I’ve written in the past about the general concept of hotels canceling confirmed reservations. This includes everything from guests being “walked” on the day of arrival, to a buy-out events causing the hotel to close to the public. Along those lines, OMAAT reader Rob flagged an interesting situation that’s being discussed on Reddit, and asked for my take.
In this post:
DoubleTree Palm Springs cancels “cheap” Coachella bookings
There’s this little thing called Coachella that happens every year, and apparently it’s quite popular with people, and even drives up hotel rates. As you’d expect, many people book their stays way in advance, given how quickly hotels sell out.
It would appear that when the availability calendar first opened in recent weeks, the DoubleTree Palm Springs, part of Hilton Honors, forgot to load inflated rates for next year’s Coachella weekends, in April 2026. As a result, many people locked in rates of around $225 per night.
However, in recent days, the hotel has been reaching out to those who booked these rates, stating that it’s unable to honor reservations “due to an unexpected system issue.” The hotel offers to help people “explore alternative accommodation.”
So several people reached out to the hotel to ask about options. The hotel referred to what happened as “a technical glitch” that caused inventory to be “erroneously opened at incorrect rates.” The hotel justifies the cancelation by explaining that booking rules and restrictions state that “under circumstances where it appears that the reservations resulted from a mistake or error we do reserve the right to cancel or modify reservations.”
What’s being offered to guests impacted by this? The hotel is offering what it claims is 50% off the current published rate, in addition to waived resort fees. For a four night stay, that comes out to a total of $1,479.35 including taxes and fees.
Can hotels do this, and do consumers have recourse?
Unfortunately in the United States, we have pretty weak consumer protections, especially for the hotel industry. So I don’t want to say that hotels “can” do this, but I will say that this is unfortunately a far too common practice.
This is far from the first time that we’ve seen hotels act this way, especially when there’s a big event in town, whether it’s sports or music. Do I think it’s ethical, and a good way to do business? No. But I also know that it’s something that hotels try to do, and as consumers, there’s not some easy avenue to get this reversed.
So, is there any recourse? Certainly there’s value to blasting hotels publicly, whether it’s on review sites like TripAdvisor, or contacting media. That being said, don’t expect the major hotel groups to step in and mediate on your behalf for the original rate to be honored.
I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t speak to how this would end if you tried to litigate it, and what the hotel could reasonably argue is an “error.”
I don’t want to give the hotel a pat on the back here, but I’ve gotta say, the offer they give actually seems semi-decent. It seems the person had booked a nightly rate of $225 plus taxes and fees (including a resort fee), while the alternative they were offered comes out to $370 all-in per night. That’s probably the best deal you’re going to get at Coachella.
Again, none of this is to say that I condone this practice by hotels, but rather, I’m just being practical, based on what I’ve seen over the years. I’ve also seen a lot of hotels not honor rates, and not offer a material discount.
Bottom line
The DoubleTree Palm Springs is refusing to honor the rates that it initially published over 2026 Coachella weekends, when the calendar first opened. The hotel claims it has the right to cancel reservations that are mistakes, though I suspect people would interpret the definition of a “mistake” differently, for these purposes.
Unfortunately this isn’t an uncommon practice from hotels, disappointing as it might be. You can always fight back and give them as much bad press as possible. Though in fairness, I’ve seen hotels act much worse, in terms of not even offering a material discount over the published rate.
What do you make of this Coachella hotel situation?
Really missing the Biden administration here.
“Legal” and “ethical” are two entirely different concepts.
Paging @DCS.
Hilton that DOESN'T Honor.
He has sworn off this site. At least I hope that's what happened, that he is still alive and well in the real world.
As you, Eskimo, know, I often appear in these comments wishing cancer and death on scumbags who reveal intolerable traits (indicating that society is better off without them), but, while I disagreed with DCS's points, he never appeared to be scum, and I wish him a long, healthy life. A public records search shows he is 66 years of age.
If it was a so-called "fat finger" error on the rate that was not in line with rates around the same time frame, I could understand, but just because someone dropped the ball and failed to monitor the festival dates, they should honor the original rate.
You are absolutely correct in the fair, just, and moral sense.
Unfortunately, fairness, justice, and morality don't pay the bills. America is capitalist. If there are no laws keeping business operators in check? Stuff like this happens.
The power of law is immeasurably amazing which is why I went into the profession.
Not exactly the same but a few years ago I booked an Airbnb way in advance that coincided with a huge music festival (coincidentally). A few months later I got a message from the owner via Airbnb's system that he was going to have to cancel my booking because he hadn't set rates for the festival when I had booked (strange, since there were rates and I successfully booked it). Long story short, Airbnb mediated...
Not exactly the same but a few years ago I booked an Airbnb way in advance that coincided with a huge music festival (coincidentally). A few months later I got a message from the owner via Airbnb's system that he was going to have to cancel my booking because he hadn't set rates for the festival when I had booked (strange, since there were rates and I successfully booked it). Long story short, Airbnb mediated and we agreed that he could cancel and rebook me at increased rates and Airbnb would cover the difference, so both he and I were happy. Their team handled it very well. Credit where it is due.
The owner even bought me a ticket to the festival as a thanks, which turned out to be great.
I would imagine this one could result in litigation and a loss for the hotel.
In addition to false advertising, bookers might have a case for price gouging.
At the very least, they could take it to small claims court, if they cancel the reservation.
I would also ask for the demand to be mailed to me. Doubt the hotel does it.
Actually you are wrong. US courts have ruled that airlines and hotels can cancel reservations due to "mistake fares" or similar issues. In this case the hotel notified him well in advance and provided options likely below the cost typically for that time period. You would not win a lawsuit and only waste your time (and money) pursuing it. Trust me on this one.
I mean if the hotel canceled and didn't send it in writing, what would you do? Doubt you'd win in small claims court and no lawyer would ever take this case on.
1. Hotel posts rate, takes money, breaks deal - that's fraud dressed up as customer service.
2. Hotels do this when they think they can get away with it - big events, sold-out markets, captive customers.
3. Offering to screw you less isn't generosity - it's a shakedown with a smile.
4. You book months ahead, they cancel last minute, and somehow you're supposed to be grateful for the privilege.
5. Until there are real...
1. Hotel posts rate, takes money, breaks deal - that's fraud dressed up as customer service.
2. Hotels do this when they think they can get away with it - big events, sold-out markets, captive customers.
3. Offering to screw you less isn't generosity - it's a shakedown with a smile.
4. You book months ahead, they cancel last minute, and somehow you're supposed to be grateful for the privilege.
5. Until there are real consequences, hotels will keep pissing on customers and calling it hospitality rain.
If you've been following what's going on in Washington, you will notice that this is the norm and it will not change. It is exactly the deregulation that US voters wanted.
My brother has been in hotel business for 20 years. He is a manager for a Mandarin Oriental and has pretty much only worked in five star hotels all his career. He dislikes what his industry has become because he is passionate about hospitality. He says that when he started his career, customer loyalty was the paramount thing hotels cared about. They wanted repeat customers. Now all they care about is how much they can earn from a person during a stay.
Why on earth are you comparing the before tax and fees price to the newer after tax and fees price? Hell for all we know the new price could A dollar more, or some similar trivial increase
How can you trust the hotel to honor the “revised” confirmed reservation? Who’s to say that in another few months the 50% offer turns out to be another “mistake?”
Slippery slope argument (fallacious)
More pragmatically, how can you trust the hotel to honor? The same way you trust any hotel, in the generic sense, to honor any reservation.
Why on earth is a Doubletree charging $225 per night to begin with and charging resort fees on top of that? Is this some special unique high-end Doubletree resort? I know Doubletrees are typically better than your standard roadside junk (Hampton, La Quinta, Courtyard, Garden Inn, Place, etc) but come on.
It’s the nicest Doubletree I have been to for sure. The pool with Mountain View’s right in front of the golf course is beautiful. I have gotten upgraded to the the corner suites, and those in particular, have awesome views and are huge (over 1000SF) with wraparound balconies that have awesome views. At $225/night it is a good value in the area, even outside of festival season.
Palm Springs is pricey. Even outside of Coachella and Indian Wells.
$225 for a DoubleTree (off peak) isn't pricey in any halfway desirable locale in the United States.
Palm Springs is in Southern California which qualifies as halfway desirable (although the region is huge and there are exceptions--Inland Empire, yikes)
In 2022 I booked a Marriott property for the F1 weekend in Montreal at the lowest available points rate. When the race weekend date was confirmed, clearly the event organizers had failed to give a heads up to the local hotel industry that they were going to announce it being a week later than the previous 25 years. The result was for a few minutes after the announcement being able to book low points or...
In 2022 I booked a Marriott property for the F1 weekend in Montreal at the lowest available points rate. When the race weekend date was confirmed, clearly the event organizers had failed to give a heads up to the local hotel industry that they were going to announce it being a week later than the previous 25 years. The result was for a few minutes after the announcement being able to book low points or cash rates. I received a letter from the hotel a few weeks later offering me a new “correct” cash price and saying if I did not accept by a certain date, my reservation would be canceled. I contacted the hotel management and asked if asking me to switch from a points rate to cash was permitted by Marriott? I also asked if what they were doing violated any Canadian or Quebec consumer protections. They funnily declined to answer those questions. I decided to take the gamble and do nothing. My reservation was never canceled. I suspect this was more driven by trying to get worried people to accept the change rather than lose a reservation. Sometimes just waiting things out is best.
Well, there are consumer laws, weak or not. You booked at a published rate, it has to be honored. But if you do not push back, they will walk all over you.
With that said, what Hilton offered was not bad, considering rates are usually ridiculously higher.
There is a particular type of person who attends Coachella (and Glastonbury) in this era. That's all!
In a vacuum, yes.
In context, Hilton pissed on your leg, told you it's raining, and offered you an umbrella.
The proper response is not to think "not bad" but to shove that umbrella up their ass.
It doesn't have to honored. Read the terms and conditions. You know how many people from the Taylor Swift concerts got their rooms canceled?
The revised deal is not a "good deal." It's straight up fraud.
Amen! A reservation is a contract, and failure to uphold a contract constitutes breach of contract. Shocked to see Ben acquiesce so easily on this one.
I'd be having an attorney friend send a nastygram, at the bare minimum, to the management company in charge of this place.
A proper attorney doesn't have friends who find themselves in situations like this.
A reservation is a contract? Are you serious?
Alonzo, if not a contract, what is it?
I believe he only meant it's a "good deal" in that it's the cheapest booking you will possibly find out there during the festival, not that the people were actually offered a good deal.
Even as a consumer, I still recognize that in most cases I cancel my hotel room, flight, restaurant reservation or car rental a few days before the reservation starts. Should businesses have the same privileges?
In any case, the price isn't a whole lot more than the original. It's Coachella.
No they should not, for many reasons. To a proprietor, you are just one customer of many and you are easily replaced, often seamlessly with a walk-in or standby customer, and even if not, the revenue forgone is an absolute pittance. To the customer, a dishonered reservation causes a scramble to find a substitute which is often impossible because the good places are all booked up.
Coachella is in 11 months. They'll survive.