guessaaa

I got a call today from Staybridge Suites in Calgary that the right wing of the hotel got flooded due to snowfall yesterday and that the 2 Queen room I booked would not be available as its in that wing. They offered a bigger suite with 1 Queen bed and 1 sofabed or a room at a Holiday Inn further outside the city. I need the Staybridge stay to get gold status, and the location is closer to the city's LRT. I'm travelling with a colleague on business so sharing a bed is not an option. Is there an appropriate amount of compensation I can get for not getting the room I booked, like x% off or some freebies?

redreeper

Why not the 1 q/1 sofa bed or ask if they can give you 2 rooms....?

Doesn't seem points/comp worthy to me, honestly. You could just go ahead and ask for a few comp points for the inconvenience but I wouldn't expect much - and I don't mean that sarcastically, just realistically. I've gotten 1-2k without asking for similar.

kipper

Why not ask them for 2 rooms, at a reduced cost, explaining that you cannot share a bed?

George8052

The same happened to me at the Tower Hill in London. I needed the Indigo to complete a promotion. They moved us to a Crowne Plaza and gave us the night complementary, it posted as a none qualifying, after a few emails I eventually got the stay posting as a stay at the Indigo as I explained I had only booked the night away to complete the promotion.

layz

Which Crowne Plaza was it? Was the promotion Crack the Case? It's the only promotion other than the Big Win that I can recall having to stay in multiple brands. The Indigo was very new at that point.

Sweet Willie

on the call did you share these three needs of yours? If so, what was response?

Often1

1. Call the property, speak with the room assignment manager (or whoever fills that function at the property). Explain your specific needs. This isn't about compensation or what they offer, it's about whether they can meet your needs.

2. If you are in the unenviable situation of having a job in which you accept room-sharing with colleagues, it's critical that any property you stay at understand that your booking of a 2-bed room isn't a request, but has to be guaranteed. Many properties can't or won't do that, so you need to be prepared for more limited choices.

CAlex

Since you would have shared a 2 queen bedroom with your colleague, why not take the sofabed?

docklander

Same happened to me at HI Sukhumvit -BKK . Suffered flood damage and got moved to HI Silom for a complimentary stay.

Was pretty good outcome as the HI Suk stay was on PointsBreak and room allocated was going to be fairly crappy .Whereas HI Silom,on production of my RA /Plat card put me in a Premier room with free (decent) wifi and even got 7 qualifying nights. A result

guessaaa

Update (just realized this post made the weekly newsletter):
1. Yes, I was clear what my needs were when I was called
2. We ended up sleeping separately (bed + sofabed)
3. The room wasn't larger than a typical room from what I could tell
4. The room wasn't immediately available upon check in at 5 pm (never had this before)
5. The room had no curtains, just the white semi-see-through curtain that it totally see-through at night with the light on
6. The room smelled like old people. Tried airing out the room for a few hours to no avail.
7. Breakfast provided was weak.
8. Upon checkout after 1 night, I asked for 50% off the room rate of $140 plus tax. After the front desk lady went to the back for 5 min to (I'm assuming) talk to the manager, she came back and said she could only give $50 off and to email the manager if I'm still not satisfied. The manager never came out to talk.
9. Days later when I got back home I sent off an email with my grievances. The next day after no reply, I sent the same email to IHG Customer Service. I received a reply from them within 33 minutes saying that a $30 USD cheque is in the mail. This was more than what I asked for and I wasn't expecting a reply in minutes. The next day the manager replied asking me to contact him.
10. This was hands down the worst stay at any 2/3+ star hotel anywhere. I really don't understand the high ratings this hotel receives on Travel Advisor and such. The next two nights I stayed at a HI on the other side of Calgary, for a cheaper rate and the room was much better.

SusanDK

What do old people smell like? Seriously, is there a smell that would never come from a young person or middle-aged person? How old is old?

Sweet Willie

I'd say so from my personal experience, I recall fondly about the "old person" smell of my grandfather when we'd hug saying goodbye.can't answer for that or my grandfather, but I know his "old person" smell got stronger the older he got. (not a negative smell in my opinion)

Couple side notes:
In high school & college, I used to move furniture, upon entering a residence I could usually tell by the smell if the residents we were going to move were older (mid 60+). Rarely was I wrong.

andysh

So you got $80 in total (maybe more due to currency exchange). How much did you end up paying for the hotel room?

guessaaa

140-80 = 60 plus tax

kipper

The question is probably how much did the employer pay, and how much compensation did the employee receive, that the employer won't see.