jonspencer

I just had an IHG hotel in Miami refuse cash, demanded a debit or credit card?

was not happy about it, cancelled the booking and left

any other IHGers experienced this?

be interested to know, I do not like this "war on cash"

336

Dépends on the room rate and local legislation. If I recall correctly you are not allowed to pay anything over 1000 euro in cash in France.

TravelTheWorld66

Typically they require a credit or debit card authorization merely as an incidentals deposit, and then upon checkout you are able to pay with cash. Sometimes you are even allowed to also use cash as the deposit, which you will get back upon checkout. But this is tricky because who knows how much you'll spend on mini-bar, room service, etc.

Think about it. Theoretical situation: you pay cash upfront and leave a $50 cash deposit. You consume $150 in mini-bar items. How will the hotel get the rest of their money if they don't have a card on file?

sdsearch

I'm confused, how did you make the booking without using a credit card to secure it? And if you cancelled the booking after the cancellation deadline, they can still bill that credit card.

Dave Noble

Not all hotels require a booking to be guaranteed with a credit card; I stay at hotels that have a choice of auto cancel or be guaranteed

If it was guaranteed by a card, the hotel should still accept cash at checkout time though. Here , it is one of the ways to avoid a credit card surcharge

notquiteaff

How will they know that a charge to the card (beyond the initially reserved amount, $50) will go through?

ChinaShrek

Most hotels only check that the credit card is valid. They also assume that most users have a credit limit that is much higher.

Often1

OP is not clear in the least. Did the hotel refuse cash payment for the room or was it cash at check-in as a guarantee/deposit?

TravelTheWorld66

Many ICs that I've stayed at make several authorizations throughout the stay if my incidental spend has exceeded the initial authorization amount.

:D!

Unless you have experienced this with several hotels of which the only linking factor is them being IHG branded, why not name the individual hotel instead of suggesting that this is a general problem with all IHG hotels?

kaiotes

why dont you have a debit or cc in this modern's world

baroqen

In response to a few items on this thread, I used to work for an IHG property and I can understand some of the things from the hotel's perspective. While we did not have a policy against cash, we ALWAYS preferred having a credit card. When we have a credit card on file, we can charge for any incidentals that did not post as well as for any damages to the room. They were rare, but having a CC was always safer for the property. It was much more common for the situation that TravelTheWorld66 brought up... excessive charges to the mini bar and then lying about it when checking out. Usually the housekeepers are too busy to check right away so we refund the cash deposit and the guest leaves. It sounds like the franchise owner probably got fed up with situations like this and instilled this rule.

As far as large amounts of incidentals posting to a room... most modern hotel systems will automatically check to ensure the authorizations are sufficient to cover the current incidentals and the remainder of the stay. For older systems, the night auditor will check and if there have been a lot of incidentals, the system or auditor will make additional authorizations to cover the difference. Many of the hotels I've stayed at take a $50 or more incidental deposit per night as opposed to only $50 per stay.

Oh... and if your credit card is declined? Typically they call you to come down with alternative payment and cut off charging privileges until you do. If it takes you a really long time to go to the front desk, they expire your key.

jonspencer

it was at Candlewood in Doral and of course I have credit cards

there was never an issue with giving the hotel a card to block, I just wanted to pay cash as it was a personal expense and I only had a corporate credit card with me

I have over 100 nights with IHG this year and I did not like that they were not giving me a choice, I think it was completely reasonable that I pay in cash

Ghentleman

I think it's completely reasonable to expect to be able to pay with cash. But the hotel is not required by law to accept cash.

writerguyfl

The former grad student in me likes sources. So, here's the Federal Reserve source that confirms your statement.

Link: https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm
As far as I know, there is no Florida state law requiring businesses to accept cash. As proof, many Florida toll roads are cashless, and those are operated by public agencies.