Hotel rooms - What you get vs. what you reserved
 

Several recent experiences plus some recent trip reports lead me to ask the question: How often are you assigned a room of the type you reserved? I always reserve a king size bed, smoking room. When I confirm the room type at the check-in desk, I am typically told "Oh, we only have double beds left". Or, "Sorry, our smoking rooms are sold out". This leads to much whinging on my part; with varying results: The Seelbach (SDF) and Kensington (LHR) Hiltons sent me an ashtray (NS room). Garden Inn San Mateo wound up putting me in a Handicapped-accessible room - but not until I threatened to move to another hotel. Other hotels have simply said 'too bad' - take it or leave it.

My contention is that I reserved the room and guaranteed it with my credit card. Thus, if I don't show up - they charge me for the room. So, how tough can it be to block the room I reserved until I get there?

The brand of hotel doesn't seem to matter. Sheraton and Hilton have been the biggest offenders. However, I have also had this problem at Wyndham, Marriott and Holiday Inn.

Cheers,

'toad

Sorry to hear about your bad luck http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

In the last 2 years I have always gotten what I reserved or better at Hilton and Holiday Inn Express. At a regular Holiday Inn in Newton MA I got a room with 2 double beds and smoking when I reserved a queen/king non-smoking. Made them change me to what I reserved and they did, hotel still sucked though. Holiday Inn express was in Lexington MA, Hiltons have been in Tuscon, London Metropole, Pittsburgh and Dedham MA. I am a Gold VIP with Hilton and lowest level with Priority club

[This message has been edited by Baze (edited 02-23-2000).]

I do not think that you can reserve a "non-smoking, double bed etc. " room.

You reserve a ROOM and state your PREFERANCES. The hotel then tries to give you a room based on your perferances.

------------------
"Free" without charge or cost, having no obligation.

I disagree.. some can confirm a non-smoking room. They actually allocate rooms.... So I have printed out reservations for a non-smoking room (Hilton and Starwood). They state it is non-smoking or smoking... etc..

I agree.. it is annoying to not get what you asked...

I've probably rented 100 hotel rooms from Sheraton, Westin, Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton in the last three years and nearly always gotten what I've requested. (King size, non-smoking.) It probably helps a lot that I usually check in on Sunday nights, which are usually not that busy.

With Marriott you can get a
guarenteed room of YOUR preference..
I always request KING / NON - SMOKING.
Even on the confirmations that some of
the hotels mail out say guareteed
KING / NON SMOKING. NEVER had a
problem with Marriott.

Regards,

Mike Mahoney

[This message has been edited by MIKE MAHONEY (edited 02-23-2000).]

Wish I could say the same, guys. I stay at Marriott whenever possible, and always request whatever in the beds, but a smoking room. 7.5 times out of 10, they always have me in a non-smoking room initially. And it seems the best rooms available are non-smoking.

It hasn't made any perceptible difference whether I book the room thru corporate travel or with Marriott directly, the odds seem to be the same.

Only difference that I can tell, is after I've been there for at least 2 months, the staff seems to know me and perhaps changes the reservation to my preference regardless of whatever came over the wire.

I won't swaer to this, but it has been true at every Marriott I've stayed at.

Insuffucuent experience at Hilton and Starwood to comment.

And BTW, Hertz seems to NEVER give me a smoking car, even though this is in my corporate profile AND in my #1 Gold profile. Not that I'm complaining;; that's what cigarette lighter are for...and I usually get an upgrade from the intermediate car in my profile. And, anyway, if they can't get the `preference right, that's also what defumigants and air freshener is for!

Oh, yeah, here's a P.S. for you...why is it that none of the hotels can EVER get my preference for non-feather pillows right?

It's not life-threatening, but I am very allergic to feathers/down. I always check the pillows first thing upon arrival.

Right now, in Miami, I finally have a non-allergenic pillow. This, after TWO days of calling the front desk requesting a foam-or-whatever/non-feather pillow. Right now, I have a stack of SIX feather pillows by my bed. Started out with 3. First request got me 2 more feather pillows. Second request got me another one. That makes 6, plus the one foam pillow I finally got tonight.

Good grief.

And yes, sports fans, I'm not really such an ogre. I did in fact sleep from the beginning of the week using the foam cushions from the couch. I call it being flexible; my wife calls it being a wuss...

since i spend at least 100 + nights a year in hotels I have had my share of these experiences - good and bad. i can say though that most of the time i get either whaat i reserved or better. in the case of hotels i visit regularly i normally have a chat with the guest relations office to make sure they know what i want. having said this i find that usually you CAN confirm a specific type of room when making a reservation and i believe that if you have confirmed it you're entitled to it. so if you dont get it at first make a polite request and if that doesnt work call up the property manager and complain. after all you are the paying customer http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

I stay about 90 nights a year in hotels and I can't remember the last time I didnt get the room type I booked.

Its called making money! Obviously, hotels only have a limited number of rooms in each type of combination (king - smoking, king - nonsmoking, etc.). Most hotels only accept preferences, as noted in one of the posts. Some, particularly Marriotts, will confirm exactly what you want if it is available. Others will just take your preference and if it is not available when you show up, you get whatever is left.

The key to getting your preference if you are not at a hotel that confirms is to get there early! Arrive late and you get the leftovers. I have not had too much trouble with the major chains (Marriott, Hilton, Starwood), but some real problems with lesser chains and independent hotels. Imagine traveling with a friend of the same sex, requesting two double beds, and ending up with a king or only one double bed! Time to break out the rollaway!

One possible way to avoid getting the leftovers, even if you are arriving late, is to call the hotel on the morning/afternoon of your arrival and have them check you in right then and there over the phone. A number of hotels will do this for your. You will of course pay for the room if you don't show up, but if you are certain you are going to be there you will have first crack at what's available.

I usually get what I requested for hotels. I stay at Holiday Inns, Crowne Plaza, Interconti, Sheraton, and Westin most often. If I'm arriving late, I call the *hotel* and make sure they understand this fact and are holding my room. Once, before I knew any better, I arrived at 3 AM at a hotel and they were out of rooms, despite my having made a guaranteed reservation on my credit card. I was quite unhappy, and even though they dealt with it quite well (they gave me a room at the competition and gave me vouchers for a free night later) it was the kind of thing that pushes someone over the edge... problems are not what you want at 3 AM, no matter how small.

I make sure I put in my hotel profiles that I want: KING BED, NON SMOKING, HIGH FLOOR, AND LOVE FEATHER PILLOWS.

But if I have someone crashing with me then I order Double beds. If that person has allergies then I request the non feathered pillows at the time of reservation.

IF I do it on line: I call reservations to make sure my requests came through.

Then the day before I leave for the hotel (IF I can remember) I call the hotel directly and make sure my reservation is correct, especially if I have someone crashing with me and I wouldn't want to have a KING bed when I requested a double.

My getting what I requested is about 88 percent. Best with the Starwood brands, worst with HIlton.

As Starwood Plutonium I always get at least what I ask for.

I usually have a 90% success rate with my King Bed request. When it doesn't happen, the front desk usually looks at my 6'6" frame and they figure out a way to get me in the proper room. I've ended up in suites on quite a few occasions.