yetanotherjanet

I'm guessing you might be from Great Britain? I'd heard of B&Bs there with part time access (even "part-er" than you describe, because one is not even allowed to stay in one's room during the day) but I thought that must have died out by now.

Of course, as someone who rarely leaves the U.S. any more, what do I know? There could be any number of regions where this strange-seeming custom applies. But it does feel safe to hazard a guess that there is one minor region you don't consider your primary home...namely the U.S. Just guessing.

notquiteaff

Ask them to move you to another room that doesn't have the access problem if you were planning to access the room during the time the corridor is closed. I have a stay at a DT coming up where I am planning to work in the hotel during the day, so a situation like this would not be acceptable or workable for me.

GentleGiant

Crazy that the rooms are being sold.

Just tell them that you expect access throughout your stay. They are clearly trying to do work on the cheap whilst still charging full wack,

ChrL

Doubletree Cambridge city centre (UK).

chrism20

Ask them to move you to the new Hilton and that you expect the bill to be waived for the inconvenience.

GentleGiant

Wow.

I would not have accepted 20k points considering the often rate of Ł300 to Ł400 per night.

They need to wave the bill or not sell the rooms.

They are clearly hoping people do not complain.

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templar42

Disgraceful treatment by a property that presents itself as one of Cambridge's more upscale hotels. For the second night, I'd ask for at least half the room rate to be comped, or points for 75% of the cost (points are not convertible, after all).

If they refuse, initiate a chargeback or consider doing MCOL - I can't see this sorry excuse for a management team going to court to defend their attempt to make guests pay for renovations.
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turtlemichael

The note on their booking page is totally inadequate:

Please be advised we are currently making enhancements to the hotel. Please contact the hotel team on 01223 259 988 for further details.

chrism20

Totally unacceptable

And if you book on the app which a lot of us are doing just now due to the extra points you don't even see that message.

warakorn

I've came across some Airbnb listings in the London area, that have some very strict curfew rules.
The hosts basically: "We primarily rent out to tourists. As tourist we expect you to be outside the house from 9am to 5pm."
Well, I've shown these listings to some of my friends and there were disgusted.

Even if you travel on business, there might be ocassions that you cannot access the customer side and have to do your conference calls from your hotel room.

But generally speaking, the curfew restrictions are being waved by more and more hostels. It was standard practice 20 years (for security/cleaning) to bar guests staying there between 9am and 5pm.
Hostel mgmt. probably have understood that the today's travellers do not want to be told when to get up in the morning.

jeffandnicole

So they shouldn't have sold the room to begin with. Or maybe it was an emergency construction project. Maybe you all missed a recent post saying how someone got walked (actually, just had their room cancelled) and he's upset they're putting him in a hotel 20 miles away. If no other rooms were available at this hotel, would that have been an acceptable alternative?

What if they moved the person to a hotel across the street? That would still anger some people. Or what if they comped their entire stay, but they needed access to their room at 2pm...does the lack of money help with the fact they can't use their room?

I'm always amazed at the sheer lack of thought of some people here. Yeah, it may be inconvenient not to have access to the room, but at least they're telling the person in advance, and providing *something* for the inconvenience. Some of you act like it should be winning the lottery and they just hand over whatever you demand.

And I wonder if those that demand the name of the hotel run some sort of list to never visit those hotels. I would think after a while you might as well start staying in Motel 6s...because those are going to be the only hotels not on your list.

pinniped

What the ??? I'm surprised the local fire inspector or city department responsible for construction inspections/permits would even allow the hotel to book the rooms in the middle of an active construction site and obstructed by the construction itself.

In any case, I'm very surprised to hear of a Hilton doing this. The GM, the hotel's general counsel, someone in the building familiar with liability insurance - somebody should have said NO, you can't do this. You can't bar guests from their rooms and you can't let guests traipse through a construction site. The rooms should be out of service, as they usually are when a hotel is going through the building rehabbing rooms, floor by floor.

If it's an emergency project, then this would be one rare case where you might expect some elites to get walked. (No idea if this hotel would be so full of Diamonds that one or more Diamonds would get walked.)

Beltway2A

Do you really consider a note under the door the evening before, and some free snacks in the lobby, adequate notice and compensation? I'd suspect most people don't act like they're "winning the lottery," but expect to be able to make an informed decision, something Hilton failed spectacularly at here.

notquiteaff

They weren't making emergency repairs according to their own statement on the property website"

"Please be advised we are currently making enhancements to the hotel"

No quotes around enhancements, so are you saying they were lying to their customers?

And slipping a note under the door the night before is hardly "advance notice."

No one's talking about a lottery win, but as a customer/guest I expect to have access to my room for the period of time I have paid for. If that is not offered, don't expect me to pay full fare for the room.

How many guests do you think would book this hotel if the notice on their website said "We are making enhancements. You will not have access to your room between the hours of 9am and 5pm."

chrism20

They were informed in advance of not being able to access the room one day, they returned back to a note telling them no access the following day as well.

With the first day I'd be happy to accept the 20k and find something to do but when you get very little notice of the following day and the 20k becomes "Food and drinks in the lobby" I think they are taking the mickey as I certainly don't value food and drinks in the lobby the same as 20k in points.

A note under the door is not acceptable full stop. This is a hotel that sells at Ł200+ a night and the management should know better.