UPDATE: WSJ says policy will change from excessive $$ penalty for no show
Situation is I booked a free weekend night at a NYC hotel for my mom under my name so she could have a true NYC tourist experience. After dinner decided just to have her crash at my place rather than check her in. She actually asked me if it would be a problem and I said 'nah...I booked with a free award so I'm sure it's not a big deal'
I think you can imagine where this one's going....checked my credit card statement today and was surprised to see a $350 dollar charge for the hotel. Made a couple of quick calls and no dice on getting it waived / reduced....
Yea, luckily for me, when I booked the St. Regis San Francisco, the CSR was really explicit in telling me that should I cancel inside the 24hr window or not show up, the hotel would charge me $650 even though it was a free award night. I found it strange, but I guess its to deter people from hedging multiple reservations.
Ouch. How painful. I've never understood why it is Starwood practice to charge the room rate instead of just keeping the award - but it's clearly spelled out and it is what it is.
I know my rump would be black and blue from me kicking myself. There's just nothing good to say, is there? other than it being a good admonitory tale for the rest of us.
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I just don't understand why Starwood has to be so punitive about this.
When you make a reservation, you are going to pay in a currency -- either money or points. If money, and you fail to cancel by the deadline and you don't show up, you lose the money. If points (or other free night award), why not just lose the points or the free night? It's still painful. You're still losing the currency that you were offering up for the stay. It's not costing the hotel any more because you didn't show up. In fact, it's arguably a savings to the hotel.
I recall there being some discussion in the past around the idea that the hotel doesn't get reimbursed for the free night unless the guest actually shows up -- and that being a justification for this policy. If true, that's a short-sighted policy that could quickly be changed and the a mechanism similar to that used to bill a no-show to the credit card company could be used to bill SPG for the reimbursement.
I just don't get why treating frequent customers so harshly is necessary in this situation.
I just don't understand why Starwood has to be so punitive about this.
When you make a reservation, you are going to pay in a currency -- either money or points. If money, and you fail to cancel by the deadline and you don't show up, you lose the money. If points (or other free night award), why not just lose the points or the free night? It's still painful. You're still losing the currency that you were offering up for the stay. It's not costing the hotel any more because you didn't show up. In fact, it's arguably a savings to the hotel.
I recall there being some discussion in the past around the idea that the hotel doesn't get reimbursed for the free night unless the guest actually shows up -- and that being a justification for this policy. If true, that's a short-sighted policy that could quickly be changed and the a mechanism similar to that used to bill a no-show to the credit card company could be used to bill SPG for the reimbursement.
I just don't get why treating frequent customers so harshly is necessary in this situation.
The policy isn't totally without reason. There are a limited number of rooms available for award reservations, and the punitive policy discourages booking rooms that one is not going to use. I agree it feels punitive, and it's definitely a bit annoying, but I also appreciate that Starwood has a policy that tends towards making sure people who want award rooms get them.
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The rule is the rule, but I do not like this particular rule at all.
I always be careful about free night/SPG point award reservations because of this rule.
The hotel gains much more if the customer does not show up.
I guess its revenue from SPG is much less than $350.
I hope SPG would change the rule and take our points or free night award away and SPG just pays to the hotel whatever their contract price is.
I have no idea why the hotel takes only cash payment.
I am not sure everyone's case, but does anyone successfully waive the cash payment and change to point deductions?????
I just don't understand why Starwood has to be so punitive about this.
When you make a reservation, you are going to pay in a currency -- either money or points. If money, and you fail to cancel by the deadline and you don't show up, you lose the money. If points (or other free night award), why not just lose the points or the free night? It's still painful. You're still losing the currency that you were offering up for the stay. It's not costing the hotel any more because you didn't show up. In fact, it's arguably a savings to the hotel.
I recall there being some discussion in the past around the idea that the hotel doesn't get reimbursed for the free night unless the guest actually shows up -- and that being a justification for this policy. If true, that's a short-sighted policy that could quickly be changed and the a mechanism similar to that used to bill a no-show to the credit card company could be used to bill SPG for the reimbursement.
I just don't get why treating frequent customers so harshly is necessary in this situation.
Yester year it made sense when we had to present a paper cert to the Hotel, then w/o the cert the Hotel wasnt paid.
But I hear you especially today when everything electronic and we dont have to present anything at check-in but ourselves
It would be nice if all we lost was the pts or cert. But I wouldnt expect anything to change
In the OPs case the hotel made out like a bandit and much better then if he had actually checked in
Even worse is the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort that has a $675 fee and no cancellation one week before the check-in date. If you take an award there, you'd better be sure you can make it.
I agree with others here that this policy is unnecessarily punitive to the guest and that a no-show is a windfall for the property.
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You should have checked in b4 dinner to get the room squared away. Ppl aren't thinking straight after dinner and drinks. That sux about your situation.
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I feel for the OP ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by aCavalierInCoach
The policy isn't totally without reason. There are a limited number of rooms available for award reservations, and the punitive policy discourages booking rooms that one is not going to use. I agree it feels punitive, and it's definitely a bit annoying, but I also appreciate that Starwood has a policy that tends towards making sure people who want award rooms get them.
It's hard for me to see that side of this particular story, however. If the earned award is used up (whether the room was occupied or not), who really cares? This was an unusual promotion in that the nights were fully free and non-transferrable, but really, what's the point of really sticking it to someone who made an award reservation (that was earned), forfeited it, but never actually "consumed" the room?
I think this would be a policy worth revisiting for *wood corporate.
Perhaps there's something I'm missing here -- is there another side to this? I'm open to a reasonable explanation ......
why the hotel takes only cash payment.
