Warning about booking hotels from UK and paying in EU

UnsureAboutthis

bagand96 said:

UnsureAboutthis said:

You are all missing the point. I'm new to booking in euros and paying at the hotel. The mail had been plastered three times and twice in bold the pounds/sterling price and "hotel rate" was used. The euro price was in lighter writing and once only.

My point is which has been missed (there was no option to pay in the UK as stated in my OP) the email confirmation should make it CLEAR that the price is SUBJECT to pound/vs euro exchange rates. If they had done that, there would be no thread by me. As importantly, the "hotel rate" -  why not direct me to the 1 euro 20cent "hotel rate" they used ie point me to evidence that about three weeks ago you could get anything close to 120 cents for a pound.

It's a Spanish hotel operating it's business in Spain, there's no requirement on it to offer an "option to pay in the UK".  The website likely offers the GBP price (or any other foreign currency) dynamically based on live exchange rates sourced from somewhere.  Three weeks ago the Mastercard GBP/EUR rate was €1.19, so it's perfectly reasonable to assume the interbank rate would have been around €1.20 if that's what the site bases it's rate on.

If you want to lock in a GBP rate at the time of booking and the hotel doesn't offer pre-pay, then it would have been better to book through an UK based site or agent who would give you a GBP rate.

Out of interest which hotel?

Thanks, the name of the hotel is not important as I have the email confirmation and my concerns are as my posts and as stated by me, others behave in the same way
no, there was no option to pay in the UK
The other sites, like Booking etc, were about 300 quid more expansive and my point is that CLARTY was missing and equally as important, the "hotel rate" the email refirs to which equated to 120cents was a made up figure as at no time about three weeks ago you could get anything close to that rate.

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la531983 said:

What has the tourist exchange rate have to do with rates displayed on websites that will use the Visa/Mastercard rate?

As cearly pointed out the rate I was referring to was in the email confirmation, so I'm not sure what your point is.

la531983

UnsureAboutthis said:

la531983 said:

What has the tourist exchange rate have to do with rates displayed on websites that will use the Visa/Mastercard rate?

As cearly pointed out the rate I was referring to was in the email confirmation, so I'm not sure what your point is.

That a week or so ago you easily would have got 1.20 paying on a card. The only people getting the "tourist rate" are mugs who use bureau de changes.

UnsureAboutthis

Before responding, please read my OP - I'm clearly referring to the booking email confirmation. 

la531983

I have.

"The price we got in the email confirmation meant we'd have to get at least 1 EURO and 20 cents.
The tourist exchange rate has never been that high during the last three weeks"

The "tourist exchange rate" is utterly irrelevent.

bagand96

UnsureAboutthis said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Might be able to comment further if you tell us which site you used to make the booking.

The other point is and no one has come close to talking about - please direct me to a 1 euro 20cent tourist exchange rate about three weeks ago. The best rate at the time was just over 1.1465e

UnsureAboutthis said:

The other sites, like Booking etc, were about 300 quid more expansive and my point is that CLARTY was missing and equally as important, the "hotel rate" the email refirs to which equated to 120cents was a made up figure as at no time about three weeks ago you could get anything close to that rate.

 The GBP/EUR exchange rate was significantly better 3 weeks ago than it is today.  Taken from Discover our Mastercard Currency Converter Calculator



€1 = £0.8386 which is equal to £1 = €1.1924.  This is the rate someone using a Mastercard on the day would have got. I can't find anywhere referencing historic tourist cash rates at forex providers, but if the Mastercard rate was €1.1924 then the interbank rate would likely have been around €1.20 which ties in the with the hotel's suggested rate.  Note it is not the hotel's responsibility to quote you for where you might change your currency.

UnsureAboutthis said:

Thanks, the name of the hotel is not important as I have the email confirmation and my concerns are as my posts and as stated by me, others behave in the same way

At the time of booking you'd have accepted the booking Terms which will have stated the price paid will be in EUR and that the GBP rate was indicative.  The EUR rate should have been shown on the website.  I only ask the name of the hotel as I'm curious to have a look myself to see if I'd find it misleading.