Issues with package holiday

Holidayer95

Hey everyone,  

I am very new to this, and uncertain if there is anything that I can do other than make a complaint to the company I booked through following issues with a recent holiday that had multiple issues. I'd be grateful for any advice on the issue.

In June 2025, me and my cousin booked a holiday through a well known travel company for 5 nights in New York, with flights and 1 King Bed confirmed to be at the Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan which was a 4-star hotel.

On the 21/02/2025 I received a call from one of their representative informing me that due to the Crown Plaza being closed for renovations the supplier was changing the hotel for which she required me to give confirmation.  The alternative to accepting the suppliers replacement hotel was to try and find a new hotel ourselves and potentially have to pay extra due to the fact this change was happening only 7 weeks before the holiday was due to take place.  The alternate hotel given was the Millennium Hotel Broadway Times Square.

Given the limited time to respond to the change and having already paid a considerable amount of money for this holiday, the alternate booking was accepted after a quick Google search showed this to be a 4-star holiday also meaning this would be a like-for-like replacement. 

Upon arriving at the hotel on the 12/04/2025 after a long flight and transport from JFK, we went to check in at the reception to discover that the hotel only had our reservation made for 3 nights and not the 5 that were paid for. The hotel staff were great and did everything that they could in the moment to follow up on why this had happened. It was confirmed to us by the reservations manager that the supplier used by Hays Travel for this trip had made the reservation using a third party (Expedia).  The supplier had initially made the reservation for 5 nights, before cancelling it and rebooking for 3 nights.  

Needless to say this caused undue stress on what had already been a long day. We had to call the 24 hours helpline, where I spoke a representative who was very helpful in trying to resolve this issue.They promptly made contact with the supplier, who then had to contact the third party that they booked through.  In all, this led to us having to stand in the lobby for over an hour feeling embarrassed and uncertain about what was going to happen with our booking. The representative returned a call informing us that we should go ahead and check in for the 3 nights that we were booked for, while the supplier and third party made contact with the hotel to rectify the issue, which should be resolved by the following morning.

On the next morning (13/04/2025) we reported to reception as advised by the representative to extend our reservation as contact had been made between the relevant parties to rectify the issue. Upon reaching reception and discussing this with the staff, they informed us that no emails had been received to confirm the reservation was to be extended. Embarrassed by this, we proceeded to make contact with the 24 hour line to get more support. The representative again followed up on this issue where we were informed the supplier was still waiting on the third-party to rectify this issue and confirmed that the supplier had accepted full responsibility for the error. This caused shock, as there was nobody else to accept responsibility for this error and certainly not ourselves the customer, they confirmed that the issue would be resolved before we were due to check out. They informed us that they was due to be out of office the next day, but she would leave information with a colleague who would follow up on the issues.  Again, this left us with considerable undue stress and further uncertainty.

The following day (14/04/2025), we received a text and follow up phone call from the colleague.  They again apologised for the inconvenience and again reported the supplier had taken responsibility for the error. They were able to confirm that this time the third-party had made contact with the hotel and the reservation had been successfully extended as a new booking. We would have to report to reception the next morning (15/04/2025) to check out as we were due, and be checked into a new room as the hotel was unable to confirm if we would be able to remain in the same room.

Thankfully, the hotel kindly were able to let us remain in the same room the next morning stating that it was the least they could do following the inconvenience that we had been through.

While this in itself is enough to warrant a complaint, the issues don't stop there.

Upon arriving and checking into the hotel, we discovered that it lacked the basic amenities that were expected of a four-star hotel and indeed as a like-for-like replacement given the previous issues.

Our initial reservation at the Crown Plaza Hotel Times Square, the hotel has facilities such as a gym, swimming pool, restaurant and bar located within the hotel, as well as basic amenities such as a coffee machine.  The Millennium Broadway Times Square lacked all of these facilities and amenities.  Well these may seem like a minor inconvenience, it cannot be understated how underwhelming the experience was when you are expecting these as basic in a like-for-like replacement.  The hotel room was also very date with wallpaper peeling from the walls, the smoke alarm half hanging off, and a rusted bathtub/shower combo.

Overall, the stress and uncertainty relating to our reservation and the change in hotel to what ultimately was not up to par with the initial booking led to a very underwhelming experience, impacting our ability to fully enjoy our experience in what was a holiday to celebrate a 30th and 40th birthday.  

If anyone could advise on what course of action I could take, I't be very grateful.

silvercar

First step is always to complain to the company you had the contract with, to offer them the opportunity to put things right. Decide what you want by way of compensation, then you can decide if what they offer is acceptable.

I'd be looking up the prices of both hotels on some random future date to see if there is a big price difference.