Hilton HHonors - Mysterious booking Changes

I have sent this email to the HHonors Gold email address:-----Original Message-----
From: <serfty>
Sent: Wednesday, 9 August 2006 5:03 PM
To: 'Gold'
Subject: Upcoming Hilton Stay Changed ??? (as attached)


Booking reference: 3....

HHonors: 8....

G'day,

I have been trying to make a booking for a stay in Sri-Lanka for the "Hilton
Colombo Residence ... . After making these booking a very annoying thing is
happening a day or so later. These bookings keep changing, both with the
rate increasing and the room type. To try to fix this I have been canceling
these bookings and making new ones. I have cancelled three bookings and
am now on my fourth.

I made a booking as referenced above in earlier this week, my Email
confirmation is attached. The important part was it is at a base rate of
USD120 for Non-Smoking. Yesterday I confirmed online that things had not
altered.

Again I was checking up on this today I have this has now changed to a
SMOKING ROOM at an INCREASED rate of USD140 !!!

I have done nothing to cause either of these changes since the booking was
originally made.

While either of these changes on their own would be annoying; having both
multiplies the problem.

Cold you please advise on how I can ensure I get the type of room booked at
the rate it was originally booked for.

Best Regards,

<serfty>.The travel planner is showing four references to the "Hilton Colombo Residence" all for the same date; one 'live' booking and three cancellations.

Can anyone advise if this has happened to them and if so how were they successful in fixing it?

As long as you have a live booking and print out of the original booking to show at check in/out you should be okay. (But still good to bring it to Hilton's attention as it shouldn't be happening in the first place.)

It seems to be driven from the hotel (as opposed from Hilton) and is annoying. But, so far at least for me, it has worked out okay.

Worst case if they insist on the higher rate is you dispute it with your credit card.

I have had several bookings for NON SMOKING rooms turn into SMOKING on my travel planner. So far the hotels have been able to provide a Non Smoking room.

Have others noticed this in their bookings? For me it is 3 out the last 4 bookings.

Did you get a reply to your email Serfty?

Interesting re Hilton Residence Colombo. I just checked a future reservation; sure enough, it has changed from $80 to $93, and from non smoking to smoking. A second booking has changed from $120 to $140 and also to smoking. I'll fight the battle on check in if need be; I have the original booking confirmation.

If you look in your bookings, has the room type changed? A few times I have been upgraded in advance by the hotel, and the rate was changed by them by mistake when this happened. It was easily corrected at check-in with no problem at all.

It happened at Munich City, Munich Park and Vienna IIRC.

It's happened to me as well, with rooms switching from non-smoking to smoking at the Hilton Paris Arc de Triomphe, and a king study nonsmoking switching to a two double bed smoking room at a Hampton in a small Texas city this past weekend. In the first case, the hotel was fully booked and had no non-smoking rooms available, but the upgraded executive floor smoking room had no smoking odor, so it wasn't a problem. In the second case, which was actually this weekend, I decided to just switch hotels because the Hampton was sold out due to my college's homecoming. I ended up at a Hilton Garden Inn 40 miles away, which was farther from my reunion party but much more convenient to the airport and several other friends I was visiting.