Booking.com rip-off - hotel closed

breaking_free

^ @lincroft1710 don't spoil it! I got a giggle out of this malapropism and want them to keep using it.

Personally I'd prefer to stay in a hotel with no thrills than one that included thrills, but then I'm a bit of a fuddy duddy

Bradden

I passed a hotel in Reading this weekend which reminded me of this thread...

DullGreyGuy

lincroft1710 said:

bris said:

born_again said:

A bit odd that a hotel had no staff there. 

There are no thrills hotels that aren't owner occupied. The do have a number to call if their is any problems. 

Room was pretty good, Ensuite  with a TV, wifi and tea and coffee. 

No thrills but the right price for a one day business trip.

I think you mean "no frills"

Could be either... did one stay in a B&B that attempted to prevent thrills with a no unmarried couple rule, even married couples got two small single beds screwed to the floor so they couldn't be pushed together

saajan_12

AndyMTB said:

eskbanker said:

Not sure that it's fair to accuse booking.com of a "rip-off", given that it would appear to have been some sort of temporary issue at the hotel that seems to have been resolved reasonably quickly once booking.com intervened - the fact that you were no longer willing to go back is hardly booking.com's fault.  Perhaps more valid to share the name of the hotel as a warning instead?

Yes, I appreciate that. I did in fact phone the hotel after reading booking.com's email, as a courtesy to them to say I would not be arriving. The lady had been called out to open up, she  was apologetic and said that the link between themselves and booking.com wasn't always working. I don't know if that's true or not, but I wouldn't like to blacken the hotel if they really had no idea that they had a booking that night.

My gripe is with booking.com who effectively booked me into a closed hotel and then would not refund me. I certainly was not willing to hang around the closed hotel at that time of night on the off-chance that someone would open up - in fact it would have been near enough an hour's wait.

Well the point is you don't know either way
* It could be that booking.com didn't properly tell the hotel about the booking, so the hotel didn't know to be open. 
* It could be that the hotel were informed the hotel, but the hotel had poor record keeping and didn't update their list of expected arrivals or bother to keep enough people at the reception etc and hence shut up shop. 
* It could be that the hotel didn't tell booking.com of their closing times / expected check in times so booking.com couldn't tell you
* It could be that booking.com were informed but didn't advertise the closing times / check in times and what to do if you're arriving later

What doesn't make sense is you're willling to 'blacken' booking.com despite the possibility that its one of the reasons above that's the hotel's responsibility, while you're more cautious with the hotel. Remember the first one to respond was actually booking.com, not the hotel (presume you tried knocking / calling any numbers on their website etc). 

Legally, I think you claim against whoever you ultimately have a contract with - you paid for accommodation and weren't able to access it in a reasonable timeframe, thus made alternative arrangements. Then its up to booking.com and the hotel to sort it out between themselves as they know the contract / communication flow between them.