Thank you for being Spire Ambassador have a free Downgrade
 

This is a new one on me, just checked my latest booking for tomorrow evening.
Weekend break in Nice for the wife's Birthday.

Booked 2 nights on Advanced Rate Executive Room with Breakfast.
(Didnt want to play the spire upgrade lottery).

Just checked and the booking had been modifed, looked into it and the 1 King Bed Executive Non Smoking had been replaced by 1 King bed.

After a phone call to IHG, the lady on the other end of the phone apologised for any confussion and as assured me that I have been booked into an executive room and the hotel system as modified the booking and she thinks that I have been allocated a standard room so they will then upgrade me to the executive for being a spire member.

???? We shall see what happens after my friday night flight from Luton into Nice.. :confused:

That makes absolutely no sense, wow, :confused:

I would call or e-mail the hotel directly.

I have a similar situation where the IC HK GS modified my booking from a King Bed Premiere room to a Two Double Bed Deluxe room. They claim that it's an error in the way that the website displays it.

It happens, mainly if a group largish booking wanted nñ Exec Rooms and not enough execs still available, hotels rather than lose a large group booking, downgrade earlier reservations to accommodate the group, usually picking on those who booked with cheapest rates as refunding difference at checkin costs the least

All room booking t&c as well as not guaranteeing you get booked bed types, ie room with two singles or a double, do not guarantee you get booked room type category either

This may well be the case. I would also see it make the most business sense, and from a risk point of view the lowest risk, refund difference, IHG Care Relations give out 15k points. They get a large booking go through.

Not sure if this is always a free downgrade. In case the rack rate for a King is higher than the advanced rate for an Executive King you might be asked to pay for the difference. That way you will earn more points though!

Amazing Thread
 

I don't see much possibility of IHG (UK registered company indeed) trying to defend this one in a UK Small Claims/County Court. T&C's need to be fair.

I do feel for the OP. He might win some money and chances are the judge would be pretty brutal on IHG. But the loss of holiday enjoyment can't be compensated by cash that easily.

I hope you get this resolved without further aggravation. It is a disgraceful bit of corporate misbehaviour.

I had this happen once to me at a hotel which I frequent.

I was Spire at the time and had prebooked an executive room on a flex rate several months in advance. Turned up and a coach party had checked in... I was given a standard room and they said they'd refund the difference. The person on the front desk was new and said that "my room request hadn't been put through". The form to sign in at checkin had my status as "Club", whereas normally it's "Club" (crossed out) with Spire hand-written in.

I left early the next day - and there was no-one on the front desk, so I left the keycard on the counter and went. A few days later the charge posted and it was for the full executive room amount, not the standard room (which was £20 cheaper).

I ended up complaining by email, although I wasn't after points. I asked for an upgrade to a suite on a day of my choosing, subject to availability, along with another upgrade to a suite on a day of the hotel's choosing - the value of this coincidentally being £20 a time, as suites are £20 more than executive rooms. They apologised profusely and I got my two upgrades - an outcome I felt was very fair!

OP already said hotel is in Nice, France. UK courts of law are not really relevant as such

It is the hotel not IHG corporate that would be the business you'd be trying to win against in court, and in country hotel operates in, plus all ihg hotel operations are franchises.
Hotel could even walk the OP instead of downgrade them and there is no extra-pecuniary comeback for a walk or downgrade in law

In UK you would have to argue in court the booking terms and conditions form an unfair contact to win the case which is not likely .
For Nice in France I don't know the laws and tests that would apply to proving an unfair contract., which unless proven will preclude compensation


This same situation exists with airlines who can downgrade you from F->J / Y or J -> Y with little redress available, or bump you off the flight altogether

A UK resident booking from the UK with a UK hotel company would almost certainly mean that the OQP could take action against IHG not the hotel.

I successfully sued them a couple of years ago for a failure to refund a BRG claim some 8 months after the stay.

Similarly with an airline for a UK resident booking in the UK for a UK origin ticket any downgrade claim would almost certainly fall under UK jurisdiction. I also successfully sued LH on this basis too.

Not sure how you read this out of the guarantee they give:

I think any reasonable person or judge will interpret this as "if I book an executive room and you put me in a standard room my reservation was not honored".

HTB.

That's exactly why EU261 was needed.

In any case, most jurisdictions (apart from the US, of course, where the obligation to follow through is only on the customer's side) would see a reservation a binding contract, and if the the contract is not kept, the non-abiding party would be up for damages. This could well be the cost for comparable accommodation elsewhere.

HTB.

Hotel and IHG can probably sucessfully argue that the guarantee is just for a room for the chosen night(s), not a specific room type.


also when you use IHG.COM you agree to IHGs t+c, including following paragraph(s). This is about the ihg.com site useage, (note T+C below is nothing to do with being an @Rewards member.)

BY ACCESSING, USING, VIEWING, TRANSMITTING, CACHING OR STORING THIS SITE OR ANY OF ITS SERVICES, FUNCTIONS, MATERIALS, OR CONTENTS, YOU SHALL BE DEEMED TO HAVE AGREED TO EACH AND ALL THE TERMS, CONDITIONS, AND NOTICES IN THIS SITE ("AGREEMENT") WITHOUT MODIFICATION. If you are not an Authorized User, and if you do not agree to the terms of this Agreement, you may not use this Site or download any Materials from it.

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MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. Any claim relating to this Agreement or the Materials shall by governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, United States of America, exclusive of the choice of law rules thereof. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes all prior oral and written agreements. No failure or delay on the part of IHG in exercising any right or remedy hereunder or enforcing the terms and conditions of this Agreement will operate as a waiver thereof. If any part or provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid, unenforceable or void, then the remaining portion shall remain in full force and effect. Headings are for convenience only and not for use in interpretation of this Agreement.

The T&C's for the IHG.com website are not the 'rules' that would be used to determine whether a brick and motar hotel and it's chain and what it did with a guest's reservation at said brick and motar hotel were legally correct.

Incorrect. A person is reserving not just a room but a bed type and size of room as well as the listed printed amenities that accompany the room.
IHG makes a printed legally binding reservations guarantee that controls all IHG.com reservations secured by a credit card

IHG Reservations Guarantee
By securing your online reservation with a credit card, you are eligible for our Reservations Guarantee. If your reservation cannot be honored, the host hotel will provide a room at, and transportation to, another convenient and comparable hotel, and pay for telephone calls to notify family of the lodging change. The host hotel will also pay the full cost of the first night's lodging rate, plus tax. Any advance deposit will be refunded.

Correct.
Once a person secures their IHG reservation online with a credit card, that EXACT reservation has to be honored by the hotel or the IHG printed Reservation Guarantee kicks in.
The exact room, bed type and size of room with the exact listed amenities need to be provided by the hotel.

It appears that IHG wrote this Reservations Guarantee to be legally binding to hold their franchisee hotels accountable to honor all reservations made on IHG.com secured with a credit card.

GTC (the "fineprint") cannot change anything written "in bold". If you enter into a specific contract for a specific room they will be "in breach" if they give you a different room. This is not only the law in all jurisdictions I have dealt with but also common sense.