Fairhope - She didn't know she had a room on the other side of the city. She's using hyperbole to tell her story, but the point is, as far as she knew, she had no room.

I believe "women" are warned since they would probably be more adversly effected by unexpected roomlessness. I believe she is assuming a woman wandering about at 2:am would be more at risk than a man.

Why does there have to be "more to the story?" She was "done wrong," and wants to tell the world about it. I'd be PO'd too.

Thanks for the warning. The more I hear stories such as yours the more I am hesitant to use any 3rd party booking agent. I am sorry that so many felt the need to criticize your warning. Even as a fairly adventurous woman, I do feel a little more vulnerable in a strange city. It makes it even more difficult when you feel responsible for someone else.

I think this points out that if you make arrangements for lodging, or any travel plans really, with a third party you should confirm your arrangements diectly with the hotel.

If you travel with a medical condition you should always be prepared and a bit more careful to avoid negative results. This may have meant that your mom could have stepped out for food and rest while you took care of arranging for a room.

And ending with a flourish of bing in a foreign country when this happend is diluted because you were in an English speaking country. There was no language barrier. How in the world can that be scary. Was this your first trip out of town? Stuff happens when you travel. Calm down.

But apparently it doesn't happen to men.

Warning to Women Travelers...don't pay any attention to anything directed at Women Travelers

Thank you DREAMER2. Exactly! I wasn't told I had another room to start...I was told I didnt have a room, period. For several hours I thought this... while waiting for the nite duty manager, calling Galliger's Travels (Orbitz's London Agent who supposedly has a 24 hour number) and trying to call Orbitz (however an 8 hour time difference stands between the US &UK!). Then suddenly a fax appears that had been sent that day stating..."Reservation for XXXXX has been moved per Kathleen." Great! Thanks for telling me!!! By the way, Mom was sitting in the nice reception area while I argued my way through it but, there were not any fast food (joke) restaurants nearby or a restuarant in this "boutique hotel" and it was simply time to lay down and take a load off...if you know what I mean.

Point #1 is: Please respond if you know someone that has had a similiar problelm with Orbitz.
#2 If you know how to get through to someone at Orbitz to help remedy this sitiaotn. All I'm getting is send an email to [email protected] and [email protected].

A another little reminder. This is BRITAIN and the Pound is 2x the Dollar. This hit me hard in the wallet-like $600 worth of errors by Orbitz which is unjust and a little irritating considering they are a trusted website...

I messed up. I am sorry, kari.

aucho53 pointed out that it was another poster that arrived at a hotel at 12 pm when the front desk closed at 11pm.

My sincere apologies. My bad.

I can understand the frustration here, but really, do you expect to get anywhere with a 3rd party online provider? Do you expect to get an apology or a call or anything short of a standard canned reply? This is the problem with using any online third party service, we all want the cheap prices, then we expect to be treated like A1 customers.

Folks, we are a number to these services, if you want service go to a travel agent or book directly through the hotel. I don't mean to direct this at you Kari, just an observation in general. I'm done with Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. I may comparison shop using them, but I go direct from there...

I made online reservations direct on the Inn's personal website, tried twice before completing reservation to double check the room still came up as available, $350.++ for a Queen Suite, reserved and printed. After drive, only one handicap parking offered and it was taken, no overnight parking or even a loading zone to transfer luggage, check-in at dining room seating = stand in line and wait. Then presenting printed confirmed reservation was dryly told, of we are trying to get the internet program to not accept same day reservations. Oh, Sorry, guess that makes it my fault for giving credit card and all information and driving to arrive at an approprite time. If I had done 10 hours from LA, YES, I would have been Livid! We all understand and accept some mistakes will happen, but some errors, if unavoidable, at the very least require notification. I did get and E-mail the next day that there was no room for me the night before, and thanks for that, how ever that was believed to be helpful. The roomless night after the drive had past, so Thanks for nothing. I see the posters point and hope there is a way to protect inns and travelers from this problem, which can cause avoidable danger.....I can not even imagine with little ones and told "no room for you". How can we help both sides to work together so this need not be a worry?

There are plenty of countries and cities where I, especially if traveling with my mom, would not want to be left out in the cold. Sorry to those of you who don't see her point, but not ALL countries treat women as equal, intelligent, capable single travelers. It is not an "equal rights" world that we live in, and if some of you got around a little more you might realize this...instead of harping on your discontent with the title of this post.

A good reminder, for everyone, to re-check and re-confirm! Hotwire, Priceline, Orbitz, Expedia...we are constantly hearing these stories about non-existent reservations. Call the hotel directly before your trip and verify that everything is in order.

and furthermore....don't pretend we all haven't seen a woman arguing with a desk clerk...demanding some action....and nothing happens. Then when her 6foot 5 husband walks into the lobby and slams his fist onto the desk.....SUDDENLY the shivering desk clerk finds a room available!

IT'S A MAN's WORLD!

Regarding scarey countries and cities - she was in London, not Baghdad.

Every hotel I've ever stayed in, in London, I've been treated very kindly and with respect. It didn't matter that I was female. If I had a problem, they handled it and did it well. As Gail said, Kari92037 was in London, not Baghdad.

I find this information very helpful. Maybe a woman should be more concerned, but I don't care if I can slam my fist on a desk to get something. I don't want to have to do that when I have reservations. I've never used Orbitz, and I'm less likely to use it now.

kari92037, try a little longer to get ahold of Orbitz. If you don't get a response soon, you can contact the Better Business Bureau at www.bbb.org. Going through them has helped me a lot in the past when I've been trying to resolve an issue and a company is ignoring me.
-Christine

There is nothing wrong with posting a "Warning to Women Travelers". There are many women who travel alone and should heed warnings. I work in the hotel industry and have seen the emergence of "women's floors", specifically for women who must travel alone but have some valid fears.

Sorry about your experience, Kari. I have traveled alone with my daughter and would have been very uncomfortable if that had happened to us. I do think, however, that it could happen to anyone - no matter how you book. It sounds like the problem is with the hotel whose reaction to your problem was very poor. Orbitz did send the fax, and the hotel misplaced it.

So, brief update. I found CEO Mitch Truwit's, direct email address, and cc several other Senior Vice Presidents of Cendant (owner of Orbitz). I recieved an email back this morning (still no luck getting through to ANYONE by phone) from someone on his staff. They have offered to refund my room cost after I put him on notice for California Small Claims Action and copied him on the photos of the supposed 4 STAR Hotel room upgrade (yeah, right!). I have sent copies of my transportation costs/reciepts via car between the hotels and to the airport via cab for thier review. I am waiting to hear back on those costs...

I do hope they credit you for all your trouble.