I was hoping to get some advice here. Perhaps some of the legal experts could clarify this for me.

I just made a reservation for a hotel stay in Santa Barbara for 1 night. The hotel is named the Hotel Santa Barbara and it's run by the Utell chain. It's right on State St. in downtown SB and looks to be nice. I was very surprised to check the Utell site and, after entering all the required info, the room I was looking for was quoted as being available for $0.00 I figured that if I selected that rate the system might correct the error in the pricing and list the real rate. After going through 3 seperate pages, it continued to quote me the rate of $0.00.

I went ahead and booked the room for $0.00 and was sent a Confirmation e-mail which confirmed my rate of $0.00 (copy of that e-mail posted below.)

My question; Is this hotel required to honor this confirmed rate of ZERO? I seem to recall reading that when the airline sites mistakenly offer rates that are never meant to be posted, they are still required to honor that rate. I guess the difference here is that I haven't actually paid for the room yet, but it is being held with my credit card. I'm really not expecting to get it for free, but it does make me curious to know if the law is on my side or not?

Confirmation E-mail -

Chain: Axcess Hotels
Property Name: Hotel Santa Barbara
Property Address: 533 State Street, Santa Barbara, California, United States, 93101
Property Phone Number: (1 805) 9579300
Reservation Phone: Axcess on 1-800-207-6900 (US and Canada)
Arrival Date: Thursday, October 19, 2000
Departure Date: Friday, October 20, 2000
Room Description: Deluxe Room 2 Queen Beds
Rate Description: Corporate Rate

Number of Adults: 3
Number of Rooms/Suites: 1
Number of Beds: 2
Bed Type Preference: Double Bed
Quoted Rate: 0.00 United States Dollars
Confirmed Rate: 0.00 United States Dollars
Smoking Preference: Non-Smoking room requested

Thanks in advance


CA Platinum