Travelodge

rayeverittno1

Hi all, heres the problem. I booked online, a smoking room for 2 nights for 21/22 Dec using the saver option only to be told two weeks later by email that this hotel had gone over to completely non smoking. I eventually found the number to ring for bookings, but was repeatedly told by an operator & then a supervisor that, it is a saver room & therefore cannot be refunded & that a non smoking room is a suitable alternative ! They also told me that the only way to complain is by email or in writing to customer services. I have emailed, it stated that I would get a response within 10 days.... well this is day 9 & I am still waiting for responses from 18 months ago so I do not hold out too much hope.
My questions are this..
1 Does anyone know of a number that I can ring directly for customer services ?
2 £ 58 is a relatively small sum of money but is there any body that I can go to to try & reclaim this money ?
3 Yes I am a smoker so I know that the sympathy level will be low but... is a non smoking room really a suitable alternative ? It could easily be a room that has shower only as an alternative to a bath etc etc
I look forward to you comments/help please?
Regards
Ray

davetrousers

Well you don't smoke while you are asleep, just pop outside or be sneaky and hang out of the window like you're a naughty teenager.

Travelodge Saver rooms are fantastic value for money, just take it on the chin, it's not like you spend many waking hours in a Travelodge room.

pulliptears

Just ask for a room near to reception and nip out for one. we went to a travelodge the other week, my OH doesnt smoke so it wouldnt have been fair for him to be breathing in my smoke all night.

When we got there I asked for a room near to the doors and nipped out instead. Easy.

pinkshoes

I've never had a problem with Travelodge and think they offer fantastic value for money.

As an ex smoker, being offered a non-smoking room if I'd wanted a smoking WOULD be a suitable alternative. I presume you don't smoke in your sleep, so there's nothing stopping you going outside for a cigarette, or going to a local bar in the evening and smoking in there.

£58 is a mere 10 packets of cigarettes, which would probably lasted you a week, so the mere fact that they offered you a non smoking room might have saved you £10 in cigarettes!

davetrousers

pinkshoes wrote: »

there's nothing stopping you going outside for a cigarette, or going to a local bar in the evening and smoking in there.

The law might stop you from smoking in a bar.

rayeverittno1

Oh & forgot to say... please all you anti smokers.. please dont send all your usual stuff it gets very boring & I already am completely aware of all the arguments Its a question of seeing past the smoking bit & helping resolve the problem. Also do you really know what we do in our Travelodge room or for how long ??

nej

God, can't you just do without a fag? Before you start - I'm a smoker and stayed in a Travelodge recently! I always book a non-smoking room in a hotel. As much as I like to have a ciggy, I don't like to sleep in a smoke-filled room.

I'm glad the hotels are going non-smoking. On the aforementioned stay, my inlaws and my little niece were on the same floor as the smoking rooms and their room really smelled of the smoke (theirs wasn't a smoking room, but was sharing a corridor with some). Not pleasant for a 2-yr old girl. And my mother-in-law smokes as well.

RoxieW

dont they have to be non-smoking now, with the law change?? i;d imagine that a room meant for a different person each night, where staff/cleaners have to go would be classed as a public enclosed area and work area?

davetrousers

rayeverittno1 wrote: »

Oh & forgot to say... please all you anti smokers.. please dont send all your usual stuff it gets very boring & I already am completely aware of all the arguments Its a question of seeing past the smoking bit & helping resolve the problem. Also do you really know what we do in our Travelodge room or for how long ??

Easy Tiger, I think there was more helpful advice than there was people having a go at you!

davetrousers

RoxieW wrote: »

dont they have to be non-smoking now, with the law change?? i;d imagine that a room meant for a different person each night, where staff/cleaners have to go would be classed as a public enclosed area and work area?

I thought that but no Hotels do not have to be non-smoking have a look at the direct
website

lisyloo

is a non smoking room really a suitable alternative ?

Speaking legally, I think it's a suitable alternative because it does provide the sleeping and washing facilities that you would expect them to provide.
They are not stopping you from smoking at all.

Of course we don't know what you would expect to do in your hotel but they provided they give you the normal facilities (for that type of budget hotel) then I don't think you've got a (legal) leg to stand on.
Being able to smoke indoor is not a right and they are not stopping you from smoking outside.

I don't like smoking very much but I'm trying to answer honestly from a legal standpoint and I don't think you have the right to smoke indoors on private property.

You could make a complaint that you were not notified (and on customer services grounds I think they should have let you cancel) but it's a complaint on customer services grounds and not a legal issue.