motel "confirmation"
 

I recently reserved a motel room in Eugene, OR by speaking directly with the manager, who took my credit card and then send a confirmation email. The confirmation email listed all the dates and prices, just as we discussed, plus rules on cancellations. At the top of email was "confirmation".

A few days later, but before my arrival, the manager told me the price would be higher. My credit card was not charged.

Can a motel demand a higher rate than what they confirmed?
At what point is a 'contract' formed?

Thanks for any thoughts.

When the price was increased, was it already too late to cancel without penalty?

Your credit card company might be interested in this practice or be willing to only make you pay the originally confirmed rates.

You need to decide whether you still want to stay here. Can you find an equivalent reservation elsewhere?

You might want to report this to the BBB and state regulatory agencies by sending copies of both emails. At least you can cause some trouble for the motel.

Higher because of what? It's a completely different situation if they raised the basic room rate on you, or if they sent out a correction listing taxes or fees that they forgot in the initial email.

motel "confirmation"
 

Put aside all notion of a contract or legal jargon. If you haven't made any deposit and there's no cancellation penalty, you are unlikely to be able to force them to honor the rate.
That being said, the motel *should* honor the rate, unless some sort of fee or tax was missing. is it part of a national chain? If so, getting them involved may help.

Non-chain motel which knows that it will never see OP again whether he gets the "Presidential Suite" or the former privvy. The property could care less.

Things don't get better. Stay somewhere else or be prepared for worse on arrival.