It looks like a bunch of European hotels are leaving Wyndham some time in September.
My parents bought Wyndham points nearly a year ago to use on a stay in Berlin next month. They got a weird call from Wyndham that the hotel is leaving the program soon, and that they need to change to another hotel that wouldn't work for them.
Oddly, that hotel is still bookable well into 2027, even using points. After speaking to the guy from Wyndham and someone at the hotel, the actual date the hotel is leaving still hasn't been decided yet.
I read the Wyndham Rewards T&Cs, and apparently there's no guarantee of the reservations. So, caveat emptor.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get Wyndham to honor the reservation?
JG, that's not great. Sorry to hear (both for you/them and for Wyndham's messy franchise shakeup in Europe right now).
As I understand it, under German contract law (and in many other jurisdictions), the 'contract for accommodation' (Beherbergungsvertrag) means that a confirmed booking is supposed to be binding. (Doesn't mean anyone cares to follow the law, or that anyone else will enforce it. Not a German lawyer; I don't think you need one here, regardless. But, you do you.) Unfortunately, there are no 'EU-261-style' protections for hotel award stays (they really should have that though!), so it's really all tied to Wyndham's proprietary terms and conditions (not in your favor). *boo hiss*
To try to fix this, I would first recommend having your parents email the Berlin hotel's GM directly to seek a written confirmation that their specific booking will be honored—especially since the hotel is still selling rooms for those dates (do include that specific detail in your email). If the hotel cancels anyway, your parents shouldn't take Wyndham's first bad alternative; they should make Wyndham corporate cover the cash rate for a comparable replacement. (You might want to review/consider what they would be happy with if they had to go elsewhere.) Or, if you're risk averse, please ignore all this, get the points back, and book elsewhere (many options in Berlin; Ben has reviewed quite a few of them on the site!), while there's still time to remedy this, on your own.
Anyway, hope this all gets sorted out and that they have a nice trip either way!
I highly suggest heading over to Hyatt as they have a strong corporate enforcement on transition of hotels and honoring of reservations.
@isaacc Ok, so, I like Hyatt (and other brands) at times, too, but no hotel brand's corporate office can legally force an independent property or a totally separate brand to honor award stays once the franchise contract is severed. Changing loyalty programs doesn't really fix JG's issue with Wyndham. Sure, he can re-book his parents at a Hyatt (totally new reservation), but he can't use his Wyndham points for that.
While @isaacc's point about Hyatt doesn't do me a lot of good for this upcoming incredibly busy week in Berlin, he does point at the relative reliability of hotel programs.
@lucky - It would be helpful to do a reference post about which programs will honor reservations when chains change etc. You seem to have a lot of useful reference lists, but I didn't notice anything along these lines.