Hyatt Denver confirm booking denied
 

I had a confirm booking for Hyatt House Denver. When I tried to check in around 10.15 PM yesterday (after being on plane for 36+ hours door to door), I was told that the hotel is sold out and they do not have a room for me. They will put me at another hotel for the night on them. As I was tired, I complied with them and they sent me to Hyatt Regency Denver. When I reached there, they were also sold out and did not have a room. Finally after taking with them, was given a room after a wait for almost 15-20 mins.

This is just unacceptable from Hyatt. I am traveling on business and getting a comped night is not something I am looking for. I had meetings starting at 7 AM the next day and having to run around from hotel to hotel in the middle of the night is ridiculous. Good that I had rental car, what if I had taken a cab from the airport to the hotel, I would have been stuck.

I have been platinum as well as diamond, with Hyatt and over the years have stayed with them in many countries with happy memories. This has been the worst experience. Very unprofessional.

... at least they didnt break your nose while dragging you out the door. #united

Welcome to oversold situations in the travel industry.

Hotels overbook and if you travel enough it will eventually happen to you. The test is how do they handle it. The fact that you ran into trouble getting a room at the HR suggests that HH did not handle it properly.

While it is never happy when it happens to you, hotels overbook and sometimes actually wind up oversold.

What went truly wrong her was that you never should have been sent to the second property until a room was confirmed for you.

The fact that the second property did have a room when it said that it did not is even more troublesome.

One suggestion and there may not have been much to have been done in your situation, when you know that you will be arriving late, call the property directly and speak with the front desk on the day of arrival and let them know the time at which you will arrive. Maybe they will bump / walk someone else or at least raise the possibility of moving you at that point. In your case, I realize that you had been traveling for 36 hours, but presume that you stopped somewhere along the way.

Does Hyatt have an official policy like Starwood where, if oversold, you're given the option of the first night free or x # of points plus transportation?

I don't agree. The test is whether they overbook in the first place. We've paid for the room; selling it to someone else is effectively stealing it from us.

It's different if, for example, a sprinkler breaks and a room goes out of service. Then yes, the test is how they handle it. But to sell me a room and then sell it a second time to you because they think I might no-show is wrong.

In fact, it's criminally wrong. If I no-show, they'll keep both my money and yours for the same night.

It's not much different from the way airlines overbook except for the time deadline when a flight departs.

Would you want to see higher rates if hotels never overbook?

See I was laboring under the delusion that hotels would keep one to two rooms held back and empty in case a VIP, an employee or an emergency happened. I know you have been a Diamond and a Platinum, what is your status now.

I agree though, this is unacceptable.

The industry disagrees with you.

But you can continue to bang your head against the wall ;)

:rolleyes:

unfortunately the law disagrees with virtually all you wrote.

Agreed: the law is no help. At least with the airlines, there's federal regulation. As woefully insufficient as the current protections are, at least there's *something* there related to IDB. They're supposed to make at least a trivial pass at VDB first, and then they have to report IDBs.

Hotels can do pretty much whatever they want. Regulation would come from the state level, and I have never heard or read about a state AG deciding to go after various hotel shady practices. Hotel owners are often *very* engaged with local politicians and probably at the state level as well. Complaining about treatment at a hotel seems like p*ssing up a tree.

There might be *some* protections by using a hotel with digital key. You check in remotely, you have the room key on your phone, they're walking someone else instead of you. But this is just a hypothesis: I suppose they could figure out you weren't there and revoke your room key.

Well.

As a former Hyatt employee, I can sound in on this.

This procedure is known as "walking," and it happens a lot (or it used to in the old days). I knew someone (a front office manager) at the H.R. Chicago who walked over 100 people in one night. Sometimes you can't even FIND another hotel with an empty room, and you end up sending them to some fleabag place outside of town.

If you are staying multiple nights, they will bring you back the next day to upgraded accommodations and stuff your room full of room service amenities. (Although being a Hyatt House, this is unlikely.)

Believe me, hotels don't like to do this anymore than airlines like IDBs. You will likely receive an apology letter from the GM of the property in question. You may also want to write to the company and complain about the confusion at the HR Denver. They'll likely throw some points at you.

I was a master at walking people and preventing them from getting mad. I just apologized profusely, and emphasized the benefits they were getting from being walked. People would sometimes leave the desk thanking me.

Anyhow, just understand that no one is picking on you, and that NO, hotels do not "hold back" rooms. If you're being walked late at night, it's because there's a butt in every bed.

The thing that gets me is this: just like with VDB, there are probably lots of people who would love to take a voluntary walk in exchange for points or whatnot.

If it's a big chain property, we all have the app, right? By 8PM, a hotel probably knows if it's headed into the "we need volunteers" territory. Why not a push notification to my phone asking if I'm interested? If I know EARLY, there's a decent chance on most of my solo business trips that I'll reply YES. If the hotel is comparable, then it might not take much walk comp at all. A hundred bucks' worth of points. If the hotel is a fleabag, well...okay...probably more points and an upgrade when I come back the next day. :)

It's when I find out at midnight, when you knew you were in oversell territory hours earlier, that I'm going to be upset.

From my experience, this helps a lot:

-Try to get in at least 24 hours in advance especially if you know you will be flying for 30 hours. I don't know anyone who can do a 30 hour and be fresh for a meeting the next morning on 7 hours rest.

-Call while on transit if possible OR before you fly out to confirm your room and to inform them you are landing late and then follow up with an email giving your flight details and that you will be arriving late after a 30 hour flight.

Give your hyatt membership number as well.

Do you ever make a post here that's not condescending and self-congratulatory?