BarbiJKM

I have several future hotel reservations, some with the IHG hotel chains and some with the Wyndham group, all of which show CONFIRMED smoking rooms -- these are not reservations with the disclaimer that "we will TRY to honor your preferences" but they clearly state "Smoking room - Smoking Allowed" on my printed confirmation email. A smoking room is specifically what I booked.

Twice in the last two weeks, in two different cities, I have shown up and have been told at checkin that the hotel is now completely smoke-free, and my smoking room reservation will not be honored; I can only get a nonsmoking room. This is not because of a change in local laws, but simply a policy change with the individual hotel (not the chain and not the group), with NO prior notification to guests holding existing and future smoking room reservations.

In one situation, I was able to cancel the room then and there, and walk myself down the street to a hotel that provided smoking rooms, but in the second case, it was 1:30 a.m. and I had no choice but to accept the nonsmoking room.

Any remedies for this? Has anyone else had this happen? To me, it's a "a bait and switch." I guess from now on I'll have to constantly call and verify the availability of the room I booked the day before I arrive...

T8191

I would find that decidedly angry-making, especially as a long-haul foreign vacationer [wherever it happened]. And not always easy to call and check when arriving from abroad, of course!

Fortunately we always have our emergency e-cigs against that scenario, while we find somewhere else to stay.

blackjack-21

With more and more hotels going the Non-smoking route, I've found it best to call or email the hotel a day or two before arriving, to confirm that our months earlier reservation for a smoking room is still valid. Saves the aggravation of finding out on arrival that the hotel has given away your room or no longer has smoking rooms. This is especially helpful when a hotel only has a very few or just a single floor of rooms for smokers.

I find the cost of a long distance call well worth it if it saves us the trouble of having to look for another hotel after a TATL flight or a days long drive.

bj-21.