zachary

I think the variety of policies is increasing. It also varies within some properties by the rate selected. At the ES on State Street in downtown Chicago, I for the first time saw an MVP rate with the same credit card deposit/30 day cancellation policy that aww3583 shows above for the Hampton in Central Florida. Most rates at that property for my dates had those same rules, but there were others that didn't. This isn't a customer friendly way to proceed -- you need to be very careful to read the terms before you book, even for properties you've stayed at before.

In this case, the ES lost my business because of the terms they put on the rate.

By the way, really glad to see that Ink didn't re-book the property that charged him. I would never stay at a property that did that to me, especially with a proven record of being a repeat guest like Ink had.

storewanderer

I'd contact the GM directly and let them know of your past stay history, the upcoming reservation at a different property due to their inflexibility, and remind them of the loss of future business and see what they say.

storewanderer

What has happened to me with these inflexible cancellation policies imposed by Hilton, IHG, Hyatt, and Marriott is that I just go book Priceline Opaque (Name your own price) for the first couple nights of my trips now... I figure this way if something happens on the trip, the dollar loss from cancellation is at least clear and known, and typically less than it would be if I was to book with Hilton.com.

Given how these large hotel chains are seriously overbuilding hotels (this is going to be a disaster the next time the economy goes the wrong way), it will be interesting to see how this works going forward. Will they become more "customer friendly" when business is harder to come by? Or will these very large chains that control so much of the market just take the "stick it to the customer" approach and decide to start accepting cancellation fees as a major revenue source?

They could appear more "customer friendly" by charging a "cancellation penalty" ($50 or something) if you no show, vs. charging you the full room rate plus tax. I always wondered about their charging you for taxes when you don't occupy the room... I wonder if they actually have to remit those taxes...

freeflyin

Are you willing to name the property?

While I get the rules are the rules idea, if you were ready to rebook and they still refused a somewhat regular patron, I would like to steer clear of this location if it becomes an option for me. The greed of this GM,while technically within his rights, could cost him/her in the long run if they are treating their best customers in this way.