holiday problem

julie88_2

we booked a holiday [tgreek part of cyprus] and asked for a non smoking room i have asthma. on arrival at the hotel the room was a smoking room and was smelly. hotel said they were fully booked and we could not change rooms.

the rep next morning told us we had to pay the hotel a 288 euro cancellation fee before she could book usd into another of their hotels and to write to to claim the refund.

on return to the uk our request for this refund was refused as it was a request only.

i feel the hotel should have told the travel agent they had no non smoking rooms left and we could have booked another hotel from the brochure.

where do we stand, the hotel in general was appaling anyway, but its the issue of been given a smelly smokers room which the the travel agent confirmed they requested a non smokers room.

ferf1223

as far as I know, non-smoking rooms are generally a request, not guaranteed...do your booking details indicate it would be guaranteed?

photome

I dont smoke and have asthma and always request a non smoking room, but on occasion I have a had to have a smoking room (even in a hotel with 5000 rooms!!!!)

The jist of my post is that it is only a request, unless of course you had a gtee on your invoice, if you didnt then I dont think there is anything you can do

As for the hotel telling the TA that they had no non smoking rooms left, my guess is that your room wouldnt be allocated until arrival or very shortly before so how could they let the TA know and to be fair if as has been said it was a request then there is no reason for the hotel to inform anyone

julie88_2

why would they allocate the room on arrival, would they not do it when the travel company sends the booking with the requests? otherwise i would be stuck in a catch 22 scenario once you arrive at the hotel its too late to back out without a lot of hassle as we found out to our cost.

this request option seems like a cop out i feel any requsts should be confirmed, in future i will insist on this before booking. [for anyone in similar cirumstaces the problem hotel was in paphos.cyprus called Aloe]

rocking69

Hi Julie,
I think you will find it difficult for a hotel to confirm any such request prior to your departure due to the fact that if they confirm it to you and then cannot provide it, you are more than likely to be seeking compensation or a move to another hotel at the hotels cost, therefore, you will find the hotels do not commit to this kind of request in case for any reason (i.e water leak, electrics problem, so on) they cannot give you the room they have promised you. You will normally find the hotels will say we will do what we can but we do not confirm it prior to your arrival to ensure they will not be liable for any compensation. You might be better looking for a hotel that will confirm this request, however they normally only confirm it 99% and never 100%. Unless you find a hotel that does not have any smoking rooms.
The hotels allocate the rooms much closer to departure once they have received all the bookings and they know which rooms need to be next to each other, how many they have sold of other room types, in case they can give any upgrades, last minute group booking that wants rooms together, and due to the amount of amendments/cancellations customers make prior to departure, otherwise is too much administration to keep having to move things around. The hotel will get the final list of bookings a few days before and allocate the rooms, however some hotels do work differently. Depends on the hotel to be honest.

Alan_Bowen

The only way of guaranteeing a non smoking room is to find a hotel than bans smoking altogther, no tour operator will ever guarantee it otherwise as room allocation is entirely up to the hotel. It helps if you are on the first flight of the day to the destination rather than the last because the last arrivals get what is left. You need to talk to your travel agent and ask what steps they took to ensure a non smoking room, they could have called the hotel because they know no operator ever guarantees a non smoking room as a 'special request' but if the request is not on the invoice you received from the operator, then it may be your agent never made the request in the first place in which case you may have a claim against the agent

photome

julie88 wrote: »

why would they allocate the room on arrival, because room allocation is fluid, peoples plans change etc people arrive and depart at different time etc would they not do it when the travel company sends the booking with the requests? otherwise i would be stuck in a catch 22 scenario once you arrive at the hotel its too late to back out without a lot of hassle as we found out to our cost.

this request option seems like a cop out i feel any requsts should be confirmed, in future i will insist on this before booking. [for anyone in similar cirumstaces the problem hotel was in paphos.cyprus called Aloe]

my answer in red

As someone else said the only way to gtee it is book a non smoking hotel, and I really cant see the point in naming the hotel because it happens in every hotel (that allows smoking) in the world

julie88_2

thank you every one. now thinking of sticking to cruise holidays where there is no smoking cannot afford to risk this again.

Becles

I've found if you email the hotel directly a few weeks before you go and say how much you are looking forward to their hospitality, they usually take more notice of your requests.

I prefer ground floor rooms with having children and have always emailed and asked, and have been given ground floor rooms.

Bit late now I know but you could try emailing next time.

claire16c

If you can afford it, stay in Hiltons, they ban smoking in their hotels, at least in North America anyway.

In our last stay in a Hilton in Toronto, we arrived and our room stunk of smoke. So they transferred us to another room, but the shower had a problem. So the next day they upgraded us to a jacuzzi suite with fireplace!

I try to avoid staying in any hotel that allows smoking because I dont have asthma but I dont want to stay in a stinking gross room either.

bobajob_1966

claire16c wrote: »

If you can afford it, stay in Hiltons, they ban smoking in their hotels, at least in North America anyway.

In our last stay in a Hilton in Toronto, we arrived and our room stunk of smoke. So they transferred us to another room, but the shower had a problem. So the next day they upgraded us to a jacuzzi suite with fireplace!

I try to avoid staying in any hotel that allows smoking because I dont have asthma but I dont want to stay in a stinking gross room either.

Not all US Hiltons are non smoking. All offer some non smoking rooms, but that is the case with all the big chains.