Hoarding Hotel Rooms

[shenzee]

Oh I can relate.

THis is annoying: Sometimes guests over extended their stay also by reserving the room for one night and not telling the front desk they intend to stay another night. They'll leave in the morning and not return until the evening so alot of the times we can't contact the guest. This causes problems when we are depending on everyone due to checkout to actually leave. This can overbook the hotel and make arriving guests who didn't get rooms very unhappy.

Seems like in this situation, it would be fair to remove the people's belongings from the room. They only paid for one night, therefore they only get to stay one night. Just a case of entitled assholes thinking they deserve more than the person who has reserved that room after them in the belief it might actually be there when they arrive. But i understand about customer retention, not to mention the problems that could arise from removing someone's belongings- "I had the Hope Diamond in my room and now it's gone since you people removed by stuff!"

[Alpha Strike]

THis is annoying: Sometimes guests over extended their stay also by reserving the room for one night and not telling the front desk they intend to stay another night. They'll leave in the morning and not return until the evening so alot of the times we can't contact the guest. This causes problems when we are depending on everyone due to checkout to actually leave. This can overbook the hotel and make arriving guests who didn't get rooms very unhappy.

Seems like in this situation, it would be fair to remove the people's belongings from the room. They only paid for one night, therefore they only get to stay one night. Just a case of entitled assholes thinking they deserve more than the person who has reserved that room after them in the belief it might actually be there when they arrive. But i understand about customer retention, not to mention the problems that could arise from removing someone's belongings- "I had the Hope Diamond in my room and now it's gone since you people removed by stuff!"

I was actually thinking the same thing as Shenzee: remove the person's belongings since the room is no longer theirs.

Hotelnpa: what does a hotel do in that situation, assuming that another room can't be found for the newly arriving customer?

[Alpha Strike]

No, it's the old "bitch and bitch until he gives me what I want" syndrome that a lot of customers have. It's a game that I always win, and they always lose.

This is the same thinking mode that causes SC's to stop every employee in a store to ask if the store has any more of an item in the store's back room - despite being told "no" by every employee and having it explained to them each time that it is sold out nationwide.

SC's have a real problem with accepting reality and think that if they ask the question enough times, the answer just might change to what they want to hear.

Unfortunately not all of us work in jobs that give us the ability to say "No!" and stick with it. In my department we'll sometimes have customers who call in and that do exactly what you both mention - bitch endlessly - and actually do get whatever freebie or rule exception they want. It's not necessarily that our management is spineless or weak-willed, or that we dont' know our job. Rather we have such a small number of staff that we just can't afford to have one or two people tied up for 30-60 minutes dealing with just one problem customer. Aggravating as it is to see SCs rewarded for bad behavior, it sometimes makes sense to give in that one time and just get them off the phones.

(And I do realize that this only encourages the SCs to continue their whiney brat act in the future - it's really a no-win situation.)

[Peppergirl]

Hotel workers can probably answer this better, but I'll give it a shot:

If a hotel is overbooked and a person shows up and HAS a reservation, the front desk will proceed to 'walk' the customer. That means they will secure a room for them at the nearest, most comperable property available and usually at a discounted rate. However, this can pose a problem in situations such as conventions where an entire city and it's surrounding areas are full.

As far as people who refuse to vacate the room past their out date: There used to be a rule (not sure if unwritten or in stone) years ago, that the hotels weren't allowed to make them leave as long as they paid. I've heard in recent years that they are now allowed to force them to vacate.

Like I said, Im sure the hotel experts can elaborate or correct me, but that's the gist of it.

[Evil Queen]

Me: I'm sorry sir, that was sarcasm. I have repeated to you umpteen times that I HAVE NO ROOMS!! We're in the business of selling rooms, why would you think we would NOT sell rooms on the off chance that you MIGHT call and need one? I apologize for the rude sarcasm, but it seems to be the only way I can get you to understand "I AM BOOKED"!! Trying to browbeat me into admitting I have a room on hold when I don't isn't going to make a room magically appear. Trust me, I am smart enough to know that it would be easier to give you a room then to spend 5 minutes on the phone arguing with you about it.

I get that all the time. My favourite was when I was working in North Carolina, was getting really mad about people walking past TWO signs that said "NO VACANCY", ignored the front desk sign that said "NO VACANCY" to ask me this little gem;

Man: I noticed your signs. Do you have any vacancy?
Me: Yeah, sure, those are just for the zombies.
Man: holy fuck, zombies?!
Me: Get out.

A little mean, I know, but after hearing that SAME EXACT LINE FOR THREE HOURS you would be a little cranky too...

[MiloMorai]

After maybe twice, give the benefit of the doubt.

"Sir, that question has been asked AND answered. If you have a DIFFERENT question go ahead otherwise we are done here."

[Evil Queen]

Hotel workers can probably answer this better, but I'll give it a shot:

If a hotel is overbooked and a person shows up and HAS a reservation, the front desk will proceed to 'walk' the customer. That means they will secure a room for them at the nearest, most comperable property available and usually at a discounted rate. However, this can pose a problem in situations such as conventions where an entire city and it's surrounding areas are full.

As far as people who refuse to vacate the room past their out date: There used to be a rule (not sure if unwritten or in stone) years ago, that the hotels weren't allowed to make them leave as long as they paid. I've heard in recent years that they are now allowed to force them to vacate.

Like I said, Im sure the hotel experts can elaborate or correct me, but that's the gist of it.

Ah, I think I can help.

Yes, if a hotel is overbooked and someone with a reservation comes in they are, indeed, walked. They go to another hotel with a special discount just for those circumstances. Most desk clerks don't know this rate unless they've been with the hotel for years as this doesn't usually happen much. If the room is unavailable and prepaid by Orbits/Priceline/Travelocity/whatever, the overbooked hotel will still walk you but the tab is paid by the hotel, not to person being walked.

As for the other one; a hotel can force you to vacate your room even if you have several days left on your bill ONLY if you pose a threat to the staff and/or others around you and not refund your money.
If you happen to leave your things in your room, vacate for the day thinking you're going to come back in the evening and extend, be prepared to fight for your stuff because some hotels (most the ones I've worked for) will move your things into a storage area, clean the room and rent it to someone else. It's kinda like a breach of contract; that's why you always have to sign a little piece of paper before you check in.

I hope I didn't make it more confusing then what it seems to be. Hotel work can be a pain.

[hotelnpa]

We "walk" guests to another hotel if we are overbooked, hopefully to a comparable property. We pay the room charges and one long distance phone call.

In a case where a one-nighter extended their stay without notifying us, we do not take their belongings out because of liability issues. They can claim we lost or stole something. We removed belongings of this one guest at my other hotel and he claimed we stole money from his room. Of course we try our hardest to contact them before we need the room. The worst offenders tend to be the highest VIP status guests. I think some of them know we are sold out for the 2nd night, but try to stay anyway.

[hotelnpa]

Ah, I think I can help.



As for the other one; a hotel can force you to vacate your room even if you have several days left on your bill ONLY if you pose a threat to the staff and/or others around you and not refund your money.If you happen to leave your things in your room, vacate for the day thinking you're going to come back in the evening and extend, be prepared to fight for your stuff because some hotels (most the ones I've worked for) will move your things into a storage area, clean the room and rent it to someone else. It's kinda like a breach of contract; that's why you always have to sign a little piece of paper before you check in.

I hope I didn't make it more confusing then what it seems to be. Hotel work can be a pain.

That's the only time we force someone to leave. We even had to call the police to get some people out. If they leave their belongings behind, two employees box their items and document everything in the room.

[mattm04]

Once we had booked three nights in a hotel but needed to sta a 4th because of a change in plans. The First thing we dis was ask the front desk clerk to confirm avalibality and sign any papers. We had to essentially re-rent the room(at the previous rate) and get "new" keys since at 11AM the keys would no longer work.

[ajr1971]

THis is annoying: Sometimes guests over extended their stay also by reserving the room for one night and not telling the front desk they intend to stay another night. They'll leave in the morning and not return until the evening so alot of the times we can't contact the guest. This causes problems when we are depending on everyone due to checkout to actually leave. This can overbook the hotel and make arriving guests who didn't get rooms very unhappy.

I have actually had people tell me there they think there is some law that says that once they are in the room, we cannot kick them out. HA!

At my place, when the guest fills out their registration, they are made to initial their departure date, so there is no confusion later on. The ones that don't leave when they're supposed to, if we got the room, fine, if not, we don't hesitate to pack up their belongings and toss it behind the desk for when they get back. One woman once called the cops and a lawyer she knew in town because we did that. She was under the impression we couldn't do that. She was WRONG! By the time she got back, someone was already in her room.

C'est la vie!

As for liability for packing their belongings, we have the GM and 2 other department heads in the room while the maids pack the stuff. There is also notice on the registration that states if we can not extend them past their agreed upon checkout date, we have the right to vacate a person's belongings from the room.

I will say, in six years, we have only done this twice. We are extremely careful about how we book rooms to avoid a situation like this. We certainly don't enjoy doing it. Say we have 3 rooms left to seel in the morning, we'll hold off on selling them until we can verify that our departures have checked out. That way if someone doesn't leave, we can usually extend them, and the couple rooms left over will definitely go to any walkins in the evening.

[thehippie777]

I feel your pain... Why is it prudent for a person to have to make sure we aren't holding rooms back? I have finally started telling people who insist I have rooms but just simply won't rent to them, "I am here to sell rooms. Nothing would make me happier then to take your money. We just don't have anymore rooms to sell. I am sorry."

[thehippie777]

THis is annoying: Sometimes guests over extended their stay also by reserving the room for one night and not telling the front desk they intend to stay another night. They'll leave in the morning and not return until the evening so alot of the times we can't contact the guest. This causes problems when we are depending on everyone due to checkout to actually leave. This can overbook the hotel and make arriving guests who didn't get rooms very unhappy.

Yep, people do do that. And they expect you to read their minds... I really dispise being oversold....urg

[smileyeagle1021]

Yep, people do do that. And they expect you to read their minds... I really dispise being oversold....urg

be greatful you aren't in one of our Mississippi properties that I saw 250 rooms sold for a night at a hotel with only 95 rooms... ...
if i worked at that hotel I would have quit on the spot

[auntiem]

My folk's regular hotel (the one they always use when the visit me) "walked" them once - paid for the room and gave them all kinds of dinner and drink vouchers. None of which they really needed to do - my folk's weren't pre-paid or anything. When I called to thank the desk clerk - he was all kinds of appologetic because he had to bump my folks - he said of all people he really didn't want to walk them at all because they are really nice.
I did once call a client's regular (sold-out) hotel not to see if they had a room (I knew they didn't - no one in town did), but to see if they knew if any B&B that I didn't know about exisited and if they might have rooms. The desk clerk offered to let my client crash at his apartment.