MarshKing

It has been 20 years since I worked at the front desk of a Westin, so my insights are both dated and not necessarily reflective of how a luxury property would handle it. That said, it was relatively rare and managed on a case-by-case basis. Assuming the guest had not been staying for 30+ days (in which case it had to be treated as a legal eviction process), then the property generally had the upper hand.

I remember a time when a family was staying at the property and they had to rush to the hospital due to some sudden health concerns, and we simply extended their stay at their current rate as we didn't want to add stress to an already stressful situation. Another time a guest came up and was direct, firm, and polite about the fact that he would be staying longer even though we were oversold. The manager indicated that we did not have availability, and that if the guest insisted on staying, that the rate would skyrocket. The guest was fine with it and paid nearly 5X the rate. Money talks, I suppose. Another time we had a guest who was paying cash, ultimately refused to leave the room (key cards can easily be deactivated, but that doesn't do much good if guests are held up in the room) to pay his bill. That initially started with him staying an additional unscheduled night, and eventually law enforcement was called. Thankfully that was settled without much further drama other than uniformed officers escorting the guests off the property. (I believe that the guests were told by the deputy that they could leave immediately and agree to not return, or they'd be forced out and face charges and fines. They opened the door and headed off.)