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Outrageous No-Show Fee Incurred At St. Regis Aspen

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Old May 11, 2019, 9:00 am
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Outrageous No-Show Fee Incurred At St. Regis Aspen

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Old Mar 17, 2019, 6:13 am
  #256  
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Originally Posted by Gadot
from aruba ritz room for points; rate rules

Holding Your Reservation

  • We will need a credit card prepayment to reserve your room. To ensure that you receive this special rate, we will charge your credit card a prepayment of 728.27 USD when you make your reservation.
You're basically giving the hotel or Marriott (depending on who actually receives the prepayment) an interest-free loan.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 6:13 am
  #257  
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Originally Posted by jr1202sr
We would also like to bring to your attention that a 60-day cancellation policy is in effect for the dates of your reservation. If changes are required within 60 days of your arrival date,cancellation penalties and additional fees may apply. Due to our remote resort destination we strongly recommend you purchase travel insurance. Please note that a monetary fee will be assessed in the event of a cancelation within 60 days prior to arrival in the amount of $32,000.
I underlined the text.

I have travel insurance but it doesn't cover things like hotel charges due to flight cancellation/delay, or illness that doesn't require ER visit, or something that's pre-existing (basically it seems that a broken leg/arm is the only thing that you can file a claim - even with that they might not cover the fee like this hotel charges).

OP - please forward your complaint to Marriott corporate - they probably will open a case for this.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 6:17 am
  #258  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Yeah, very similar to Arne thinking you need a passport to make a hotel reservation.
you do need id
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 7:21 am
  #259  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Yeah, very similar to Arne thinking you need a passport to make a hotel reservation.
​​​
Originally Posted by Gadot
you do need id
OMG it just keeps getting better and better

Have you actually ever stayed in a hotel?

Last edited by Kacee; Mar 17, 2019 at 7:28 am
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 7:28 am
  #260  
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For all the complaining, the description of the business situation, e.g. hedge fund trying to sell into REIT, explains this. The property wants and needs to generate short-term cash revenue. Whether that does future brand damage is irrelevant as the owners do not care about whether you or others return next year. Thus, whether other properties grant various courtesies is not helpful here because this one will not.

That gamble may or may not pay off. If the property can be sold, it will be for the new owners to establish a new strategy. If the place cannot be sold at an acceptable price, the current owner is stuck with the brand damage.

People make business judgments every day.

That brings one to hedging onerous conditions oneself. The notion that there is simply "travel insurance" is a naive approach. Most throwaway policies which come attached to some other product such as a CC, do not cover expensive or outlier situations. Thus, given what is on the line, it pays to read your policy carefully and to purchase insurance to cover the risk you are taking or to absorb the risk yourself. Either approach is fine so long as you understand it.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 7:29 am
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Originally Posted by Gadot
you do need id
Pls stop trolling
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 7:31 am
  #262  
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Originally Posted by Often1
For all the complaining, the description of the business situation, e.g. hedge fund trying to sell into REIT, explains this.
It does not explain Marriott allowing an increasing number properties to require cash prepayment on award stays, combined with a 60 day (or longer cancellation policy).

Of all the horrible changes in the program, this is the one that if it continues to spread would absolutely cause me to move my business to another program. It basically makes points unusable for those of us who need flexibility in our travel plans.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 7:53 am
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Originally Posted by Kacee
It does not explain Marriott allowing an increasing number properties to require cash prepayment on award stays, combined with a 60 day (or longer cancellation policy).

Of all the horrible changes in the program, this is the one that if it continues to spread would absolutely cause me to move my business to another program. It basically makes points unusable for those of us who need flexibility in our travel plans.

those properties with this kind of policy don’t welcome award redemption. You can take your point redemption to other properties, just not these.

When the contract renews, either these properties will leave Marriott or they will be of those properties which do not accept points.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 8:31 am
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Originally Posted by freed0m



those properties with this kind of policy don’t welcome award redemption. You can take your point redemption to other properties, just not these.

When the contract renews, either these properties will leave Marriott or they will be of those properties which do not accept points.
Or it will remain exactly as it is. Many people could care less that they either run a smallish additional CC balance or pay it off with cash earning 1-2% and take the refund when it comes through.

The property may just figure that thew few who book away don't matter and are made up for by the "no muss no fuss" aspect of having the cash in hand.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 8:51 am
  #265  
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Originally Posted by flyingeph12
I think hotelboy is referring to Powell's concurrence. But I'm not really sure what a First Amendment case really has to do with the issue here. I don't think it stretches the imagination to say that it's "sleazy" for a hotel to penalize a guest who calls and lets the hotel know that they will be late due to circumstances outside of their control. In fact, I would probably use words much harsher than "sleazy."
I'm sure he wasn't implying any sort of legal precedent. It obviously refers to Justice Stewart's famous quote about obscenity.

Originally Posted by Potter Stewart
I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it

Sleazy hotel behavior, like obscenity, may be hard to define objectively, but we all know it when we see it.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 9:14 am
  #266  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
Well they are certainly delivering on that promise.
My thoughts exactly.

Originally Posted by Gadot
from aruba ritz room for points; rate rules

Holding Your Reservation

  • We will need a credit card prepayment to reserve your room. To ensure that you receive this special rate, we will charge your credit card a prepayment of 728.27 USD when you make your reservation.
Since when are points reservations considered to be prepaid? If this is what they mean, then the hotel should receive the points at the time the award reservation is made.

I can't believe that this is a property that requires ALL reservations to be prepaid, like some cheap all inclusive "resort." So then points reservations shouldn't be required to be prepaid either unless the hotel is offering some special discounted rate on prepaid awarrd reservations that can be chosen at the time of booking (with the usual nonrefundable after 24 hours verbiage revealed at the time of selecting these promo rates.

Originally Posted by hockeyinsider
You're basically giving the hotel or Marriott (depending on who actually receives the prepayment) an interest-free loan.
Of course. However, I wonder what happens if the hotel goes out of business in the meantime. Unless your credit card company goes to bat for you, I would guess that this would be considered some sort of tertiary unsecured debt.

Originally Posted by Gadot
you do need id
NO, you do NOT need ID to make a reservation, just to check in.

Originally Posted by Often1
For all the complaining, the description of the business situation, e.g. hedge fund trying to sell into REIT, explains this. The property wants and needs to generate short-term cash revenue. Whether that does future brand damage is irrelevant as the owners do not care about whether you or others return next year. Thus, whether other properties grant various courtesies is not helpful here because this one will not.

That gamble may or may not pay off. If the property can be sold, it will be for the new owners to establish a new strategy. If the place cannot be sold at an acceptable price, the current owner is stuck with the brand damage.

People make business judgments every day.

That brings one to hedging onerous conditions oneself. The notion that there is simply "travel insurance" is a naive approach. Most throwaway policies which come attached to some other product such as a CC, do not cover expensive or outlier situations. Thus, given what is on the line, it pays to read your policy carefully and to purchase insurance to cover the risk you are taking or to absorb the risk yourself. Either approach is fine so long as you understand it.
However, most customers don't follow the details of hotel ownership, so the new owners will be stuck with the brand damage being done now. I hope they do their due diligence and realize that they should offer a reduced price or alternatively plan to completely rename/rebrand the property if they do purchase it (and pay the associated expenses to do so).

Originally Posted by Kacee
It does not explain Marriott allowing an increasing number properties to require cash prepayment on award stays, combined with a 60 day (or longer cancellation policy).

Of all the horrible changes in the program, this is the one that if it continues to spread would absolutely cause me to move my business to another program. It basically makes points unusable for those of us who need flexibility in our travel plans.
I can understand that very very very very very few properties (Maldives for example but not Colorado) may be justified in having a 30 day or longer cancellation deadline. For these few exceptional cases, that's OK if the policy is fully and clearly disclosed when one begins a search and again (with the amount of loss stated) at the time of booking, but it's not something that some random normal hotel should be free to impose at will and especially without clearly disclosed terms.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 9:41 am
  #267  
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Of course. However, I wonder what happens if the hotel goes out of business in the meantime. Unless your credit card company goes to bat for you, I would guess that this would be considered some sort of tertiary unsecured debt.
It would be great to see a full list of hotels doing this and then compare that against a list of owners to see if the owners or ownership groups are in financial troubles and need additional cash flow, etc.

I once had a contract with a hotel that left Marriott's flagship Marriott brand. It took me 6 months to get paid and expenses reimbursed, including interest, because they didn't have the cash flow. I learned my lesson. I'm more careful now as I don't have enough cash flow to move money around for 6 months.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 10:24 am
  #268  
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Originally Posted by Kacee
​​​
OMG it just keeps getting better and better

Have you actually ever stayed in a hotel?
Kacee apparently you have not:

Search Results

Featured snippet from the web

Some Form of Identification: When checking into a hotel, you'll need to present proof that you are the person who made the reservation and that you are over eighteen years of age. This can be anything from a driver's license to a state ID card or passport. Hotels require identification for two main security reasons. The first is to protect customers from fraudulent credit card use and theft. Requiring identification upon check-in is a way that hotels can ensure that a hotel room was not booked with a stolen credit card. The second reason that hotels check identification is to protect the safety of their guests. Requiring an ID for check-in is a way to make sure that only registered, paid guests are admitted to hotel rooms, and prevents strangers or criminals from compromising the personal safety of those staying in the hotel.
Laws in most states
Section 27. Every innholder, and every lodging house keeper required so to do under section twenty-eight, and every person who shall conduct, control, manage or operate, directly or indirectly, any recreational camp, overnight camp or cabin, motel or manufactured housing community shall keep or cause to be kept, in permanent form, a register in which shall be recorded the true name or name in ordinary use

Los Angeles, an ordinance specifically targets cash or walk-in guests:
Renting of Hotel Rooms. The operator of a hotel shall not rent a room except in compliance with the following conditions. (a) A guest who pays all or part of the rent for a room in cash at the time of checking in, and a walk-in guest, shall be required to present an identification document or a housing voucher at the time of checking into the hotel.

Every foreign country I have ever checked in (> 1 per month x 20years) requires your passport. I give them a zerox and not the real McCoy
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 10:29 am
  #269  
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Originally Posted by swag
I'm sure he wasn't implying any sort of legal precedent. It obviously refers to Justice Stewart's famous quote about obscenity.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_know_it_when_I_see_it

Sleazy hotel behavior, like obscenity, may be hard to define objectively, but we all know it when we see it.
If the world were great, you are correct. Hotels should be nice and not charge when you are delayed or plans change beyond your control It would so nice if everyone who called were honest and did not lie when they said that. When every ESD was really an ESD and not to get her on free. But unfortunately, the world has changed. For me NYC has become the worst -as with resorts- but I have found the GM or reservation manager to cancel the charge 90% of the time when I call and talk to them.
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Old Mar 17, 2019, 10:33 am
  #270  
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist


My thoughts exactly.



Since when are points reservations considered to be prepaid? If this is what they mean, then the hotel should receive the points at the time the award reservation is made.

I can't believe that this is a property that requires ALL reservations to be prepaid, like some cheap all inclusive "resort." So then points reservations shouldn't be required to be prepaid either unless the hotel is offering some special discounted rate on prepaid awarrd reservations that can be chosen at the time of booking (with the usual nonrefundable after 24 hours verbiage revealed at the time of selecting these promo rates.



Of course. However, I wonder what happens if the hotel goes out of business in the meantime. Unless your credit card company goes to bat for you, I would guess that this would be considered some sort of tertiary unsecured debt.



NO, you do NOT need ID to make a reservation, just to check in.



However, most customers don't follow the details of hotel ownership, so the new owners will be stuck with the brand damage being done now. I hope they do their due diligence and realize that they should offer a reduced price or alternatively plan to completely rename/rebrand the property if they do purchase it (and pay the associated expenses to do so).



I can understand that very very very very very few properties (Maldives for example but not Colorado) may be justified in having a 30 day or longer cancellation deadline. For these few exceptional cases, that's OK if the policy is fully and clearly disclosed when one begins a search and again (with the amount of loss stated) at the time of booking, but it's not something that some random normal hotel should be free to impose at will and especially without clearly disclosed terms.
Unheard of for a transaction of this size not to include a bit more than kicking the tires by way of due diligence. If there is brand damage, someone will assess that and it will be cranked into the purchase price.

But, that is all downstream. Apparently the current owners need cash today and tomorrow is another day.
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