Starwood Preferred Guest - Rate changed on me months after reservation . . . is this ethical?

In late August I booked a rate online (Better Tomorrows, buy one night get the second at 50% off) for a conference next week in California, and received my confirmation e-mail that day. Today (more than two months later) I received the standard "Rest easy. Your reservation is confirmed" e-mail, but the rate had been changed to the "special" conference rate, which in total will cost me $120 more than the original booking. At no time did I ever contact Starwood about modifying the reservation, and nowhere in the conference materials does it state that I must reserve the room using the "special" conference rate.

I have done this several times before for conferences to save money, at Starwood and other properties, but I feel this is unethical, to say the least. Shouldn't the property honor the lower rate? Can a resort "force" a guest to pay the conference rate (which in this case is barely lower than the rack rate)? The SPG Gold folks were unhelpful and the supervisor even a little glib, saying essentially that this is an issue between me and the hotel and that there is nothing they could do for me. The confirmation number for my reservation on both e-mails (the one from August and from today) is the same. Has anyone had a similar experience and is there anything I can do? Starwood Lurker do you have any advice?

I would not say this is unethical but this is simply inot legal. You have a valid reservation and it is my gut feeling that the hotel has to honor this in every jurisdiction on this globe.

The call center agents are never helpful asa it comes to non standard issues, they are simply not trained for this.

I would contact customer service by email with a copy of the original reservation stating that somebody from inside obviously manipulated your reservation and insist that it is changed back to the orginal status.

Regardless of whether or not you get someone to fix it beforehand, bring your original confirmation with you when you check in. If they charge you more than that, dispute the charge with your credit card company.

Thank you for your quick replies, they are much appreciated. I do print everything out and carry the papers with me when I travel, and thankfully I've never had to use them to dispute a rate (whether hotel, rental car, etc.) This may well be the first. Oftentimes I've stayed at a different hotel from the one where a conference is being held (for many different reasons . . . loyalty, amenities, price, you name it).

I guess my next question is "Does a resort reserve the right to 'lock-in' its attendees at a set rate?" I know it probably sounds ridiculous but I feel that's what may be going on here, even though I haven't read, heard, or ever experienced anything like that. To add insult to injury, the e-mail is time-stamped 16 minutes after the 7-day cutoff to cancel the reservation without a one-night penalty!

Does a resort reserve the right to 'lock-in' its attendees at a set rate?
No. You reserved a rate, they confirmed it, that's the rate you pay.

This seems pretty straightforward. Unless they've closed the hotel to anyone but conference attendees, they're still selling rooms to the general public, and your reservation is still good.

I am curious... what did the hotel say when you contacted them directly?

When you get to the hotel and they tell you the rate just show them your confirmation and they have to charge you that rate. The fact that the confirmation is the same makes it even more clear. I would not worry.

I am curious... what did the hotel say when you contacted them directly?

wharvey,

Talked to the internal reservations supervisor this morning. She said that I was placed on the conference rate plan but couldn't give a reason why. According to her, I shouldn't have a problem getting the lower rate honored. Still not taking any chances, though . . . have printed all correspondence regarding this trip. Thank you all again for your replies.

How did the hotel know you were part of the conference?

How did the hotel know you were part of the conference?

Good question Eujeanie! I have no idea, but I was thinking they probably have a list of conference attendees and may have cross-referenced this with names of folks showing a reservation for those dates. I do have a pretty uncommon name, and used the same credit card to reserve both the room and pay for the conference fee, but it does seem like a lot of busywork on their part, huh?

I would also cast a suspicious eye at the conference organizers. The high conference rate along with a commitment for a certain number of guests booking the rate is part of their negotiation and helps them pay for meeting rooms, etc.

Since they have a list of who is attending and a financial interest in meeting their minimum, they may have decided to work with the hotel to 'convert' attendees to the conference rate.

Not any more palatable or legal, but another potential explanation.

I would also cast a suspicious eye at the conference organizers. The high conference rate along with a commitment for a certain number of guests booking the rate is part of their negotiation and helps them pay for meeting rooms, etc.

Since they have a list of who is attending and a financial interest in meeting their minimum, they may have decided to work with the hotel to 'convert' attendees to the conference rate.

Not any more palatable or legal, but another potential explanation.

I think your explanation is the most likely scenario.I have seen this happen in Chicago where you get better rates by staying at non conference Hotels.
They need to hit their numbers to qualify for the "perks" they have arranged for themselves.

I would also cast a suspicious eye at the conference organizers. The high conference rate along with a commitment for a certain number of guests booking the rate is part of their negotiation and helps them pay for meeting rooms, etc.

Since they have a list of who is attending and a financial interest in meeting their minimum, they may have decided to work with the hotel to 'convert' attendees to the conference rate.

Not any more palatable or legal, but another potential explanation.

I concur - this "feels" like what happened. Give us an update if you learn anything new.

They need to hit their numbers to qualify for the "perks" they have arranged for themselves.
It's worse than that. If they don't hit their numbers, the conference has to pay the difference directly to the hotels or the city's convention bureau (whoever the contract is with). I do a lot of work with a conference that generally has about 25,000-30,000 attendees, and one of the reasons the conference can't go to San Francisco is that the city has been demanding a 10,000-room guarantee. And the 10,000 rooms all have to be booked through the common booking agent - anything booked outside that doesn't count toward the guarantee.

It's worse than that. If they don't hit their numbers, the conference has to pay the difference directly to the hotels or the city's convention bureau (whoever the contract is with). I do a lot of work with a conference that generally has about 25,000-30,000 attendees, and one of the reasons the conference can't go to San Francisco is that the city has been demanding a 10,000-room guarantee. And the 10,000 rooms all have to be booked through the common booking agent - anything booked outside that doesn't count toward the guarantee.

Agreed. Perks aren't the reason, it is expense to the organizers for not hitting their room block.

I thought the confirmation email is a contract that cannot be changed unilaterally.

OP has a confirmed rate and the hotel says it won't be a problem to honour it. So it sounds to me like the OP is in good shape. All the rest is speculation.

Cheers,

I hear you. I lost count of how many times I have check into a SPG properties around the world to find the check-in agent quoting a rate higher than I reserved. I made it practice to carry a print out of the email confirmation with the exact rate.

Frankly I got tired of it and switched to Hyatt GP.

I guess I'm just repeating what everybody else has said, but if you have a confirmation with lower rate there is no way that the hotel can 'make' you pay a higher one that you never agreed to.

Out of interest, what shows up on spg.com? The new rate?

I guess I'm just repeating what everybody else has said, but if you have a confirmation with lower rate there is no way that the hotel can 'make' you pay a higher one that you never agreed to.

In case the hotel did force you to pay for the higher rate, who do you call? :)

apguest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

In case the hotel did force you to pay for the higher rate, who do you call? :)

apguest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

Thyetus Lee | Online Forum Coordinator(AP)
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Ghostbusters? ;)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

guest.forum@starwoodhotels.com

What would bother me more about this is if the hotel is telling a "conference coordinator" that I was staying there... that is my decision to share that... from a privacy perspective, I hope the hotel is not passing along guest info. Not sure if that is the case here, but I hope not.

Check the conference registration material.

I went to a conference once where the material stated that any attendee staying at the conference hotel is required to pay the conference rate, and that registered guests names will be shared with the hotel.

I stayed at a different hotel. But I am curios, would the registration contract trump the room rate?

Playing the devil's advocate, I would say yes. Think about it...what if EVERYONE booked their room independently? They also ask you if you reserve by phone if you are attending any groups or conventions (not sure if this question is on line - maybe the "business or pleasure" query) - so if you say No, aren't you lying? I'm not saying I blame anyone for trying to get a lower rate, but I think it's a little less tricky to stay at another hotel, rather than the same one.

I almost never book conference rates... they are almost always higher than the rate I can personally get. If conference organizers are not able to negotiate a group room rate that is lower than what an individual off the street could get, then they have no right to complain when people do not book the conference rate.

I had a similar issue a couple of times with Hilton Springfield, IL where I booked the state government rate, but to find that the general manager had changed my rate to my company rate instead when checking in. However, there were no issues of changing it back to the state rate.

Check the conference registration material.

I went to a conference once where the material stated that any attendee staying at the conference hotel is required to pay the conference rate, and that registered guests names will be shared with the hotel.

I stayed at a different hotel. But I am curios, would the registration contract trump the room rate?

Totally annoying, especially if the conference also has many local attendees who don't use hotel rooms. If the conference costs more, charge more, don't jack up the room rate.

I would also cast a suspicious eye at the conference organizers. The high conference rate along with a commitment for a certain number of guests booking the rate is part of their negotiation and helps them pay for meeting rooms, etc.

Since they have a list of who is attending and a financial interest in meeting their minimum, they may have decided to work with the hotel to 'convert' attendees to the conference rate.

Not any more palatable or legal, but another potential explanation.

Many times if we run short on our room block the hotel will work with us and give us credit for those who stay there under a different rate. We have not had any instance of a hotel changing a rate. I'm not saying it can't happen but we run a lot of conferences and have not had that experience. I do think that the name was cross referenced but, unless there's something in the registration materials, I don't think you'll have a problem getting your original rate (famous last words).

Bobette