HIX Parque 93 - Downgraded at check-in (Spire ambassador)

Old Jan 19, 2021, 9:31 pm
  #1  
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HIX Parque 93 - Downgraded at check-in (Spire ambassador)

I just checked in to HIX Parque 93 in Bogota, got downgraded at check-in, and I'm not even sure how much I care. I booked online with points and I had the choice of 3 or 4 different rooms for the same number of points. I looked at the cash price for the rooms and chose the most expensive thinking it'll be the best one. When I arrived from the airport just an hour later I was told my room was sold out and the 2nd best room category was sold out as well (at time of book showed 2 and 4 available respectively), the best they could do was a standard accessible room.

They should just fix their inventory for points if they don't want to give people these rooms. If I only had the choice of a standard room for points and didn't get an upgrade, that's one thing, but after I booked it already, I find it pretty off-putting that they downgraded me. Oh and I'm a Spire Ambassador.

I do want to tell them they need to get their act together and fix their system to not allow customers to book rooms they don't intend on giving, but at the same time I wonder if it's worth my time and energy.
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Old Jan 20, 2021, 2:12 am
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Individual hotels decide what award inventory to load. Unless you stay at this specific hotel a lot using points, you'd be wasting time and energy for no particular benefit.
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Old Jan 20, 2021, 8:26 am
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
Individual hotels decide what award inventory to load. Unless you stay at this specific hotel a lot using points, you'd be wasting time and energy for no particular benefit.
Doesn't that mean this hotel chose to load the room I chose? Well, regardless, you're right it's not worth it.
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Old Jan 20, 2021, 8:51 am
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Originally Posted by itcheroni
Doesn't that mean this hotel chose to load the room I chose? Well, regardless, you're right it's not worth it.
They did, and then may have chosen to continue selling the room type for cash and/or points.

There's little remedy anyhow. The rate difference between the room you booked and the room you received --> 0 when using points.

I suppose that you could complain and the manager might comp you a few points.
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Old Jan 20, 2021, 12:09 pm
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I do want to tell them they need to get their act together and fix their system to not allow customers to book rooms they don't intend on giving, but at the same time I wonder if it's worth my time and energy.
In the time you wrote your post - which took yor time and energy - you could have emailed the hotel and IHG!
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Old Jan 21, 2021, 12:30 am
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I would message or call the hotel manager or IHG and speak to someone who might be able to offer some kind of compensation. Rooms booked in points are not just free giveaways. Those are earned and you were not given what you and the hotel agreed to when making a booking. Leave a review on TripAdvisor if you are shrugged off. Theres no way to cut it, what happened was not acceptable.
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Old Jan 21, 2021, 12:43 am
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For this downgrade, when full house, they could offer something extra, like compensation points or extra dining credits.

Some HIX-es have indeed different room types and this one particular has "Executive room" which looks much nicer than "Superior", also having extra sofa.
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Old Jan 21, 2021, 2:55 am
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Originally Posted by UKtravelbear
In the time you wrote your post - which took yor time and energy - you could have emailed the hotel and IHG!
But how would other travellers learn about such poor form without naming and shaming?
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Old Jan 21, 2021, 3:07 pm
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Originally Posted by markis10
But how would other travellers learn about such poor form without naming and shaming?
Copy/paste your email here!
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Old Jan 21, 2021, 5:09 pm
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As someone who used to work in hotels, I'd say this might be the result of poor management or it could simply be a one-off issue. Without more data, it's impossible to know. (Although given the fact that two different room types were unavailable, I'd lean slightly to poor management.)

Poor management would be if the hotel doesn't keep track of overbooking room types to ensure those with reservations get what they booked.

An example of a one-off situation would be having an in-house guest extend their stay. With the exception of suites, many hotels will keep that guest in their existing room and move an arriving guest. That's especially true if the in-house guest is a repeat guest and the arriving guest is new to staying at the hotel. (Not saying that's the case here. It's just an example.)

For the record, I'm not excusing the hotel. I'm merely explaining a possible reason why it happened. But whether it's poor management or a one-off thing, I would expect the hotel management to offer up some sort of small gesture of apology.
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