Hi guys,

Just want to run something by you.

I made a booking for the Double Tree San Francisco for one night in March. I booked online using an advanced rate booking so didn’t pay much for the room, £60 I believe. This was booked a couple of weeks ago.

3 days ago my father was taken ill in hospital and as a result Im not going away now. I rang up DoubleTree to see if I can move the reservation to another date in the future (not that I have one, I was just seeing if this was possible) rather then lose the booking. I was told that because its an advanced rate nothing is changeable or refundable – fair enough, I haven’t got a problem.....however, the agent went on to say that in order to get a refund on the room (he brought this up, not me) I would have to get a letter from the hospital to say that my Dad is in hospital. Now, Im not really bothered that Ive lost £60 on the room, as my dad’s health is more important, but I just found it strange that Hilton really expect me to go and get my dad’s hospital details and fax it over to them. Also, under UK Data protection law Im sure the hospital would struggle to give anything in writing in order to get a refund on a hotel?

Im not having a moan here, I just found this interesting.

Other comments welcomed.