| Update: As a follow-up, the hotel has made this situation right by reassuring the guest it will still honor the reservation. The hotel also apologized for the way the initial email was worded, so I’m happy to see that the hotel ultimately did the right thing. You can find the original post below. |
I’d like to award the Fairmont Udaipur Palace the prize for the worst handling of canceling a guest reservation that I’ve ever heard of. And that’s quite an accomplishment, because there are a lot of hotels out there that don’t actually care about hospitality.
In this post:
Fairmont hotel brazenly cancels bookings due to wedding
A couple of months ago, OMAAT reader Karl made a booking (directly via Accor) at the Fairmont Udaipur Palace, for a stay in under two months from now. Just yesterday, he received the following email from the hotel, letting him know that they won’t honor the reservation, because there’s a wedding party at the hotel:
Greetings from Fairmont Udaipur Palace,
This email is in regards to your reservation at Fairmont Udaipur Palace, arriving on 12.02.2026 for 2 nights of stay, for 1 room received via online channels, via reference number as [redacted]
We request you to amend your room reservation to another date in February 2026, as we are completely booked to a wedding ceremony during your current stay dates (12.02.2026).
We can offer you the alternative dates in February as 16th , 17th , 24th , 25th , 26th , 27th , 28th.
We look forward to your response in order to move your booking dates so that you have a comfortable stay at the Palace.
Should you require any further assistance, please feel free to connect with us.
The first thing that shocked me was that the hotel offered no form of apology. Like, the word “sorry” is in there zero times. Canceling a legitimately made reservation and not even apologizing? I’m in disbelief at that level of customer service, especially since this email came from the reservations manager.
Then the second issue is that they didn’t offer an alternative accommodation. Like, most foreigners booking hotels in India plan an itinerary, and can’t simply move a stay forward or backward a week. Since Karl’s trip is fully planned in terms of the dates he’s visiting, I suggested he ask the hotel if they’re offering any alternative accommodations. The response was as follows:
Greetings from Fairmont Udaipur Palace,
We regret to inform that we will not be not be in a situation to book another property at this time.
Kindly advise us on the alternate stay date of yours to amend your stay.
We look forward to your response.
What’s a hotel’s obligation in situations like this?
I’ve written in the past about the obligations that hotels have when they cancel reservations. The short answer is that there’s not necessarily all that much legal protection, so what’s offered typically comes down to a hotel’s desire to offer half decent service. Furthermore, for larger hotel groups, they often have published policies when it comes to these situations.
Let’s be clear, the hotel is making a business decision to accept a wedding block, presumably because it’s more lucrative. However, the decision to enter into this contract should also take into account the need to make the guests whole who already have a reservation booked.
After all, think of the practical logistics here. If a hotel can just cancel a reservation for any reason without any sort of offer, how far could that go? If a hotel is booked out a day before arrival, should it offer to book someone else for $50 more, and then cancel an existing reservation? “Tough luck,” right?
For what it’s worth, I had a look at Accor’s terms & conditions, and here’s the part that would potentially apply:
In the case of a force majeure event, an exceptional event or impossibility to carry out the Service and, in particular, making the room of the Establishment available to the Customer, the Establishment may reserve the option of providing accommodation to the Customer, in whole or in part, at an Establishment in the equivalent category or perform a Service of the same nature, subject to the prior agreement of the Customer. The reasonable expenses relating to the transfer (additional cost of the rooms, transportation and a phone call) between the two Establishment shall be payable by the concerned Establishment in accordance with the existing standard procedure of the said Establishment.
So it seems to me like this hotel is just choosing to ignore Accor’s policy, which requires (at a minimum) accommodating a guest at another property, and covering reasonable expenses associated with the move.
Bottom line
A lot of hotels don’t do a great job with customer service when they cancel reservations. However, I’d argue that the Fairmont Udaipur Palace is in a league of its own when it comes to how poorly it handled it. The hotel didn’t even apologize when telling a guest it wouldn’t honor the reservation. The only thing it offered is a rebooking on another date, with no option to be rebooked at another property, and no offer of compensation.
I’ve seen hotels offer so little, but I’ve never seen a hotel not even apologize for something like this.
What do you make of how the Fairmont is handling this canceled reservation?
Funnily enough, my worst stay in India was also in Udaipur, where I got food poisoning from my hotel’s restaurant. (I know this for a fact because I only ate from them during my whole stay, in an attempt to avoid getting food poisoning.) I told them about it, but they then had the gall to say “waiting for your review and expecting 5/5 stars”. I know this is the way they talk in India,...
Funnily enough, my worst stay in India was also in Udaipur, where I got food poisoning from my hotel’s restaurant. (I know this for a fact because I only ate from them during my whole stay, in an attempt to avoid getting food poisoning.) I told them about it, but they then had the gall to say “waiting for your review and expecting 5/5 stars”. I know this is the way they talk in India, but it’s a serious turn-off for foreign guests. I don’t want to return to Rajasthan ever again. It is beautiful but full of headaches and miserable travel experiences.
Hilton policy is to provide free an equivalent say at another property equal in value and compensation of $100 plus transfer.
Got "walked" two days in advance in Hanoi and was given required compensation per Hilton policy at the time.
I've something like this happen. Less than a week before, they tried charging my card and it failed. Even though the same card worked for other hotels I had booked for my trip before and after the attempt. This has happened to me many times in the past, Everytime the hotel will try again or contact me for another card. This time they just cancelled it. I saw the email come in and responded immediately...
I've something like this happen. Less than a week before, they tried charging my card and it failed. Even though the same card worked for other hotels I had booked for my trip before and after the attempt. This has happened to me many times in the past, Everytime the hotel will try again or contact me for another card. This time they just cancelled it. I saw the email come in and responded immediately offering a different card but they said the room was gone.
Nearly all hotels were full at this time because it was peak tourist season. They offered another hotel 45 min out of town. I ended up paying double to book another hotel.
I suspect they saw I had booked at a very low price and took the opportunity to try to make more money.
Excuse me India not a civilized country?
Disqualified.
Just typical customer service level for this region. Take note and go to a civilized country, like Thailand, Indonesia or Vietnam - and there's less risk of being pelted with cow manure.
You act as if the reservation is next week in which it would be a problem. It is a couple of months away and there are plenty of other options in Udaipur. Perhaps complain to Fairmont for some bonus points and book elsewhere, and that is it. Agree with the other comments about how is it forced when they made a business decision. For those bashing India, this does happen in other countries too...
It's typical Indian customer service.
It's just interesting how apologetic people get when something happens in India. Suddenly, everything is to be blamed on "American ignorance" and all kinds of whataboutism you can and cannot imagine.
I have had this happen in India twice. The first time i landed in Delhi went to the hotel and they politely imformed me my reservation would not be honored due to a wedding. I noted that i had a confirmed reservation and was standing in their lobby. Only when i mentioned that i was a virtuosso travel agent did they decide to accomodate me. But at least they did so (once all the Hyatt...
I have had this happen in India twice. The first time i landed in Delhi went to the hotel and they politely imformed me my reservation would not be honored due to a wedding. I noted that i had a confirmed reservation and was standing in their lobby. Only when i mentioned that i was a virtuosso travel agent did they decide to accomodate me. But at least they did so (once all the Hyatt SLH and Virtuosso call centers got involved) a week latet i arrive in Jaipur to be told the same thing but I get taken to the replacement hotel upgraded to a full suite and am comped. Guess which hotel i continue to recommemd to clients. No not the Delhi hotel
By canceling ahead of time, they are avoiding the hotel’s need to “walk” a canceled guest, with the rights this afforded. Scummy.
The photo label says Jaipur. The text says Udaipur. Different!
Sounds like something a Marriott would do.
Bad customer service for sure. Although a notice two months out is far different than one two days out. Compensation or alternate accommodation REQUIRED —- no. The Accor policy says MAY not MUST.
Ahh… gottem on the fine print… *Accor sticking tongue out at the customers it screwed*
(As if that makes this right… ugh)
The good news is that the guest is spared the experience of staying in a hotel doing a wedding reception.
I don't know about hotels in India, but in Europe this tends to be bad news, especially at smaller hotels where it often means that the top dining option, and mainublic rooms are closed.
And there is the disco thump preventing one sleeping.
Even the Interncontinental Paris Le Grand allowed such noise...
The good news is that the guest is spared the experience of staying in a hotel doing a wedding reception.
I don't know about hotels in India, but in Europe this tends to be bad news, especially at smaller hotels where it often means that the top dining option, and mainublic rooms are closed.
And there is the disco thump preventing one sleeping.
Even the Interncontinental Paris Le Grand allowed such noise - fortunately we were far enought down the corridor to be able to sleep.
I have learnt to never book a country house hotel for a Saturday night in the summer.
Fully agree. We had the pleasure of enjoying several Indian weddings at JW Marriott Khao Lak two years ago, where 2/3 of the hotel facilities were blocked and service for regular customers was a disgrace. The first one was kind of interesting to observe but thereafter it got pretty disturbing all day and night long. Only after complaining several times with the GM there was some lackluster compensation.
In September, Ritz Carlton Tenerife, told a couple that arrived at the property for their honeymoon (booked through Citi Travel) that they don't have a room for them because the entire property was rented out for a corporate event. Luckily, they were able to find accommodation at a nearby resort.
That feels like a Citi Travel issue… they truly have the worst travel portal. Please, someone, anyone, get on that. Don’t make me lodge a formal complaint to 388 Greenwich. Ugh.
Ok 1990/Ford, we believe you, thousands won’t however, yes?
You also need to know how to deal with the bureaucratic process in India where literally everything is negotiable.
Send an email back, quote the Accor policy, provide a list of four hotels in Udaipur with specific room categories that you would accept and tell them to make a reservation for you.
Simply don't accept "there's nothing we can do". Tell whoever is on the email that you expect the name and phone number of...
You also need to know how to deal with the bureaucratic process in India where literally everything is negotiable.
Send an email back, quote the Accor policy, provide a list of four hotels in Udaipur with specific room categories that you would accept and tell them to make a reservation for you.
Simply don't accept "there's nothing we can do". Tell whoever is on the email that you expect the name and phone number of the hotel general manager and will explain to the GM how the agent has been unhelpful and hasn't even apologized.
If the GM is aware of how this is being handled (they aren't at times), go further up the chain and threaten to involve the police and file an FIR for false advertising or something similar. While this may seem insane or extremely far fetched in the western world, this is how things are done there to get people to actually meet their obligations. The minute the personal consequences to the people involved become something they don't want to deal with, they'll actually get off their hands and do what they could have from day 1.
Rishi is right, this is how you need to take care of things in South Asia.
Not South Asia. India. India is a different beast altogether. Great service at times but horrible at others. They will try to make the extra buck and do everything they can to wiggle out of responsibility.
How is this a force majeure event or impossibility for the hotel to fulfill the guest's booking? It's not like the hotel was shut down by a war or an epidemic. The hotel voluntarily made the decision to book the wedding and reserve every room for the wedding guests, even those that had already been booked by other customers.
A very similar thing happened to my wife & I a few weeks ago. We had our Honeymoon planned for Thanksgiving through Leela Palace and their Leela Palace Trail package but were notified after booking that we'd have to change our hotel dates due to one of our hotels being sold out for a wedding (funnily enough it was actually the Leela Palace Udaipur).
I don't think they explicitly said we'd be forced to cancel...
A very similar thing happened to my wife & I a few weeks ago. We had our Honeymoon planned for Thanksgiving through Leela Palace and their Leela Palace Trail package but were notified after booking that we'd have to change our hotel dates due to one of our hotels being sold out for a wedding (funnily enough it was actually the Leela Palace Udaipur).
I don't think they explicitly said we'd be forced to cancel if we wouldn't move our dates, but it was certainly heavily hinted at, and the dates they did come back with were weeks and months before or after our original dates.
When I explained to them that we couldn't just shift a 2 week vacation and that we'd already booked time off, flights, and other hotels, we were able to reshuffle the dates within the 2 week window I'd booked and find something that worked, although it wasn't ideal and we ended up missing two cities we'd wanted to visit.
Following our trip I'm convinced that this kind of situation is par for the course in India, and despite how wonderful our trip was, a certain degree of unprofessionalism and chaos has to be assumed when traveling there.
The hotel rep sounds just like a typical Indian call center agent who has been given a script to follow and is responsible for doing nothing else.
And I'm not slighting the Indian people in general, just pointing out that in India this is how many companies just are, unless they're incentivized to operate otherwise.
Lol "It's not that I am discriminating, but..."
Bad companies and people are everywhere - in US, India, EU, China, etc. China is closed so you don't hear about anything and India has insane population so you hear more.
Life is all about context and number of experiences you have had... Clearly you have not had many diverse ones. There are some solid companies in India and there are shitty companies in US. Grow up.
India had a pretty decent niche with seasoned travelers until relatively recently - people who knew, were careful to curate their visit to avoid the worst aspects but by and large most people globally were happily ignorant of the Indian reality. Desi expats (females, particularly) growing up in the west were discreetly but firmly warned when going to visit family of course - the scams, the unsolicited touching and harassment, the sanitation, etc etc
The...
India had a pretty decent niche with seasoned travelers until relatively recently - people who knew, were careful to curate their visit to avoid the worst aspects but by and large most people globally were happily ignorant of the Indian reality. Desi expats (females, particularly) growing up in the west were discreetly but firmly warned when going to visit family of course - the scams, the unsolicited touching and harassment, the sanitation, etc etc
The cat is out of the bag - It's not looking good in the long term, reputationally. Anthropologically it's fascinating - watching 2nd and 3rd generation Indians cringe and despair at their newly arrived cousins in the English speaking west. Observing oblivious Love Pray Eat millennials and zoomers get one-shotted at Holi celebrations - hysterical abusee traumadumping videos, shattering that quaint and mystical cultural stereotype.
Nothing quite like lived experiences to repair any wonky biases
sontheweb, well said, bruther
Just leave bad reviews, all you can do at this point.
And you wonder why India is such a shit hole. Terrible country for hospitality, and I don’t know why anyone would want to visit such a poor country with horrible culture. Much better off visiting Thailand, Indonesia, or even the Philippines where service is way better.
Then don’t. No one in India is going to miss your few hundred dollars. Good on you to keep your ignorant ass out of there.
Why pray tell, herr brun, are so many millions of Indians desperate to leave for Europe, Australia, and North America (in fact, pretty much anywhere these days - Japan, Russia etc.)?
"Why pray tell..."
Good grief you're so fucking dumb it hurts, Luft Stanazi.
Yet, you engage with me - curious, Travelinwilly-in-hand
Aww, see, respectful disagreement, and the ole 'engage or ignore' dichotomy, in-action. Nice.
I agree. It's better to engage with people than no, herr tausendneunhundertneunzigste
Vielen Dank, mein Herr. Ich grüße Sie!
Dankeschön
Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr!
Your mask is slipping 1990/Ben/Ford, Zu viel Deutsch sprechen für dein eigenes wohl.
I do not like to call anybody racist but calling one of the oldest and most developed countries. shit hole is just that…racist
Frau fleur, drop a streetview pin on Google Maps randomly. Tell me what you see.
Chaos and trash.
Do it again. And again. Find a clean and civilized spot? No? Could do it a thousand times and have rhe same result. Chaos and trash everywhere - could be middle of the big city, could be random wilderness.
Maybe your definition of shithole is different to everyone else with eyes.
Is this just a thing that frequently happens in India? I had a very similar situation, where I booked a 4-night stay on IHG points at the Six Senses Fort Barwara. Months after making the booking (and well after booking flights, finalizing an itinerary, etc.), the hotel reached out to me — first via WhatsApp (?!?) and then via email — to tell me they wouldn’t honor the reservation because of a “wedding celebration.”
While...
Is this just a thing that frequently happens in India? I had a very similar situation, where I booked a 4-night stay on IHG points at the Six Senses Fort Barwara. Months after making the booking (and well after booking flights, finalizing an itinerary, etc.), the hotel reached out to me — first via WhatsApp (?!?) and then via email — to tell me they wouldn’t honor the reservation because of a “wedding celebration.”
While the hotel did offer to upgrade me to a better room upon rebooking on another set of dates, they offered no help finding other dates with points availability (and to Ben’s point, it’s not like someone visiting India from afar can just easily move their full schedule), and indeed, the calendar had no points availability around that time by the time I was notified. They refused to honor the points rate on dates around the cancelled time.
For a while I just refused to cancel, but ultimately I relented because they kept badgering me via email and WhatsApp and I didn’t feel like dealing with it. Now I’m wondering if I should reach out to IHG and/or Six Senses corporate.
Yes, destination weddings are big in India. Especially for folks with money. Indian weddings are multi-day events with large guest list and winter is considered the wedding season in India. However, the hotel’s behavior is wrong. The guest must be rebooked in another comparable hotel.
I've had to do this several times over my hotel sales career. It's called "pre-walking". And it's not uncommon. And yes, it usually comes down to a group booking that is more lucrative. And there is a detailed process for it.
The difference is that before even making the call/email, we've already secured alternate accommodations at a hotel of equal or higher status. And at a rate that is equal to what the reservation...
I've had to do this several times over my hotel sales career. It's called "pre-walking". And it's not uncommon. And yes, it usually comes down to a group booking that is more lucrative. And there is a detailed process for it.
The difference is that before even making the call/email, we've already secured alternate accommodations at a hotel of equal or higher status. And at a rate that is equal to what the reservation was booked at. They're given to option for us to move the reservation and take care of it from there, or to cancel and make their own.
If they're members of our rewards program they get lots of points, and we ensure they have welcome amenities with a note from the GM at the alternate hotel.
I'd never leave them in the lurch like this.
And yes, these things do happen and you as the responsible manager secured comparable rooms for your guests. That's what most hotels do in a "pre-walk" event. Sadly there are parts of the world and some cultures perhaps that are not as customer service oriented as one might expect.
Including some luxury properties. Hemingways in Nairobi tried to walk me freely admitting they could get more for myvroom than my "booked six months ago" rate. Again Hyatt SLH and Virtuoso had to intervene. Does using Virtuoso matter? YES
Every reader of this blog appreciates your candid and sober input. On their behalf, thank you.
First let me say I agree what they are doing is completely unacceptable from a customer service standpoint. However, you are wrong that they are ignoring the official Accor policy. There is a HUGE difference between "may" and "shall," and the guidelines you quote only state that the hotel "may" reserve the option of providing equivalent accommodation.
On the other side of the spectrum, Aman Kyoto cancelled my three night reservation a few years ago because a prominent family bought out the property for the week I was there. The GM paid for our two bedroom suite at the Four Seasons Kyoto and gave us a $9K Aman gift certificate, together with a private driver for the duration of our stay in Kyoto. He also personally met us at the train station to apologize. Legendary service still exists some places.
Jeepers, talk about service recovery! Well done, Aman, and good on you, Miramar!
Ngl, that's better than staying at the Aman, even without the certificate.
In Heaven the call centres are all manned by Japanese who speak perfect English.
In Hell they use the same system as here on Earth.
Japan is on another level when it comes to honor and service. I once took a flight on ANA and slept most of the flight. When I woke up the FA handed me a note apologizing for the inconvenience and asked how I wanted to be compensated. I chose to be compensated in points and received something like 7k. I felt a little bad about accepting anything but was curious what sort of compensation I'd receive for a great flight.
Am I the only one who thinks Aman and it's GM is still the a**.
"prominent family bought out the property"
That's not honorable for Aman, especially for a Japanese.
"The GM paid for....."
That's bribery.
Legendary service still exists some places.
More like legendary greed still exists.
Imagine how much Aman and the GM made from the buyout. That family could make you 10x better offer.
You took the bribe.
It’s India. Customer Service is dead and you can read it in the response that probably came from a 20-something who hasn’t been trained properly or can’t go off script and use words like “Sorry”
And recommending a competitor hotel? Ludicrously bad business practice for Accor apparently…..
Dude. Customer service is WAYYY better in India than anywhere in US (and most parts of Europe), so you are clearly ignorant. I have traveled 70+ countries and stayed at 2500+ hotels, so know a fair bit about what is 'service' and what is 'not'.
This is an unfortunate one and is more of a sign of how bad things are getting at chain properties in general as it is attracting more PE investments....
Dude. Customer service is WAYYY better in India than anywhere in US (and most parts of Europe), so you are clearly ignorant. I have traveled 70+ countries and stayed at 2500+ hotels, so know a fair bit about what is 'service' and what is 'not'.
This is an unfortunate one and is more of a sign of how bad things are getting at chain properties in general as it is attracting more PE investments. In the past, smaller chains were run by families who really loved hospitality, and this sentiment is not shared by large investors. In general, I am starting to like service quality at smaller chains in different parts of the world (like ITC, Taj, or Oberoi in India), SLH globally, and so on. They tend to be run by families who still care about the guests...
It's objectively inaccurate to say customer service is better in India than USA. It's so variable and contextual as to be a meaningless statement.
Yes, if you're rich and you go to expensive exclusive hotel chains then it's going to be better than fleabottom hostelry - that's true in America too.
The good news for your argument is that Indians (literally the Patel clan) own and run huge numbers of hotels in America, already...
It's objectively inaccurate to say customer service is better in India than USA. It's so variable and contextual as to be a meaningless statement.
Yes, if you're rich and you go to expensive exclusive hotel chains then it's going to be better than fleabottom hostelry - that's true in America too.
The good news for your argument is that Indians (literally the Patel clan) own and run huge numbers of hotels in America, already a massive double digit proportion of the available beds. The bad news is your customer service miles may vary because things are increasing ran like they were in the old country.
Which brings us back to the original point. Blanket statements like India >>> USA is kind of meaningless when Indians screwed up the service industry in both countries and the only way to escape that is with lots and lots of money.
I've had consistently bad experiences with nearly every Fairmont I've ever stayed at. Like, what is Accord trying to do with this brand, disappoint people? Avoid the one in San Juan. Just awful. The one in Barbados is better, but not really worth it either. The one in Monte Carlo is just alright.
@1990: I like your slip of the word Accord there. I laughed.
LOL. I'll try to be more Civic-minded next time. Wouldn't want to offend any Pilots either. As they say, there can only be one... Highlander.
Why would anyone want to visit India and breathe the poisonous air. Just say no.
Oh, no, Gene (if it is you from VFTW), it's not all bad. Do avoid October-February, especially in the north (like Delhi), because the cooler air and the surrounding mountains really trap it all in then. Still, there are reasons to visit regardless, and I've enjoyed my trips there. (Have flown AA, UA, and EK, there and back, and was not disappointed.)
Was this a non refundable reservation or something that hotel is refusing to refund? With 2 months to go before the stay, if your made whole with refund, dont see why Fairmont has to re-accomodate to another hotel that you may not want.
I would be wary if I paid for instance a Ritz Carlton price and then the hotel pre-emptively rebooks me to a Hilton Garden Inn!
I had worse experience at ITC Royal...
Was this a non refundable reservation or something that hotel is refusing to refund? With 2 months to go before the stay, if your made whole with refund, dont see why Fairmont has to re-accomodate to another hotel that you may not want.
I would be wary if I paid for instance a Ritz Carlton price and then the hotel pre-emptively rebooks me to a Hilton Garden Inn!
I had worse experience at ITC Royal Bengal in Kolkata, India where had booked a 2 bedroom suite for multiple nights specifically to stay with in laws and on check in, was told that room was given to someone else and only thing offered was 2 small standard rooms in exchange for the suite that was supposed to be about 1200 square feet and costs 4 times the rate of standard room. After lot of arguing and nearly a shouting match, the manager agreed to make one of the 2 standard rooms free and that was it.
The problem with just getting a refund is that the prices at other comparable local hotels might have increased in the meantime since the original booking.
Why would anyone choose to go to India for tourism?
"If a hotel is booked out a day before arrival, should it offer to book someone else for $50 more, and then cancel an existing reservation?" - that's exactly what Marriott has done in my case without any notification - https://www.reddit.com/r/marriott/comments/1h85w87/marriotts_loyalty_care_or_we_dont_actually_care/
Welcome to India!
and especially welcome to Udaipur where the rich have their weddings and you get treated like a nobody!
Common occurrence...
Ah (Mr)Chu.
Agree that it is a crappy way to do business but the T&C quoted says "may reserve" not will reserve
That's not "walking" the guest. Walking is when a guest with a reservation shows up and doesn't have a room. Yes, they should apologize for canceling the reservation. But "walking" it is not.
The difference isn't just semantic, as 'walking' usually happens to late arriving guests who end up feeling somewhat stranded without a room. This might be a bummer for Karl, but with two months notice, there is time to plan alternatives. (And bitch about it to bloggers, apparently.)
Just to clarify I reached out to Ben for advice how to best proceed as he has experience and also runs a travel company.
As you may or may not know February is a popular time to visit India and there is a limited amount of luxury properties and even smaller amount of suites available.
I have already secured alternative accommodations so that I would not be stranded. The issue is that my 2 nights...
Just to clarify I reached out to Ben for advice how to best proceed as he has experience and also runs a travel company.
As you may or may not know February is a popular time to visit India and there is a limited amount of luxury properties and even smaller amount of suites available.
I have already secured alternative accommodations so that I would not be stranded. The issue is that my 2 nights at the fairmont were $4k and since now I’m booking 2 months ahead instead of 4 months with limited suites left my alternative booking for 2 nights is $8k.
Perhaps you are in a position to blow $4k and not even think about it. I’m not.
Yes I know rich people problems.
@ Scudder -- You're absolutely right, I shouldn't have used that term. I updated the post to reflect that. That being said, you think this is just totally fine? At what point do you think it's no longer acceptable? And don't you think Accor's terms are supposed to provide some protection here, as quoted above?
No, it's clearly shitty. But despite marketing platitudes almost no hotel (or hotel brand) actually gives AF about individual guests, and expecting otherwise is naive.
@ Scudder -- I guess we've had very different experiences, because among hotels that voluntarily cancel reservations in advance (aside from mistake fares), I've almost always found they go above and beyond to offer the guest some reasonable alternative or compensation.
Is there any recourse for this? Based on your review of Dusseldorf my family and I decided make a booking at the Wellem this summer. Unfortunately, the hotel is leaving Hyatt and our reservation was canceled. Our flights are booked and The Wellem was selected based on location/room size. Hyatt's offer was the switch our room to a Me and All Hotel or a standard room at the Hyatt Regency - both of which are...
Is there any recourse for this? Based on your review of Dusseldorf my family and I decided make a booking at the Wellem this summer. Unfortunately, the hotel is leaving Hyatt and our reservation was canceled. Our flights are booked and The Wellem was selected based on location/room size. Hyatt's offer was the switch our room to a Me and All Hotel or a standard room at the Hyatt Regency - both of which are not comparable to the Wellem. I'm not looking for any help, just venting. Thanks!
That level of care was dying a slow death well before covid. Now hoteliers in the old tradition of hospitality may still exist, but they're a nearly extinct breed.
@Ben: I've had different experiences too... but then again at hotel chains where I'm at least mid tier to top tier elite. The only really bad experience I had was with a Sheraton (that has since closed) where I pre-paid 20 rooms for employees in a winter event, and the snow was much worse and guests wouldn't check out... and in that state as long as they agreed to keep paying they had squatters rights....
@Ben: I've had different experiences too... but then again at hotel chains where I'm at least mid tier to top tier elite. The only really bad experience I had was with a Sheraton (that has since closed) where I pre-paid 20 rooms for employees in a winter event, and the snow was much worse and guests wouldn't check out... and in that state as long as they agreed to keep paying they had squatters rights. So the hotel had no room, refunded my card, and said "good luck." Not like they had another hotel to send people to under circumstances. I ended up sleeping in my office for 4 nights. But that I understand (somewhat, though at the time when I called back and canceled a $30k event the company was having two months in the future, I wasn't feeling it....).
Does the person who wrote in have any sort of Accor status or much revenue history with the company?
I'm assuming someone who can book out an entire Fairmont for a wedding is someone of at least moderate local importance, and hate to say it but in India there's a pecking order. The terms and conditions say the hotel "may reserve the option" and I think they aren't reserving it for this unfortunate guest. If they see him as a one-and-done customer, I really don't think they care he's unhappy.
Escalating via Accor is probably the only way to get any resolution... if they have any other acceptable properties and they honor the rate. Doubtful though.
I had a boss once who used to be in sales/marketing for Kingfisher. He never had to worry about making flight reservations for work travel in advance - if the flight was full, they'd just pull someone off and put him on.... there are certain privileges.
And one more thing— Accor's use of "may": "the Establishment may reserve the option"
That means the statement is not a policy at all. It's just, kind of a polite suggestion.
Scudder, they got off on a technicality... surely, the customers who got screwed will understand that the 'fine print' was to blame! *facepalm*