Keyser

let me start by giving a little bit of background of what happened leading to the situation i faced with this particular property....

last week i made a reservation at a luxury collection property for 1 room....i was going to meet a client who was launching a new product & wanted to give me a demonstration so that i could then go ahead & file for patent & trademark registration on his behalf....the demonstration & meeting was expected to last 4-5 hours at least....

a few days before checking in, the client told me he needed the use of running water to demonstrate the product (so either a bathroom or kitchen was required) & was not comfortable showing the product in the conference room of the hotel as there are cctv cameras & other people might see the product before he has a chance to file for protection....for this reason he asked me if the demonstration could be done in my hotel room....

i've worked with this client for many years & i know he is a bit overprotective when it comes to his new products but i've never been comfortable letting other people into my hotel room....since the meeting was taking place early in the morning, the room would have been unmade & my things would have been all over the place....it just makes for an untidy & unprofessional atmosphere so i suggested i book a second room & we could use that for the demonstration & conference that was to follow....the client suggested i book a suite but i have stayed in the suites at this property multiple times before & there is no door between the sitting & sleeping areas....furthermore to use the bathroom you have to enter the bedroom area so this would have defeated the purpose of why i wanted to get the second room....finally, booking a second room would have been half as expensive as booking a single suite....the client agreed so i made a second reservation for room number 2....

i checked in late at night & the agent checking me in refused to give me the key to the second room stating that since i was traveling alone i could only use one room....i tried to explain that i was going to use the second room for a conference but he said he could not give me the second room unless he had approval from his manager....since it was late at night there was no manager available & he refused to budge from his stance....

he also told me that he would have to put in his system that the second room was a no-show & i would be charged for the room since it was past the cancellation deadline....i told him i wanted to speak with a manager & he told me someone would call me at 7am to discuss this further....i left for my room after letting him know that my meeting was to start at 8am so the sooner i heard from the manager the better it would be....

the next morning no one had called me by 7:30am so called the front desk & the same agent picked up the phone....i asked him if i could speak with a manager & he told me he had discussed the issue with the duty manager & they could not let me use the second room....i went down to the front desk & asked to speak with the duty manager who apologised for the situation but told me there was no way he could give me the second room....he however agreed to not charge for the second room as a one time courtesy....

i was upgraded to a suite so we ended up using that room in the end since i had no choice but i would have definitely preferred to use the second room that they didn't allow me to check into....

i've never been in this situation before where as a single traveler i've had to book 2 rooms so i don't know if this is normal....i wasn't doing a mattress run & didn't need the credit for the second room as i've already re-qualified as far as my plat status is concerned & will make lifetime platinum next month....i had a genuine reason for booking the second room....

i'm not looking for any compensation or an apology from the hotel or anything like that....i know a lot of people do mattress runs so just wanted to check if anyone else has had a problem checking into 2 rooms when traveling alone....i don't see this not being allowed anywhere in the t&c of the program & the hotel would have gained extra revenue from the second room that eventually went unsold so i don't understand why this was a problem....

RafKa

Was this outside the US? I've had issues before when making a MR outside of the US, i.e. reluctance to check in two rooms under the same name without a second guest.

Keyser

yes it was....it was in india....

travelswithmyself

It would help if you told us which country or which property. From this forum, I have read that China has strict rules about this.

[Edit]: I see you were in India. Sorry have never travelled there. No advice. I've never had issues in most of SE Asia and the USA and Japan.

TerryK

I have not been to India but some countries require hotel rooms to be registered in the name of guests physically stay there. Copy of passport is required for registration. A manual override after checkout is required if you booked more than one room for SPG credit. I suspect they cannot legally provide a second room as they are not able to register it to another guest.

Keyser

i don't believe this is a legal requirement at all....my firm represents the fhrai (federation of hotels & restaurants association of india) & i spoke with a couple of people there....they both told me that as long as an id is provided they don't care how many rooms are booked....

AJLondon

I had a huge issue about this (with the same hotel ) this past weekend as well, where I had booked two rooms. One for me, and one for a family member. They removed my name from the second room, and even my email address and SPG number!! They insisted (falsely) that it is a GoI regulation that I am not allowed to book more than one room in my name.

I have escalated. All I cared about what was getting the credit for the 2 rooms I booked, but they really pissed me off!

TerryK

I have encountered this issue in a number of countries, albeit not in India. Hotels insist that it is a government requirement for rooms to be registered with guests physically staying. It is a pain but I had no trouble getting SPG adjustments after checkout.

I wouldn't make it such a big deal. Just follow up with research or your Ambassador, if you have one.

MSPeconomist

I can easily imagine someone booking two adjoining rooms as a DIY suite, planning to use one room for work or relaxing and the second room for sleeping and dressing. It's not the hotel's business to say that I cannot use both rooms that have been booked and paid.

TerryK

Unless, you need SPG credit, you will be better off negotiating a suite discount. Adjoining rooms are not guaranteed. I have had multiple rooms booked with family members and we sometimes end up on different floors or different wings of the property.

MSPeconomist

In general, yes, but a suite might not be available. In fact, some hotels don't have suites; even if they have junior suites, sometimes a distinct second room is needed rather than one big room with a sitting area.

Keyser

they said the same thing to me as well & i know for a fact that this is not true....when i called them out on this then they changed their story to the fact that their internal audit won't allow them to do this as 1 person cannot have 2 rooms booked at the same time....

Keyser

the suite was almost 4 times the price of the regular room so 2 rooms was still considerably cheaper than booking a suite....

MSPeconomist

Any competent manager should be able to override this.

Keyser

i agree....i have booked 2 rooms multiple times when traveling with my family....the 2nd room is for my infant kids who have no form of id when traveling domestically....i've never had a problem with 2 rooms at any property in the past....