Originally Posted by ravsquad

As a manager in the front office, I have to say that the responses so far have been realistic, although there are some that are specific to the type of property where the overbooking occured (star rating, chain/independent). Relocate procedures at a Ramada will be different than at a Hyatt! As a rule, every hotel practices overbooking, luxury ones included, save for maybe the Amans or Orient Express, or some island hideaway where there are no alternatives!

Regarding the best/worst time to be relocated, it really depends on the city (convention like NY or holiday like Orlando), the cause of overbooking (could be emergency situations like water leak that took away an entire floor for the night), as well as the situation with other hotels in the city. In general, I always do the relocate BEFORE 8PM. Most of my colleagues in the industry prefer to do this, as there is nothing worse than relocating a guest at midnight when they're cranky and sleepy. It also assures me that the other hotel hasn't released the room for me to someone else.

Also, I always relocate guests who are supposed to stay at my property for more than one night. The reason for this is when they return the next day, we can make up for it with upgraded rooms, special amenities, etc, etc......