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  • #1

    Waiting til the last minute

    It's a holiday weekend in the states folks. It's not going to be easy to FIND a room anywhere if you didn't plan ahead! I've been sold out for 2 weeks for this weekend.

    Yet, this seems to be the extent of my calls:

    M: Thank you for calling the Super hotel. This is SHW, how can I help you?
    SC: I'd like a room.
    M: What day?
    SC: Tonight.
    M: *Bracing for the yelling to follow* Sorry, I'm sold out. I've no rooms to offer, however there is [competitor] & [sister site] with rooms still. I can offer their numbers.
    SC: I want to stay with you.
    M: And trust me, I appreciate the sentiment, but I have nowhere to put you. I am sold out.
    SC: Well What the HELL is going on with your town?
    M: *sighs* it's a holiday weekend. You wouldn't be the first nor the last to want a room, they just happened to pre book them.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Yeah, almost as bad as people who claim to be regular travelers yet know nothing of the big local events...
    If you are coming to Utah in the first week of October or April, you WON'T get a hotel room downtown unless you book at least 6 months in advance, you just won't, so don't even try.
    First week of August and February make that no rooms in the county unless you book 6 months in advance, once again, this is a universal truth.
    If you wish to find meaning, listen to the music not the song

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    • #3
      This is one of my major gripes too.

      My hotel is almost always sold out on holiday weekends, and usually sold out every weekend from June to September. I'll come in for my audit shift at 11:30pm, and every room will be occupied. 'A head in every bed' as one of my coworkers likes to say. But guaranteed I'll get at least a dozen people come in looking for rooms between 2 and 4am. (Note that per local law, all bars must stop serving alcohol no later than 2am)

      Now, Victoria is on an island. The last ferry gets in shortly before 11pm, and the last planes, barring delays, also land at about 11pm. It's appalling to me how many people come to town, not only knowing it's pack with tourists, but because it's packed with tourists, and didn't think to make a reservation. And then, when they get to town, decide to go out partying before even trying to find a place.And of course, they get pissed off when I tell them we sold out for this date over a month ago, and so did every other hotel within 30 blocks.

      I especially have no sympathy for someone who thought to arrange to get a passport, a travel visa, and plane tickets, but gave no thought at all to where they'll sleep once they get here

      The local Denny's is 24-hour, and I know they get a lot of business from people who will sit in there all night because they have no where else to go.
      Aliterate : A person who is capable of reading but unwilling to do so.

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      • #4
        We have one date in August, every year, that is sold out by January. When these people check out after this event, they make their reservations for the next year. I mean, our whole county and the county south of us are booked. The closest room I can find is an hour away, even after calling all the nasty little places where I'd rather sleep in my car.

        And once I finally convince a walk-in that I am, indeed, sold out and where they can find a room, I get "But surely, you can call around and find something closer? Like, some little hole-in-the-wall place?"

        Buddy, I already called EVERYONE - from the nasty little place downtown the health dept. recently threatened to shut down to the very classy hotel on the bay (that has one suite go for around $1500/night in the summer). Closest room is an hour away. I highly suggest you take it, because they're filling up as well. Otherwise, Wal-Mart let's you overnight in their parking lot for free...
        Last edited by bhskittykatt; 05-31-2010, 11:15 AM.
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        • #5
          Wow, I guess I should feel pretty damned good that I only have 14 out of 77 rooms sold for tonight.
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          • #6
            I have 62 rooms. I had 2 off market last night, and other 60 were booked. Not sure why this is difficult to understand.

            And Infinite: Yep! I had a guy come in from our local bar around 3 with "But.. I want to sleep here.." Me: "You went and got drunk without thinking of bed.. Not my fault.."

            @Bhs: Yep! LOL Makes you just wanna pull out the sheet/post it. / note ( I write this kind of crap down) and go "See the 0! NO ROOMS! I'm not lying!"

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            • #7
              yeah there are 2 events one in March one in October (I think) where every hotel in a 100 mile radius from a tiny town on the border of Tennessee and Virginia, is book solid. To the point where people have actually RENTED OUT THEIR OWN HOMES for $500+ a head a night.

              Good money though. Tempted to try it this year or March next year.
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              • #8
                I have two words for those who work in hotels in my area

                TRAINING CAMP and HOME GAME

                anyone in my area that DOES NOT know about this (even out of the area) has been living in seclusion for the last 50 years. heck as soon as they announce the the pre-season game schedule they hotel phone lines light up. then come the regualr season schedule and the same thing happens
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                • #9
                  Damn, we already have reservations for the Friday before July 4th for our monthly visit to Moms ... and have for a while.
                  EVE Online: 99% of the time you sit around waiting for something to happen, but that 1% of action is what hooks people like crack, you don't get interviewed by the BBC for a WoW raid.

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                  • #10
                    Quoth AccountingDrone View Post
                    Damn, we already have reservations for the Friday before July 4th for our monthly visit to Moms ... and have for a while.
                    Yeah, I made reservations for Pride Weekend in San Fran (last week of June) back in April... I can't understand people who would wait til the last minute to make reservations. OK, so last year I waited til the last minute because I didn't know whether or not I could go... and then I was damned happy to find a room even if it wasn't my ideal stay.
                    If you wish to find meaning, listen to the music not the song

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                    • #11
                      I'm so glad I don't work in a hotel...ya see, I live in New Orleans...

                      Our "book your rooms 6-12 months in advance" list starts with Mardi Gras, extends to pretty much every major convention, and even includes stuff like Jazz Fest, Southern Decadence, Essence Fest, Oktoberfest, all of the other "Fests" and Mother's Day (tho that applies to Galatoire's restaurant moreso than hotels -- they literally have a year+ waiting list for that day, even post-K).

                      I feel for ya. AS a non-HRT person, I just know what times of year to stay the hell outta downtown/the hotel&con district ~_~
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                      • #12
                        I'm one of those people who books late. My conference for two weeks ago? That didn't get booked until April (you know, shortly after the deadline for booking at the fancy hotel where they had reserved rooms at a good rate). So I ended up at another hotel because I didn't want to book when I was freaking out over my courses. I learned a lesson though: not booking on time results in a lack of a pool.

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                        • #13
                          Quoth smileyeagle1021 View Post
                          Yeah, almost as bad as people who claim to be regular travelers yet know nothing of the big local events...
                          If you are coming to Utah in the first week of October or April, you WON'T get a hotel room downtown unless you book at least 6 months in advance, you just won't, so don't even try.
                          First week of August and February make that no rooms in the county unless you book 6 months in advance, once again, this is a universal truth.
                          Ok, I know October and April are Conference weekends, but for the life of me I can't figure out what goes on in August and February. Help me out?
                          I am no longer of capable of the emotion you humans call “compassion”. Though I can feign it in exchange for an hourly wage. (Gravekeeper)

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                          • #14
                            My little sister went to college at a very big school in a very small town in western Virginia. It's a small enough town that the hotels get completely booked well in advance just for football games. My parents stayed at a hotel for her graduation and overheard someone pleading with the desk clerk for a room--they were in town for graduation but hadn't bothered to book a room!

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                            • #15
                              I'm one of the people who tends to book late for some things as well. I actually pricelined a hotel for Thursday-Saturday for Memorial Day weekend.... Wednesday night. *giggle* It was a last minute trip and I wasn't picky where I stayed if I could find somewhere around the O'Hare area that was a 3 star or higher, and if I didn't find somewhere I just wasn't going to go. But I had to work Sunday back in Michigan so I wasn't actually looking for a place for Saturday or Sunday, so I think they helped. I just needed a place for a Thursday & Friday and actually found one.

                              But then, I'm one of the nice & quiet priceline customers... we're probably few. I know I'm getting my hotel for dirt cheap, so I'm grateful for EVERYTHING extra you do. Oh, you can only give me an extra hour for checkout? Thank you thank you thank you! ^_^
                              "Good morning, and in case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night!" - The Truman Show

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