How NOT to enjoy your stay at my hotel

[eltf177]

We once called ahead to let the front desk know we'd be late, we got there 30 minutes after check in and the front desk person had given the room to "one of his friends that came into town for *convention*" sorry, but "at least I didn't charge your card"

I would have filed a complaint with the owners and the chain!

[WishfulSpirit]

BlaqueKatt. If I did something like that and it got back to the boss I'd be fired on the spot, and probably walked off the property too. Not that I would. You book the room, you get a room, unless the idiot computer oversold us again, and in that case we're paying for your room somewhere else.

[Slave to the Phone]

I'd sure have complained about that as well, BlaqueKatt. You called and told them that you were going to be a late check-in. There is NO excuse for giving your room away.

I'm not a complainer. I understand that things happen, plus, I've worked customer service all of my life and understand that people make mistakes. "at least I didn't charge your card"? I'd have been livid.

Now for a funny story about our hotel stay in Utah. Sweetie and I met up with a group of off-roaders for a week long trip to the back of the Grand Canyon. It was magnificent. One of the best experiences in my life. We slept in tents and had to carry water and food and had to pee in the dirt because we were on back roads the entire time. As you might guess, we also got pretty dirty and the men didn't shave.

We all checked into the same hotel we had left from a week prior. We tipped the maids, but that didn't stop us from having to dispute our bills. We all got charged for having pets in the room because the maids thought that due to the number of soiled towels and hair in the sinks, we had all washed dogs.

[dalesys]

... we had all washed dogs.

... just S.O.B.'s, sir/madam.

[wolfie]

We once called ahead to let the front desk know we'd be late, we got there 30 minutes after check in and the front desk person had given the room to "one of his friends that came into town for *convention*" sorry, but "at least I didn't charge your card"

Not in the hotel industry, but my understanding is that hotels have a balancing act - if a reservation "no-shows" after they turn away a walk-in, they lose money. I believe the proper action in this case (someone with a reservation calls to say they'll be late checking in, and the hotel is sold out) would be to inform the person with the reservation that the hotel can hold the room for them IF it can charge their card for the night regardless of whether they show up or not. If the customer OKs this, it's a win-win - doesn't matter how late they show up, they have a room, and the hotel gets paid for the room even if they "no-show".

[WishfulSpirit]

That's what we do, minus the call. We will charge the card for one night for a no show. If the person shows up, we just reinstate the reservation. We won't give away a no show room for exactly that reason, the person may still show. That said, the date you booked for is the night you're staying and the "night" starts at checkin and runs through checkout (like SmileyEagle said). If you booked for the 20th and show up at 2am on the 21st, your reservation is still for the 20th and you're expected to leave at check-out time on the 21st. Most hotels, however, will provide a late check out if you ask nicely. If you need longer than the latest checkout they can do (ours is 1pm), ask about "day use" rates. We charge half a night's rate if someone needs to stay later (I've seen 7pm checkouts that way), but can only offer it if we aren't sold out for the coming evening.