and then not filling when the actual date rolled around!

So, hotels know how to play the numbers game and can usually get it pretty close. However, like with the airlines, sometimes you lose and have to "walk" people. At Omni, we always paid room/tax/phone calls for our relocated guests and upgraded them on return the next day.

What I'm surprised with in this situation is that the Fairfield didn't try harder to locate SOMETHING (maybe a B&B?) in Macon. Making the guest get back on the road at 2AM is quite dangerous!

Good luck with your letter, John. I wouldn't hold out hope for London, but I guess it doesn't hurt to ask!!

We recently had a similar problem with having a room sold out from under us with a credit-card confirmed late-arrival reservation.

Anyone have Bill Marriott's mailing address or suggestions on how to track down?

John,

I realize that hotels overbook to fill the hotel...however they do "double dip" by charging two people for the same night.

They could just as easily tell a "no show", "We are sorry you weren't able to fulfill your guaranteed reservation. However, we were able to rerent your room to another individual and therefore there wil be no charge to you". THis would go a long way towards goodwill.

Goodwill? Why, exactly, should there be an expression of "goodwill" towards someone who made a reservation and failed to honor that contract? Just don't get it. A reservation is a two-way agreement.