Help please, hotel not available on selected date after booking. H

RosieRosebud

Hi there,

I just received an email from the booking company. I booked a hotel in Istanbul around 2 weeks ago and have also booked non-refundable flights. After the money was taken from my account, they emailed to say that the first date isn't available and the hotel has offered to put us up in another hotel for one day, after which we'll be transferred to the original one we booked.

I'm not too happy with this. I wanted a relaxing holiday, we have someone with us who's on a much-needed break before undergoing major surgery back in the UK.

The company is ATOL protected.

What should I do in this situation?

Thank you for any replies

Voyager2002

Check whether what you bought was actually a package, or simply flights and hotels as separate transactions but arranged by the same company.

You could simply look at other hotels in the area and see if anything that you like is available for the whole of your holiday. If such a place were to cost a little more than the amount you have paid then your travel agent ought to cover the difference.

zaax

If airport to hotel transport was arranged its called a package.

Voyager2002

zaax wrote: »

If airport to hotel transport was arranged its called a package.

If only things were that simple!

If you book a package then you have certain legal rights and a degree of protection. However, some companies simply make separate bookings for flights, for hotels and for other services and the customer is not protected in the same way. The distinction lies in the detail of the contract.

Alan_Bowen

It certainly doesn't sound as though it is a package, have a look at the ATOL Certificate, I suspect it is a Flight Plus arrangement where the agent denies liability for everything when things go wrong. You should have a separate contract with the hotel booking agency, assuming you are only going for 3 or 4 nights you really do not want to be moving after one night, ask for another hotel of a similar standard for the whole stay.

mgdavid

you can either worry and stress about it, try to get a better hotel, claim for compo, cancel the whole thing and sue for the money, etc etc
Or be flexible and just go with what they've offered, is one night such a big deal?