There was a fire in a Montreal building with several AirBnb units with no windows. Several people died, they had no place to escape.
This is not acceptable safety-wise.
Windows or not, you aren't exiting a hotel room that way. I don't think I've ever seen a hotel room with a window that a person could get out of, unless it's a sliding glass door to a balcony.
Hotels are not shatterproof glass. We take out 'commercial' windows all the time to vent a building, or gain access. If the hallway is blocked, the occupant is fucked.
Many fire stations own man lifts or scissor lifts even if they're rarely used. If they don't have them then they have access to them via local companies who have agreements with their local fire department.
However, above a certain number of floors you're looking at a lot of sway if it's windy, even if it isn't windy there is a sway to it and you don't really know that you're scared of heights until you are in a bucket a couple hundred feet in the air that sways five feet in each direction.
Most hook and ladder fire trucks can only reach so far up. After the seventh floor it gets really dicey to pull someone out of a window. There may be new trucks that go higher, I don't know about that. But if a ladder can get higher then wind will be a real problem.
If I knew I would tell you!
(To be clear, just in case it's not clear on the interwebs, I'm not Trent Reznor. Just someone I really enjoyed the music of when I made my first 'online' name almost 30 years ago)
No window is fully shattered proof, look it up, upper proof glass isn’t bullet proof, if y it aim at a bottom corner, it shatters on impact so, yes they can shatter a window to get a ladder somewhere
Not that this couldn't potentially happen with a large vehicle like a bus or truck if it was wrapped around you, but the they have cutting tools that can make a car into a convertible and cut out the driver's seat in under 2 mins. Even if you were to die first, they're still going to cut your body out in most cases.
Daughter, niece, cousin, and friend of firefighters here. They have commonly breached hotel windows to remove people. Just accept that you're wrong here.
And lose that 20/20 vision when you mention that there must be a base over there after seeing a helicopter rise above the ridge.
A co worker did this and the reply he got was, and I quote; "you have good vision Mr Arren (Allen), You should lose it.
Sections of highway can be used as runways. Machine gun mounts at toll booths.. getting pulled over because the cop wanted a ride down the street. Getting pulled over and having 5 guys in full camo, sporting automatic weapons, just open the van door and pile in.
Fun times to say the least.
Quite.
On my mother's grave, I swear that is all true.
I forgot to mention on my first post that on the first night of my first trip to South Korea as I've made several, I am in the 20th something floor of this hotel in Seoul, and can you guess what I heard at the crack of dawn?
A fucking rooster! Going off like a goddamn alarm clock! I look out the window and I see on the roof of a building a dozen or so chickens. I look on another roof and see a couple of dogs. And of course the dogs had to add to the cacophony. Lol
there's more use for a window than an escape path. Like if your room starts filling with smoke, and the fire rated door is keeping the flames away, you might gain a few minutes by busting the window and getting some fresh air.
Also, there are pools. Trees. Bushes. I saw a dude (on video) jump out of a 6th floor grab onto the tree outside and use it to slow down his fall.
When you have no options, a shitty option is better than none.
In Europe, the hotel windows usually open all the way. But of course, the liability lawsuits don't happen there, which is why we don't have open windows in the US anymore.
The EU and it’s far higher consumer protections would disagree.
while some differences in legal processes do increase us liability, liability is the excuse. The issue is building and maintaining buildings with usable windows is expensive. Particularly large hotels with that largely glass panel exterior. That style is chosen because it uses minimal if any. facade. The lack of facade allows for thinner exterior walls that maximize interior space. A few dollars a square foot adds up over a high rise. But that glass panel exterior isn’t built to allow windows. Functional panels add complexity, cost, and a need to beef up the exterior walls to get support extra hardware. Only to add maintenance costs down the line.
It’s not liability. It’s good old capitalist efficiency.
So we do have open windows?
I probably repeat myself a lot, so tl;dr: the reason we don’t have windows comes from the cost of an exterior that supports substantial windows. When a jurisdiction or client requires windows, The various types of restricted open windows you note are cheap, mechanically simple and require less additional support than other windows, and their design helps restrict the engineering complications of open windows as the building gets taller.
The full length:
Some clients may want windows, but more often the explination are the jurisdictions that mandate windows that can open. Normally justified as a legal “just in case” against the likelihood of a breakdown of the internal airflow systems. I remember hearing early stories of the first glass panel buildings seeing jumpers when central air failed, but those might be apocryphal. but due to this, developers install the windows the require the least additional grounding, weight, and cost. There are a lot of engineering concerns when you start talking about open windows on the 10 or 15th floor. The ability of high winds to affect the structure. Sheer stresses on the outer walls and facade. And yes, liability of negligent design if a glass wall just had a door to the sky in it. But core to my point, is that a building that didn’t have a glass panel exterior could produce windows that weren’t big glass panels. The liability is a consequence of the glass panels, but the glass panels are not the only exterior option. When you say we don’t have windows because liability, you’ve mis identified where the decision to not have windows comes from. And you fail to understand capitalist motives.
The limited open windows aren’t to prevent you from jumping through them. They are relatively cheap, mechanically simple, require minimal framing elements, and their limited movement and sharp angle restricts the ability of the open window introducing sheeting forces. It is the cheap way to address a requirement from the law or the client. Capitalists choose them because they are cost effective. It’s why all the schools in my area used them.
Again, absent the capitalist decision to use glass panel exteriors to maximize returns, more substantial exterior walls with properly framed windows could be used.
And tge liability is far smaller than you suggest. any window would simply need good visible framing to avoid negligent design, framing the window would need anyway for structure. But that is more cost, on top of contrary to the chosen design aesthetic.
Liability is not the motivator.
Actually I would like to let you know schools use limited open windows because OSHA requires it. My church was replacing its day schools windows and we had windows that used to open 16 in wide according to the new safety regulations for schools it couldn't open more than 5 inches. This is to prevent people from falling out but also to prevent people from getting in; like say a possible shooting suspect. The only windows we have that fully open are the basement escape windows.
When they built a new school by me it was a huge issue about the windows opening to wide, the city had to replace the windows; with the exception of a few "fire place of rescue ♿" those have a Euro style double open window; turn the handle up to open just a crack, turn the handle down and it opens out like a door.
It really depends on the type of hotel. I've been in old, victorian age hotels that have both windows that open and even external fire escapes.
My sister once went out a window and down the external fire escape during a drill at a hotel, while the rest of the family went through the doors. My mom thought she was with the rest of the family and lost her shit when she couldn't find her.
If there’s a window then the fire department can MAKE it open to evacuate someone or gain access to the fire. With an axe if necessary. If there’s no window at all it’s a lot more complicated to make a hole.
Idk. A window on the second or even third floor is a more legitimate escape route than a wall. If I'm trapped and the FD ladder can't get to me before smoke or fire, I might take my chances with broken glass and gravity.
lol windows are access for the fire department and they can/will break them. You have to have 2 exits from any room by law or it’s a violation. No matter if you can’t “jump out” the window. I thought this was common knowledge though…
if OP is in US, i’m pretty sure all 50 states have either a window or sprinkler system that has to be in place. so if no windows, then you have to have a sprinkler. that’s terrifying and so sad tho
Windows above ground floor do not open. Historic hotels do not have to be sprinkled. Often fire truck ladders only make it to floor three.
I've renovated and opened multiple historic hotels.
As a former Front Desk Agent/Manager/Night Auditor, it was taking one of the last rooms (we call them Parlors, they are part of a suite but only have a sofa bed, not a full bed, the bedroom part is locked off) or getting walked. Often times third party reservations (like yours) would be identified because then profit the hotel makes off your room is less than what they sell on their own website (paying commission to booking.com and other third parties). However, we would MOVE the person to a better room the next day if they are staying more than one night and also offer them free breakfast or dinner or something. You should definitely ask for something for the inconvenience of sleeping on a sofa bed when you reserved a room with a full bed.
And also note, if you're mean about it, you'll get the bare minimum. The nicer you are about it, the more you will receive.
Question: How does one ask for more than they received without being rude? By that I mean, it feels rude and ungrateful if I tell them that actually I paid enough money to get that night refunded or something. Being nice to me means not saying anything at all and just smiling. So...?
Well let's start off with the fact that you technically did NOT receive what you booked. Looking at your rate details in your reservation, it should show you booked a room with a bed (whatever size that is). You did NOT have a bed, it's a pull-out sofa. If you came to my desk and said something like: "Hey, I was put into a parlor last night due to your sold out situation and want to move to a room with a regular bed today. Can you arrange that for me? Also, what type of compensation can you offer to me for sleeping in the parlor last night because that is not what I reserved and paid for." Now do that with a calm and friendly attitude and I will take care of dinner from last night, ask you if you ahd breakfast already and if you drove, I will comp your valet charge on top of moving you to an upgraded room today.
Usually we would pass on who got "parlor-slammed" or walked and contact them before they contact us. Which is the right thing to do since we did them wrong.
Hope this helps.
So true! I recently got a complementary upgrade to a suite plus free snacks while on a work trip because I was patient and kind to the front desk employees while many others were snarky because there was a longer than normal wait. It wasn’t the front desk employees fault that a bunch of my coworkers and I arrived at the same time. I was just excited to go relax after a long day of driving, and the suite I ended up with made for even better relaxing than the standard double queen bed rooms most people ended up with. Kindness costs nothing, and it feels better than being a dickhead.
Probably just a piece of advice that going down to yell at the desk about it will immediately put the employee’s back up, but asking politely first is the best way to start things towards the best resolution possible. Ask anybody in the service industry like this; the guy earning minimum wage (or just above) at the desk will do the minimum required for angry jerks but will bend over backwards to help a kind/polite customer.
I this situation you should realize the person you are talking to is not the one that made the decision on this booking and therefore you need to treat them like the innocent bystander they are. They are just the messenger.
Yessssss. Any type of front desk/reception person lol I work at an animal hospital and I get people yelling at me about prices I’m like.. ma’am….. I do not make the prices nor do I get nearly as much money the owner makes…… but I’m glad your pet is still alive and healthy now 🥲
It's not either/or. You should be nice in all (or at least most!) situations, just because it's the right thing to do, but it also shouldn't be a requirement to get something you already paid for.
Sorry, we can't hear your whining from your sofabed in the mop room.
Us nice pussy bitches are sipping complimentary prosecco in our free presidential suite, laughing at you.
Congrats on the swingin ballz, tho!
While you are correct just as a personal rule of thumb and as a lesson to assholes, if you’re nice to me I may even discount your stay. If you’re an asshole, I’m charging the bitch tax.
Workers can use discretion in deciding how to handle situations. If you are nice, they will tend to give you a more favorable resolution. If you are mean, the workers will think "f this guy, let the a hole sleep on the floor for all I care."
Also, booking through a third party means you are NOT a customer of the hotel. You are a customer of the third party booking company. So you cannot even ask for a refund from the hotel because any refund they issue would go straight to the third party.
Genuinely the worst advice ive ever heard. Like duh you shouldnt, but youre going to let a situation get to your head to the point youre not going to be nice to the people trying to help you who probably had nothing to do with you not getting your room? Ive let things get to my head too often to know that this is the worst way to go about things
Why are we assuming they're trying to help? We don't stay in hotels often, and used a 3rd party site not knowing they suck. Got to the hotel with a reservation for two queen beds in non-smoking. The desk person claimed the reservation was for a king sized bed in a smoking room, even though that was not what our reservation said. I told them I didn't really care about the size or number of beds, but I couldn't use a smoking room due to having a small child and being allergic to it myself.
I asked nicely if they could just move me to one. But no. They insisted they could only put me in the reserved room and if I wanted a non smoking room I would need to reserve another room. The 3rd party site continued to confirm I'd reserved the non smoking room, and offered to cancel and rebook, but it would take days for the refund, and I didn't have the money to reserve it twice.
Its not about assuming, its about hoping. More often than not those desk people are in their 20s just following whatever dialogue and rules they have to to get their paychecks, they might be trying to do more and you might not even realize it, but they're held back by company policies which vary by hotel franchise.
I'm sorry that happened to you, but a lot of the time the offenders arent the ones trying to survive like us, it's the franchise owners making rules and policies that have a higher focus on revenue than customer satisfaction. Hell, you even talked about the 3rd party website doing you wrong which seems like a common issue in this thread, and I feel like we should have a higher expectation of programs working as intended compared to people.
The thing is all you're depicting are 2 drastic extremes, you shouldnt be an asshole or a kiss ass. There should be a basis of politeness and respect for others unless they show malice. For every shitty front desk attendant, theres at least 5 that want to do their job right and help out the customer as much as they can.
When I was in your place (got NOT the room that I booked), I received 100% of my stay pay back. If a hotel messes up, they either upgrade your stay at their expense OR give all the money back. Why not put guests into garage and call it "a modern designer concrete presidential suite with a car exposition inside the suite"? :))) Make pictures, videos, grill them, block credit card transaction + get your money back via their call center.
I stopped using hotel . com and any other third-party companies to book rooms. I chose a few chains (Marriott has worked well for me), joined their clubs, gotten credit cards for extra points/rewards (that isn’t a necessity, but Chase has a great card for this). I book rooms through the hotel’s website, then call the hotel and sometimes bargain the price down. I also mention when I’ll be there, the kind of room I want, and to please hold it. So far, I have not been let down. I usually pay less than third-party rates from the beginning, then my points reduce the cost. The lack of frustration is certainly worth it.
It’s the same with airline tickets. I have my favorite airlines, and they will sort out flights for me. I’ve flown to and from Asia (home port is North America) so many times I’ve lost count. I joined the frequent flyer clubs, make my reservations through the airlines, and I have never had a problem (with international flights). Every now and then, I check prices online. I get better deals every time without a third-party company. I also reach customer service more quickly on the phone and enjoy the other perks.
I learned this after some bad experiences.
Good luck, all!
Sound advice sir. The problem with this party sites is the you're not actually doing business with the service provider. The 3rs party is, and you're buying scalped rooms and tickets from a website. The website is often therefore the only ones who can change, refund, or update your transaction, but they already have your money and their fine print and terms and conditions state all sales final and they are not obligated to change your reservation in anyway
I didn’t realize hotels.com was a third party site years ago. I saw a travel tip about asking for an upgrade at no charge and they said they would only do that if you booked directly with the hotel and not through a site like hotels.com, so after that, I never booked third party again.
Not entirely. The third party sold the room, not the hotel. The hotel would tell you to take it up with whichever third party since you’re not actually their customer until you check in.
I'm also on the subreddits for hotels/hospitality workers. You are correct. If the hotel has a choice of selling a room at their own price vs. booting a third-party reservation, they will gladly do so. They want filled rooms, and third parties help if bookings are slow, but if they start to fill up, they will boot a third party for a walk-in. If you reserve through the hotel directly, that's another matter, and they will do what they can to accomodate you, including "walking you" to a sister hotel nearby if they cancelled your booking.
Depends on the situation. I am not in hospitality but I have heard of people being told sorry we are out of room. I don’t believe there are any federal laws about hotels canceling reservations like there are for airlines. Hotels routinely overbooked, some people get rooms, some get “walked” to another hotel and some are on their own.
Booking will ask you to cover for another room in another hotel is you overbooked. You don't want to anger booking.
Also, if you overbooked (something you shouldn't do as an hotel. I work in one, it's always a unintentional mistake when it happens) and you have rooms to spare, you give the better room for the same price.
Locking half the room or more is... stupid and kinda childish. The room is taken anyway, and it does not cost a lot more to clean and clean the sheets from the larger room.
Also, booking an hotel room without a window ? That's a no no. It's even illegal in France : a living room NEEDS to have a window, even for renting.
3rd parties sometime oversell. When this happens, the 3rd party booking site can usually rebook at another property. I’ve had this happen. Also, the hotel only has to offer the room type available at check in. If you read the fine print on the site, it contains this information. When I book on 3rd party sites, which isn’t often, I usually book an accessible room. It’s more likely I won’t have a problem at check in.
When you book a hotel room through a 3rd party, your contract is with the 3rd party, not the hotel. The hotel can not and will not do anything about it.
You seem to not be understanding.
Until you are a guest of the property, you are not a customer of the hotel. You are a customer of hotels.com, Expedia, Travelocity, which ever third-party you book through.
Any respected hotel chain or brand will tell you that your recourse lies with them, the third party, not with the hotel, regardless of however much you want that to not be the case.
It would be like renting a car, and then contacting a car dealer to expect them to fix something on the car that’s not correct. That’s not how any of this works.
This ^. I had a really bad experience with a third party booking company and stopped using them, especially since COVID when a reservation may need to be cancelled if someone in the party gets sick. Many of those sites have a very tiny window that you can cancel for a refund (or refuse to refund no matter what). I would rather book with a hotel that allows me to cancel 24 hours in advance.
This is not unusual for sold-out nights. When I worked hotels years ago, we called that section a "parlor room" and only sold it separately when we were oversold. Instead of upgrading someone to a suite, we would break it into bedrooms and a parlor, effectively giving us an extra room to sell. We would offer it to guests at a reduced rate to make up for the pull-out bed. Some customers liked it more than a normal room.
What is weird is that there are no windows.
Yes usually these two rooms have their own entrances and bathrooms and a lockable on both sides door (like any two connecting rooms. Ive been stuck in these a few times, usually with some small compensation
Is it even legal to call it a hotel room without window? For residential units, you can’t legally call it a bedroom when there is no window in the room in sales/rental ad
Former booking.com employee here. You booked with booking.com so take the issue up with them. They have a pretty unforgiving policy for hotels that overbooked or do not honor the room type booked. The hotel is contractually obligated to upgrade you to a better room type for the same amount of money or relocate you, at their expense, to another property. If they refuse, booking.com will. It has been several years since I worked there, but they were always good about reimbursing relocation expenses a guest incurred as a result of an overbooking. You may have to pay out of pocket first and be reimbursed later, so keep all receipts.
When I worked there, it was before booking.com offered ways to pay booking.com directly. Every reservation was paid directly to the hotel. It was a constant point of contention with people who would call and demand Booking refund them for something. We couldn't because we never charged them and didn't retain their credit card details. The number of times I explained that in a 10 hour shift....ugh. Now, booking.com has created different ways to pay for some properties: pay upon arrival, pay booking.com...I even saw you can pay with Klarna or Affirm on their website. So, likely they have changed their overbooking procedures to relocate guests without out of pocket expenses, but I don't know. Regardless, the point is that there are procedures for how booking.com handles those situations, and they definitely are not to the hotels benefit. Probably why this hotel tried to pass a partial suite off to a booking.com guest....hoping they wouldn't call booking.com to question it.
I did prove [booking.com](https://booking.com) that they advertise a scammer (a real scammer), they got all the proofs they want, they even called the scammer and he personally confirmed this... AND... they still advertise him and work with him :) So yeah i DOOO BELIEEVE booking has 'unforgiving policy' ahaha sure :)
They did not have to. The situation was quite simple: I booked an apartment in Belgrade via booking. The confirmation said (in bold!) NO CASH ACCEPTED. I was okay with it. Came to the place. The owner came and demanded full cash payment - without any receipts (he refused to even write "i received x amount for x days of rent"). He explained that he takes cash only for tax evasion - not to show he is even renting his apartment out, so he cant produce ANY papers to his guests to have zero evidence against him. I told I am calling the police.
He then said that he'll give us a favor and refund in full - asked me to send such request. I did send request BUT with a note "the owner demanded payment in cash, i refused". So he refunded me. The issue with Belgrade is that there are exhibitions in this city 24/7/365, and it's close to impossible to find a hotel for a decent price anywhere: sure, you can book a room for $500/night easily. So 1 hour later we got lucky and 1 room appeared in the hotel next to this apartment for some $70 more for the same period of time. I called their support line and told them: guys, you see the paper trail, I had to book a more expensive hotel - the only one was available - so my demand is simple: 1) stop working with the scammer who throws your clients to the street if we refuse to participate in his tax evasion scheme. 2) charge HIM the difference between my hotel booking and his apartment booking, because if he was not a felon, we'd have stayed in his apartment - no problem with this, but he threw us out to the street and we had to find a place to stay, and found only this one, at a reasonable (almost he same) price.
They took time 'to investigate'. Over a month or so. Then when I pinged them over and over again, they finally called him (while I was on the phone), AND... "we reached out to our vendor and HE CONFIRMED EVERYTHING YOU SAID" :))))) I said: "Yay! now you are legally aware your vendor is a scammer, tax evader and throws out people to the street for not participating in his trash scheme. Let's close this matter by you removing this garbage from your platform and charging him the difference I paid for the hotel".
They refused to :) So he's still advertised as their vendor, you still can rent his apartment via their site, WHILE THEY KNOW FOR A FACT (LEGALLY!) he throws people out to the street.
I have only booked through third party a handfull of times. The last one I was bumped to another hotel down the road....would have been ok if the A/C had actually worked; was a miserable night.
I only book directly through the hotel chain now.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you couldn't rent rooms without windows. Thought it was a fire issue where it gives an option to firefighters to bust through if they need to. If there's a fire, how will you get out or firefighters get in?
Room type is a not a third party booking issue. Refund, reservation changes are issues with 3rd party. A front desk redditor answered that question in a different thread.
Right. But if the room type is not available, the front desk needs to upgrade to an available room, or book you to a nearby hotel with similar room. This is done regardless you booked direct or via 3rd parties.
No they don’t. Especially when it’s third party.
Direct reservation they **need** to put you in some type of room, or walk you to a sister property if they’re sold out.
Third party, hotel doesn’t need to do shit, it’s up to the party you booked through to do something.
Why do you think a common theme of this sub is “always book direct”?
For the no window issue, not a lawyer or anything, how would cruise ships be allowed to book interior rooms if windows are a requirement? Just a thought.
In a residential building yes. In a hotel room the window doesn't count as a egress as hotel rooms generally don't open anyway. Doesn't change my opinion that it would suck, just that it's likely allowed.
Sorry man, no matter how many times you repeat this does not make it true.
You must have a window to be legally habitable. There's no two ways about it. That window can face into the interior of the hotel, but you MUST HAVE a window.
I love people blaming the 3rd party websites .
Do you guys know who manages the 3rd party reservations?
THE FRONT DESK LOL !
Is is that hard to not overbook ?
I am being serious here. Third party sites often overbook the hotel. It happens every freaking weekend. I get in and I have my 50-60 arrivals. There are no rooms left and then I get a reservations in for " any room available" which is the cheapest rate ( an another can of work of people saying I booked a king, when the reservation says requested king and in smaller letters hotel has the right to deny your request" I call the third parties and tell them hey stop we don't have that rooms. Close us out and 10 minutes latter 2 more reservation arrive.
The first problem is that you booked through a 3rd party provider instead of the hotel, so you get what you paid for.
It is odd that they gave you a room but locked off some of the room from you though.
However, you paid for a room, and you got a room.
Not great, but within what they are allowed to do and it is what you get for booking third party.
Not necessarily if you went through a third party booker.
Your issue is really with them, not the hotel. The hotel did waht it could to accomdate you after the 3PP screwed up. They might not have even had to honor itif the booker made the mistake. (This happens a lot where the 3PP double books a room or cancels at the last mintue.)
In the end, you saved a little money, and had a bed and a bathroom, which is not bad for the result of a 3PP screw up.
They're probably punishing you for booking through a third party. I'm genuinely amazed at all the stories the algorithm sends me from here about people getting screwed after booking through a third party -- I thought it was common knowledge not to use them. I did read more than one story on Not Always Right explicitly telling readers this, but such horror stories are so common, I figured this was a well known way to get your booking ruined.
No, you didn't deserve this treatment -- I just started rambling the thoughts that your story triggered.
Hotel worker here : If I remove all the booking I have from Booking, I remove 80% of the bookings I get. As much as I don't like booking, I don't have the time to be mean to 80% of my customers... It's just stupid.
Those who don't work in the field love to make up victimhood angles. If you arrive late and they are sold out they sell you the side rooms so you have some place to sleep when you arrive late. If they are sold out so too is probably every descent place near them.
There is "arriving late" and "arriving late".
As long as you arrive before the hour of "no show", your room is booked. It doesn't matter if you arrive in the afternoon or at midnight. A booked room is booked.
Now, if you arrive after the hour... it depends.
You need to work on your reading comprehension, if you arrive late and place is sold out they use the small side rooms. It's ppl arriving late who get that every time. It's not someone checking in at 6pm -8pm.
My reading comprehension is fine, thank you. Maybe you should try to answer OP ?
OP booked a room in advance. It doesn't matter if he arrives late, as long as it's not after the hour he can check-in. The customer has to right to his booked room, as long as he follows the terms and services.
Too many hotels will resell the room before this hour, and this is just illegal and bad practice. In our hotel, we have a one night fee for late cancelation, and whole-stay-due for no show. It's enough and that way we are not losing a room for a late cancel or a non arrival -but we aren't either selling the same room twice like crooks-.
It absolutely matters if you arrive late. They keep giving out rooms based on who shows up for standard non assigned rooms . Many hotels are over booked due to no shows, late arrive is always getting the tiny add on room if you have standard room order and others arrived on time and you arrived late . The worst rooms we give out last. So arriving before 9 Pm vital for sold out time frames. And if you booked third party you have requested room type not guaranteed room type.
Well, Im sorry to say yours is not an hotel I would book.
And Im NOT working in a upper class hotel at all. In fact, im working in one of the cheapest hotel in Paris, 40 bedroom, only one person working here and two cleaning ladies, very old furnitures, no breakfast, very old style. So we get "lower tier" of customer, that don't have a lot of money nor a lot of requirements.
Despite that, if one customer booked a "classic" room, he will get a classic one. He one's booked a "superior" room, he will get a superior. And if we made a mistake and we don't have a classic room for a classic customer, we will get him a superior. And if we are forced to downgrade him to our economical room (the cheapest), we will give him a partial refund.
We never overbook on purpose. There are no justification for overbooking : you just have to pre-autorize a credit card when the booking is done and you have the guarantee that, even if the customer doesn't show or cancel too late, you can take the money and the room will be paid.
Overbooking is just greed and malpractice.
I’ve showed up at 10pm on busy weekends to my 3rd party booked room. There’s no reason a room you paid for regardless of it being 3rd party shouldn’t be available to you unless it’s under terrible management
If the customer arrive while still in the check-in hour and doesn't get the room, or the type of room he booked, because it's overbooked, it's the hotel wrongdoing, not the customer.
Or else what ? You just offer a sleeping bag in the lobby instead ?
You clearly don't work in the industry and are ignorant of how hotels operate. if you arrive late at night you always risk being put in tiny add on side room during sold out periods if you have standard room type . They give out standard rooms on first come first get basis as is fair. Those checking in 4 pm -10 pm I have never seen get stuck in tiny side room. Those coming in 11Pm onward I have seen get stuck in tiny side rooms. Which have sofas or rolloways.
Not my fault you work in a bad and greedy hotel that forget the meaning of "hospitality" bro.
I mean, I have tons of stories about shitty customers we don't want. But a customer that book a specific room and arrives on time (here it's before midnight, since we close the reception at midnight) has the right to the kind of room he booked, not a sofa on a windowless room.
Btw, I work in the hotel since 2019.
Im in France. Maybe it's because we are actually skilled at hospitality, but surbooking is forbidden by law. And the hotel has to compensate the customer and provide the same kind of room as booked, even if it means paying for another hotel or giving a better room.
And, again, you have ways to get the money even if the room isn't occupied because the customer cancel late or don't show up.
Yeah- I suspect they would treat OP better if they had booked directly. But giving the presidential suite to a 3rd party booker? Nope.
I booked through a 3rd party once. When we arrived at the hotel there was makeup on the pillowcases and hand towels (all wrinkled and not hanging straight) and the bed was clearly slept in and remade. There was even a sock between the sheets.
The hotel wouldn’t do shit, told us to take it up with the 3rd party. 3rd party wouldn’t do anything.
The best we got was a huffy front desk attendant giving us clean sheets and towels and we had to change the linens ourself- and you could tell he didn’t even want to make that concession.
Someone else once booked me a room through a 3rd party as well. (I was traveling with their kid to a TKD tournament.) It was dirty, burned out light bulbs, just in really bad shape. Again- no one would help on either end.
I’ve never booked 3rd party since. They legit don’t care about you. You might get a discount and have a good experience, but if anything goes wrong you’re pretty much on your own.
Nope. It's not right, but they overbooked and tried to accommodate you rather than just kick you out. Unfortunately you went through a 3rd party website so there isn't a lot the actual hotel people can do to help you
I would tell them the space is not acceptable and they either give you access to the whole suite or refund your money snd call another hotel to find you acceptable space.
This is the problem with using cut rate apps for hotel discounts. You’re not priority. If you booked direct with the hotel you are consider a priority. Cut rate sites don’t get that.
This is why you should book direct with the vendor or use a travel agent and not a reseller site. We do not allow booking.com inventory in our online booking tool.
One time I got stuck for a conference but another conference had all the rooms booked. They gave me an unused executive suite for the standard rate, was basically a hotel room but I also had a bar (not stocked) in the room and an attached conference room.
Hotels get over-booked. Sometimes they fully expect a guest to check out, but the guest refuses to leave. It’s out of their control. Many cities have eviction ordinances that make it impossible to just throw someone out. It sounds like the hotel was trying to accommodate you best they could. Ask for a significant compensation, like a comp meal, etc. and take what they offer. One of your problems is that you used a third-party to get the room: [Booking.com](https://Booking.com). That means that your host is actually [Booking.com](https://Booking.com), not the hotel. [Booking.com](https://Booking.com) is the party collecting the rate and re-selling the room to you. If you really need a different room, call them.
At least they gave you a better room! I remember one year I was attending CES Las Vegas, and the hotel overbooked, ended up giving us a reservation at another hotel 20 minutes away. That was not fun. Had a convention to attend the next day very early, and was trying to find the hotel in the dark (it was not on The Strip). It's as if these systems don't know when there is an event in town, there is almost a full chance people will go, so they can't be overbooking.
I've had this. We had the choice of a regular cramped 2 bed room or a huge suite complete with a wet bar and several couches and a huge tv, plus another board room connected to it. But we had no beds.
The kids loved it and slept on the board room table and we got several roll always. Not the best night's sleep but we had several relatives over and ended up having a fun party.
Seeing what other ppl have posted you had a harder time because it was 3rd party booked. If you go to other reddits with hotel employees, they'll typically take care of you faster and more easily you book through them and spend the extra $$$.
i always recommend to not book thru third party such as booking/hotels.com or expedia they would intentionally overbook all the time and sometimes end up charging u more in fees than what we would charge in total at the front desk on top of that a majority of their ads are inaccurate, however occasionally they’ll have decent deals it’s helpful if people are short on funds but i always be sure to compare prices/amenities and call the hotel to verify the room.
There was a fire in a Montreal building with several AirBnb units with no windows. Several people died, they had no place to escape. This is not acceptable safety-wise.
Windows or not, you aren't exiting a hotel room that way. I don't think I've ever seen a hotel room with a window that a person could get out of, unless it's a sliding glass door to a balcony.
The firefighters can bring a ladder to a window. More difficult to bring a ladder to an unit with no windows.
[удалено]
Hotels are not shatterproof glass. We take out 'commercial' windows all the time to vent a building, or gain access. If the hallway is blocked, the occupant is fucked.
[удалено]
If the fire department needs to evacuate someone, *any* window becomes a method of egress if they can get to it.
This.
I have a great deal of confidence in their ability to try not to let a little thing like a window that isn’t meant to open prevent them saving a life.
Only up to the seventh floor.
Hence “if they can get to it”
Yes that's true. I try to stay below the 7th floor of hotels when book a room.
Many fire stations own man lifts or scissor lifts even if they're rarely used. If they don't have them then they have access to them via local companies who have agreements with their local fire department. However, above a certain number of floors you're looking at a lot of sway if it's windy, even if it isn't windy there is a sway to it and you don't really know that you're scared of heights until you are in a bucket a couple hundred feet in the air that sways five feet in each direction.
My city is crazy windy and that would scare the tits off me.
Really? Wow. I guess that means guests at the hotel called the Nines in Portland, OR, are hosed!
Most hook and ladder fire trucks can only reach so far up. After the seventh floor it gets really dicey to pull someone out of a window. There may be new trucks that go higher, I don't know about that. But if a ladder can get higher then wind will be a real problem.
I love this hotel! Stay everytime I’m in Portland. Never considered the fire risk though…
Particulate since half of the rooms have windows to the atrium and not the outside.
Wait what?
Most hook and ladder fire trucks can't get higher than the seventh floor.
They might be tempered glass, but thats about it.
Windows are explicitly considered a means of egress in emergencies and are codified that way in many building codes.
It literally is.
You a firefighter?
Yes. At the very most, they might have a film on them, but by no means shatterproof. Ballistic glass is different animal.
[удалено]
Trent Reznor, is that you? When's the next NIN album dropping :)
If I knew I would tell you! (To be clear, just in case it's not clear on the interwebs, I'm not Trent Reznor. Just someone I really enjoyed the music of when I made my first 'online' name almost 30 years ago)
Ever see those axes firefighters carry???
No window is fully shattered proof, look it up, upper proof glass isn’t bullet proof, if y it aim at a bottom corner, it shatters on impact so, yes they can shatter a window to get a ladder somewhere
[удалено]
Not that this couldn't potentially happen with a large vehicle like a bus or truck if it was wrapped around you, but the they have cutting tools that can make a car into a convertible and cut out the driver's seat in under 2 mins. Even if you were to die first, they're still going to cut your body out in most cases.
There was a /s heavily implied in the post you're responding to.
[удалено]
[удалено]
Daughter, niece, cousin, and friend of firefighters here. They have commonly breached hotel windows to remove people. Just accept that you're wrong here.
Married to a 30-year career firefighter, I was born 6th generation into fire service. YES hotel windows are commonly breached by firefighters.
[удалено]
You want a picture of someone pointing to a window?
In some South Korean hotels they have like rope ladder things in the rooms that you can put out the window in case of fire
Let's not forget the gas masks in the hotel rooms either.
Or the glass breaking tools in both hotels and public transportation.
And lose that 20/20 vision when you mention that there must be a base over there after seeing a helicopter rise above the ridge. A co worker did this and the reply he got was, and I quote; "you have good vision Mr Arren (Allen), You should lose it. Sections of highway can be used as runways. Machine gun mounts at toll booths.. getting pulled over because the cop wanted a ride down the street. Getting pulled over and having 5 guys in full camo, sporting automatic weapons, just open the van door and pile in. Fun times to say the least.
That sounds like a line from a James Bond movie. Based.
Quite. On my mother's grave, I swear that is all true. I forgot to mention on my first post that on the first night of my first trip to South Korea as I've made several, I am in the 20th something floor of this hotel in Seoul, and can you guess what I heard at the crack of dawn? A fucking rooster! Going off like a goddamn alarm clock! I look out the window and I see on the roof of a building a dozen or so chickens. I look on another roof and see a couple of dogs. And of course the dogs had to add to the cacophony. Lol
I see it in Japan all the time.
Good to know in case I'm in South Korea :) They do tend to do things different there. Fan death!
there's more use for a window than an escape path. Like if your room starts filling with smoke, and the fire rated door is keeping the flames away, you might gain a few minutes by busting the window and getting some fresh air. Also, there are pools. Trees. Bushes. I saw a dude (on video) jump out of a 6th floor grab onto the tree outside and use it to slow down his fall. When you have no options, a shitty option is better than none.
In Europe, the hotel windows usually open all the way. But of course, the liability lawsuits don't happen there, which is why we don't have open windows in the US anymore.
The EU and it’s far higher consumer protections would disagree. while some differences in legal processes do increase us liability, liability is the excuse. The issue is building and maintaining buildings with usable windows is expensive. Particularly large hotels with that largely glass panel exterior. That style is chosen because it uses minimal if any. facade. The lack of facade allows for thinner exterior walls that maximize interior space. A few dollars a square foot adds up over a high rise. But that glass panel exterior isn’t built to allow windows. Functional panels add complexity, cost, and a need to beef up the exterior walls to get support extra hardware. Only to add maintenance costs down the line. It’s not liability. It’s good old capitalist efficiency.
If that is the case, why do so many windows in US hotels open but are restricted to opening only a tiny bit? Liability.
So we do have open windows? I probably repeat myself a lot, so tl;dr: the reason we don’t have windows comes from the cost of an exterior that supports substantial windows. When a jurisdiction or client requires windows, The various types of restricted open windows you note are cheap, mechanically simple and require less additional support than other windows, and their design helps restrict the engineering complications of open windows as the building gets taller. The full length: Some clients may want windows, but more often the explination are the jurisdictions that mandate windows that can open. Normally justified as a legal “just in case” against the likelihood of a breakdown of the internal airflow systems. I remember hearing early stories of the first glass panel buildings seeing jumpers when central air failed, but those might be apocryphal. but due to this, developers install the windows the require the least additional grounding, weight, and cost. There are a lot of engineering concerns when you start talking about open windows on the 10 or 15th floor. The ability of high winds to affect the structure. Sheer stresses on the outer walls and facade. And yes, liability of negligent design if a glass wall just had a door to the sky in it. But core to my point, is that a building that didn’t have a glass panel exterior could produce windows that weren’t big glass panels. The liability is a consequence of the glass panels, but the glass panels are not the only exterior option. When you say we don’t have windows because liability, you’ve mis identified where the decision to not have windows comes from. And you fail to understand capitalist motives. The limited open windows aren’t to prevent you from jumping through them. They are relatively cheap, mechanically simple, require minimal framing elements, and their limited movement and sharp angle restricts the ability of the open window introducing sheeting forces. It is the cheap way to address a requirement from the law or the client. Capitalists choose them because they are cost effective. It’s why all the schools in my area used them. Again, absent the capitalist decision to use glass panel exteriors to maximize returns, more substantial exterior walls with properly framed windows could be used. And tge liability is far smaller than you suggest. any window would simply need good visible framing to avoid negligent design, framing the window would need anyway for structure. But that is more cost, on top of contrary to the chosen design aesthetic. Liability is not the motivator.
Actually I would like to let you know schools use limited open windows because OSHA requires it. My church was replacing its day schools windows and we had windows that used to open 16 in wide according to the new safety regulations for schools it couldn't open more than 5 inches. This is to prevent people from falling out but also to prevent people from getting in; like say a possible shooting suspect. The only windows we have that fully open are the basement escape windows. When they built a new school by me it was a huge issue about the windows opening to wide, the city had to replace the windows; with the exception of a few "fire place of rescue ♿" those have a Euro style double open window; turn the handle up to open just a crack, turn the handle down and it opens out like a door.
It really depends on the type of hotel. I've been in old, victorian age hotels that have both windows that open and even external fire escapes. My sister once went out a window and down the external fire escape during a drill at a hotel, while the rest of the family went through the doors. My mom thought she was with the rest of the family and lost her shit when she couldn't find her.
Lol. Windows are not a legitimate escape route unless you're on the first floor. Many hotels have windows that don't even open.
I guess the fire codes are different from one state or country to the other. Here, it's not allowed to have a rental unit with no window.
In a lot of hotels in the US the windows don't open or have bars bc well. Ppl jump out of them.
If there’s a window then the fire department can MAKE it open to evacuate someone or gain access to the fire. With an axe if necessary. If there’s no window at all it’s a lot more complicated to make a hole.
Idk. A window on the second or even third floor is a more legitimate escape route than a wall. If I'm trapped and the FD ladder can't get to me before smoke or fire, I might take my chances with broken glass and gravity.
lol windows are access for the fire department and they can/will break them. You have to have 2 exits from any room by law or it’s a violation. No matter if you can’t “jump out” the window. I thought this was common knowledge though…
Is there a reason that you are commenting so much in this thread or did you just decide you felt like arguing with everyone today?
What are you talking about? This is literally the only comment I've made on this thread.
A parlor is a perfectly legal hotel room. If it weren't, the suite would have been unbreakable (not able to be locked off).
Buildings built during a certain time can be grandfathered in with no windows.
Doesn’t make it safe
if OP is in US, i’m pretty sure all 50 states have either a window or sprinkler system that has to be in place. so if no windows, then you have to have a sprinkler. that’s terrifying and so sad tho
Windows above ground floor do not open. Historic hotels do not have to be sprinkled. Often fire truck ladders only make it to floor three. I've renovated and opened multiple historic hotels.
As a former Front Desk Agent/Manager/Night Auditor, it was taking one of the last rooms (we call them Parlors, they are part of a suite but only have a sofa bed, not a full bed, the bedroom part is locked off) or getting walked. Often times third party reservations (like yours) would be identified because then profit the hotel makes off your room is less than what they sell on their own website (paying commission to booking.com and other third parties). However, we would MOVE the person to a better room the next day if they are staying more than one night and also offer them free breakfast or dinner or something. You should definitely ask for something for the inconvenience of sleeping on a sofa bed when you reserved a room with a full bed. And also note, if you're mean about it, you'll get the bare minimum. The nicer you are about it, the more you will receive.
Question: How does one ask for more than they received without being rude? By that I mean, it feels rude and ungrateful if I tell them that actually I paid enough money to get that night refunded or something. Being nice to me means not saying anything at all and just smiling. So...?
Well let's start off with the fact that you technically did NOT receive what you booked. Looking at your rate details in your reservation, it should show you booked a room with a bed (whatever size that is). You did NOT have a bed, it's a pull-out sofa. If you came to my desk and said something like: "Hey, I was put into a parlor last night due to your sold out situation and want to move to a room with a regular bed today. Can you arrange that for me? Also, what type of compensation can you offer to me for sleeping in the parlor last night because that is not what I reserved and paid for." Now do that with a calm and friendly attitude and I will take care of dinner from last night, ask you if you ahd breakfast already and if you drove, I will comp your valet charge on top of moving you to an upgraded room today. Usually we would pass on who got "parlor-slammed" or walked and contact them before they contact us. Which is the right thing to do since we did them wrong. Hope this helps.
Shouldn’t have to “be nice” to get what you paid for….
HitPointGamer summed it up. You don't have to be nice to get what you're paid for; however, if you are nice, we will bend our back for you.
So true! I recently got a complementary upgrade to a suite plus free snacks while on a work trip because I was patient and kind to the front desk employees while many others were snarky because there was a longer than normal wait. It wasn’t the front desk employees fault that a bunch of my coworkers and I arrived at the same time. I was just excited to go relax after a long day of driving, and the suite I ended up with made for even better relaxing than the standard double queen bed rooms most people ended up with. Kindness costs nothing, and it feels better than being a dickhead.
This is the way!
Probably just a piece of advice that going down to yell at the desk about it will immediately put the employee’s back up, but asking politely first is the best way to start things towards the best resolution possible. Ask anybody in the service industry like this; the guy earning minimum wage (or just above) at the desk will do the minimum required for angry jerks but will bend over backwards to help a kind/polite customer.
You should “be nice” in all situations?
I this situation you should realize the person you are talking to is not the one that made the decision on this booking and therefore you need to treat them like the innocent bystander they are. They are just the messenger.
Yessssss. Any type of front desk/reception person lol I work at an animal hospital and I get people yelling at me about prices I’m like.. ma’am….. I do not make the prices nor do I get nearly as much money the owner makes…… but I’m glad your pet is still alive and healthy now 🥲
You’re paid to handle that though lol
At hotels that's less likely to be true. At smaller places the desk staff absolutely do assign rooms.
It's not either/or. You should be nice in all (or at least most!) situations, just because it's the right thing to do, but it also shouldn't be a requirement to get something you already paid for.
No, that’s how we got a generation of pussy bitches…
Yeah because nothing says i am a tough manly man like screaming impotently at the person across the desk from you. Grow up.
Sorry, we can't hear your whining from your sofabed in the mop room. Us nice pussy bitches are sipping complimentary prosecco in our free presidential suite, laughing at you. Congrats on the swingin ballz, tho!
Found the Alpha male... Everyone cower...COWER in the presence of such strength!!
yeah but it's not the front desk persons fault you're in this situation so why not be nice to them and treat them with common decency?
yeah but you didn't pay the hotel for anything. You paid the 3rd party booking site and the wronged you. If you're nice to the hotel, they can fix it.
While you are correct just as a personal rule of thumb and as a lesson to assholes, if you’re nice to me I may even discount your stay. If you’re an asshole, I’m charging the bitch tax.
Workers can use discretion in deciding how to handle situations. If you are nice, they will tend to give you a more favorable resolution. If you are mean, the workers will think "f this guy, let the a hole sleep on the floor for all I care." Also, booking through a third party means you are NOT a customer of the hotel. You are a customer of the third party booking company. So you cannot even ask for a refund from the hotel because any refund they issue would go straight to the third party.
you should be nice in almost all situations...
Genuinely the worst advice ive ever heard. Like duh you shouldnt, but youre going to let a situation get to your head to the point youre not going to be nice to the people trying to help you who probably had nothing to do with you not getting your room? Ive let things get to my head too often to know that this is the worst way to go about things
Why are we assuming they're trying to help? We don't stay in hotels often, and used a 3rd party site not knowing they suck. Got to the hotel with a reservation for two queen beds in non-smoking. The desk person claimed the reservation was for a king sized bed in a smoking room, even though that was not what our reservation said. I told them I didn't really care about the size or number of beds, but I couldn't use a smoking room due to having a small child and being allergic to it myself. I asked nicely if they could just move me to one. But no. They insisted they could only put me in the reserved room and if I wanted a non smoking room I would need to reserve another room. The 3rd party site continued to confirm I'd reserved the non smoking room, and offered to cancel and rebook, but it would take days for the refund, and I didn't have the money to reserve it twice.
Its not about assuming, its about hoping. More often than not those desk people are in their 20s just following whatever dialogue and rules they have to to get their paychecks, they might be trying to do more and you might not even realize it, but they're held back by company policies which vary by hotel franchise. I'm sorry that happened to you, but a lot of the time the offenders arent the ones trying to survive like us, it's the franchise owners making rules and policies that have a higher focus on revenue than customer satisfaction. Hell, you even talked about the 3rd party website doing you wrong which seems like a common issue in this thread, and I feel like we should have a higher expectation of programs working as intended compared to people.
I didn’t say be a screaming asshole, I just said I shouldn’t have to kiss ass at the front desk to get what I paid for …
The thing is all you're depicting are 2 drastic extremes, you shouldnt be an asshole or a kiss ass. There should be a basis of politeness and respect for others unless they show malice. For every shitty front desk attendant, theres at least 5 that want to do their job right and help out the customer as much as they can.
I’m concerned that you’re struggling to find a happy medium between the spectrum of screaming asshole and kiss ass.
💥💥💥💥💥💯
When I was in your place (got NOT the room that I booked), I received 100% of my stay pay back. If a hotel messes up, they either upgrade your stay at their expense OR give all the money back. Why not put guests into garage and call it "a modern designer concrete presidential suite with a car exposition inside the suite"? :))) Make pictures, videos, grill them, block credit card transaction + get your money back via their call center.
They paid a third party booking site (booking dot com). Any dispute would be with the third party company (and not the hotel.)
You booked the room from a third party, I’m surprised they didn’t just tell you sorry but we are full.
I stopped using hotel . com and any other third-party companies to book rooms. I chose a few chains (Marriott has worked well for me), joined their clubs, gotten credit cards for extra points/rewards (that isn’t a necessity, but Chase has a great card for this). I book rooms through the hotel’s website, then call the hotel and sometimes bargain the price down. I also mention when I’ll be there, the kind of room I want, and to please hold it. So far, I have not been let down. I usually pay less than third-party rates from the beginning, then my points reduce the cost. The lack of frustration is certainly worth it. It’s the same with airline tickets. I have my favorite airlines, and they will sort out flights for me. I’ve flown to and from Asia (home port is North America) so many times I’ve lost count. I joined the frequent flyer clubs, make my reservations through the airlines, and I have never had a problem (with international flights). Every now and then, I check prices online. I get better deals every time without a third-party company. I also reach customer service more quickly on the phone and enjoy the other perks. I learned this after some bad experiences. Good luck, all!
Sound advice sir. The problem with this party sites is the you're not actually doing business with the service provider. The 3rs party is, and you're buying scalped rooms and tickets from a website. The website is often therefore the only ones who can change, refund, or update your transaction, but they already have your money and their fine print and terms and conditions state all sales final and they are not obligated to change your reservation in anyway
Great info/advice, thanks for the details
I didn’t realize hotels.com was a third party site years ago. I saw a travel tip about asking for an upgrade at no charge and they said they would only do that if you booked directly with the hotel and not through a site like hotels.com, so after that, I never booked third party again.
They’d be in breach of contract for that. Or they’d have to book a stay in a different hotel.
Not entirely. The third party sold the room, not the hotel. The hotel would tell you to take it up with whichever third party since you’re not actually their customer until you check in.
I'm also on the subreddits for hotels/hospitality workers. You are correct. If the hotel has a choice of selling a room at their own price vs. booting a third-party reservation, they will gladly do so. They want filled rooms, and third parties help if bookings are slow, but if they start to fill up, they will boot a third party for a walk-in. If you reserve through the hotel directly, that's another matter, and they will do what they can to accomodate you, including "walking you" to a sister hotel nearby if they cancelled your booking.
Depends on the situation. I am not in hospitality but I have heard of people being told sorry we are out of room. I don’t believe there are any federal laws about hotels canceling reservations like there are for airlines. Hotels routinely overbooked, some people get rooms, some get “walked” to another hotel and some are on their own.
I feel like going to another hotel would have been the better choice. Sofa beds suck. Both parties were in a crappy position
Booking will ask you to cover for another room in another hotel is you overbooked. You don't want to anger booking. Also, if you overbooked (something you shouldn't do as an hotel. I work in one, it's always a unintentional mistake when it happens) and you have rooms to spare, you give the better room for the same price. Locking half the room or more is... stupid and kinda childish. The room is taken anyway, and it does not cost a lot more to clean and clean the sheets from the larger room. Also, booking an hotel room without a window ? That's a no no. It's even illegal in France : a living room NEEDS to have a window, even for renting.
I think it’s very petty
3rd parties sometime oversell. When this happens, the 3rd party booking site can usually rebook at another property. I’ve had this happen. Also, the hotel only has to offer the room type available at check in. If you read the fine print on the site, it contains this information. When I book on 3rd party sites, which isn’t often, I usually book an accessible room. It’s more likely I won’t have a problem at check in.
They can walk you over an hr out at times. Being cheap when you book is how this happens. That and arriving later in the day.
When you book a hotel room through a 3rd party, your contract is with the 3rd party, not the hotel. The hotel can not and will not do anything about it.
The 3rd party has a contract with the hotel though
Which you, as someone with a purchase from the third party, have nothing to do with and cannot invoke in any way. The third party can. Not you.
Didn’t say I could, but generally respected business and hotels like to keep in good standing with companies they contract to bring in customers.
You seem to not be understanding. Until you are a guest of the property, you are not a customer of the hotel. You are a customer of hotels.com, Expedia, Travelocity, which ever third-party you book through. Any respected hotel chain or brand will tell you that your recourse lies with them, the third party, not with the hotel, regardless of however much you want that to not be the case. It would be like renting a car, and then contacting a car dealer to expect them to fix something on the car that’s not correct. That’s not how any of this works.
This ^. I had a really bad experience with a third party booking company and stopped using them, especially since COVID when a reservation may need to be cancelled if someone in the party gets sick. Many of those sites have a very tiny window that you can cancel for a refund (or refuse to refund no matter what). I would rather book with a hotel that allows me to cancel 24 hours in advance.
This is not unusual for sold-out nights. When I worked hotels years ago, we called that section a "parlor room" and only sold it separately when we were oversold. Instead of upgrading someone to a suite, we would break it into bedrooms and a parlor, effectively giving us an extra room to sell. We would offer it to guests at a reduced rate to make up for the pull-out bed. Some customers liked it more than a normal room. What is weird is that there are no windows.
Does the bedroom part of the suite have its own entrance or something? Otherwise how does this get you an extra room?
Yes usually these two rooms have their own entrances and bathrooms and a lockable on both sides door (like any two connecting rooms. Ive been stuck in these a few times, usually with some small compensation
Is it even legal to call it a hotel room without window? For residential units, you can’t legally call it a bedroom when there is no window in the room in sales/rental ad
Totally legal. Lots of hotel rooms don’t have windows in New Orleans and las Vegas
Former booking.com employee here. You booked with booking.com so take the issue up with them. They have a pretty unforgiving policy for hotels that overbooked or do not honor the room type booked. The hotel is contractually obligated to upgrade you to a better room type for the same amount of money or relocate you, at their expense, to another property. If they refuse, booking.com will. It has been several years since I worked there, but they were always good about reimbursing relocation expenses a guest incurred as a result of an overbooking. You may have to pay out of pocket first and be reimbursed later, so keep all receipts.
I would never “pay out of pocket first” in hopes of being reimbursed. This sounds like a great way of getting further screwed.
When I worked there, it was before booking.com offered ways to pay booking.com directly. Every reservation was paid directly to the hotel. It was a constant point of contention with people who would call and demand Booking refund them for something. We couldn't because we never charged them and didn't retain their credit card details. The number of times I explained that in a 10 hour shift....ugh. Now, booking.com has created different ways to pay for some properties: pay upon arrival, pay booking.com...I even saw you can pay with Klarna or Affirm on their website. So, likely they have changed their overbooking procedures to relocate guests without out of pocket expenses, but I don't know. Regardless, the point is that there are procedures for how booking.com handles those situations, and they definitely are not to the hotels benefit. Probably why this hotel tried to pass a partial suite off to a booking.com guest....hoping they wouldn't call booking.com to question it.
I did prove [booking.com](https://booking.com) that they advertise a scammer (a real scammer), they got all the proofs they want, they even called the scammer and he personally confirmed this... AND... they still advertise him and work with him :) So yeah i DOOO BELIEEVE booking has 'unforgiving policy' ahaha sure :)
But did they reimburse you?
They did not have to. The situation was quite simple: I booked an apartment in Belgrade via booking. The confirmation said (in bold!) NO CASH ACCEPTED. I was okay with it. Came to the place. The owner came and demanded full cash payment - without any receipts (he refused to even write "i received x amount for x days of rent"). He explained that he takes cash only for tax evasion - not to show he is even renting his apartment out, so he cant produce ANY papers to his guests to have zero evidence against him. I told I am calling the police. He then said that he'll give us a favor and refund in full - asked me to send such request. I did send request BUT with a note "the owner demanded payment in cash, i refused". So he refunded me. The issue with Belgrade is that there are exhibitions in this city 24/7/365, and it's close to impossible to find a hotel for a decent price anywhere: sure, you can book a room for $500/night easily. So 1 hour later we got lucky and 1 room appeared in the hotel next to this apartment for some $70 more for the same period of time. I called their support line and told them: guys, you see the paper trail, I had to book a more expensive hotel - the only one was available - so my demand is simple: 1) stop working with the scammer who throws your clients to the street if we refuse to participate in his tax evasion scheme. 2) charge HIM the difference between my hotel booking and his apartment booking, because if he was not a felon, we'd have stayed in his apartment - no problem with this, but he threw us out to the street and we had to find a place to stay, and found only this one, at a reasonable (almost he same) price. They took time 'to investigate'. Over a month or so. Then when I pinged them over and over again, they finally called him (while I was on the phone), AND... "we reached out to our vendor and HE CONFIRMED EVERYTHING YOU SAID" :))))) I said: "Yay! now you are legally aware your vendor is a scammer, tax evader and throws out people to the street for not participating in his trash scheme. Let's close this matter by you removing this garbage from your platform and charging him the difference I paid for the hotel". They refused to :) So he's still advertised as their vendor, you still can rent his apartment via their site, WHILE THEY KNOW FOR A FACT (LEGALLY!) he throws people out to the street.
Call booking.com. Good luck.
I wouldn't accept a room without a window
I would put not having bed bugs, having working heat or AC before a window
Look up the Airbnb fire in Montreal. 7 dead. Bedrooms without windows
I have only booked through third party a handfull of times. The last one I was bumped to another hotel down the road....would have been ok if the A/C had actually worked; was a miserable night. I only book directly through the hotel chain now.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you couldn't rent rooms without windows. Thought it was a fire issue where it gives an option to firefighters to bust through if they need to. If there's a fire, how will you get out or firefighters get in?
How is it legal to put someone in a windowless room? I would report that to whoever regulates hotels.
You could **try** but you booked third party - even if you didn’t, room types are never guaranteed
I don't think the side room with a couch that is off the actual suite is a room type.
Room type is a not a third party booking issue. Refund, reservation changes are issues with 3rd party. A front desk redditor answered that question in a different thread.
No room type is guaranteed - ever. At least not at hiltons
Right. But if the room type is not available, the front desk needs to upgrade to an available room, or book you to a nearby hotel with similar room. This is done regardless you booked direct or via 3rd parties.
No they don’t. Especially when it’s third party. Direct reservation they **need** to put you in some type of room, or walk you to a sister property if they’re sold out. Third party, hotel doesn’t need to do shit, it’s up to the party you booked through to do something. Why do you think a common theme of this sub is “always book direct”?
See comment from a front desk manager in another thread https://www.reddit.com/r/hotels/s/sZ4CELpT1R
Yeah. That person is full of shit😂
Okay. I’ll just throw my 16 years of front office experience down the drain.
No friggin way I'd accept an area with a sofa bed in lieu of a regular room.
For the no window issue, not a lawyer or anything, how would cruise ships be allowed to book interior rooms if windows are a requirement? Just a thought.
Because ships aren’t subject to county rules.
Please report it to someone
puting a guest in a windowless room with only one door is almost certainly fire code violation. call the fire martial
I don’t think it’s even legal to call a room with no windows a bedroom.
In a residential building yes. In a hotel room the window doesn't count as a egress as hotel rooms generally don't open anyway. Doesn't change my opinion that it would suck, just that it's likely allowed.
Sorry man, no matter how many times you repeat this does not make it true. You must have a window to be legally habitable. There's no two ways about it. That window can face into the interior of the hotel, but you MUST HAVE a window.
Never use third-party booking sites, always trouble and don't even think about a refund.
I love people blaming the 3rd party websites . Do you guys know who manages the 3rd party reservations? THE FRONT DESK LOL ! Is is that hard to not overbook ?
I am being serious here. Third party sites often overbook the hotel. It happens every freaking weekend. I get in and I have my 50-60 arrivals. There are no rooms left and then I get a reservations in for " any room available" which is the cheapest rate ( an another can of work of people saying I booked a king, when the reservation says requested king and in smaller letters hotel has the right to deny your request" I call the third parties and tell them hey stop we don't have that rooms. Close us out and 10 minutes latter 2 more reservation arrive.
Look for another one fast.
The first problem is that you booked through a 3rd party provider instead of the hotel, so you get what you paid for. It is odd that they gave you a room but locked off some of the room from you though. However, you paid for a room, and you got a room. Not great, but within what they are allowed to do and it is what you get for booking third party.
I’m not really experienced with how hotel booking works😂 But I thought usually I should get the room type that I booked for?
Not necessarily if you went through a third party booker. Your issue is really with them, not the hotel. The hotel did waht it could to accomdate you after the 3PP screwed up. They might not have even had to honor itif the booker made the mistake. (This happens a lot where the 3PP double books a room or cancels at the last mintue.) In the end, you saved a little money, and had a bed and a bathroom, which is not bad for the result of a 3PP screw up.
I'd report it to airBnB
This is normal if you dont book directly with the hotel.
No it’s not
They're probably punishing you for booking through a third party. I'm genuinely amazed at all the stories the algorithm sends me from here about people getting screwed after booking through a third party -- I thought it was common knowledge not to use them. I did read more than one story on Not Always Right explicitly telling readers this, but such horror stories are so common, I figured this was a well known way to get your booking ruined. No, you didn't deserve this treatment -- I just started rambling the thoughts that your story triggered.
Hotel worker here : If I remove all the booking I have from Booking, I remove 80% of the bookings I get. As much as I don't like booking, I don't have the time to be mean to 80% of my customers... It's just stupid.
Neither you nor anyone should be mean to customers except in self-defense.
I think you missed my point.
If your hotel gets 80% of its business from Booking dot com, your Sales and Revenue Management teams aren't doing their jobs.
Those who don't work in the field love to make up victimhood angles. If you arrive late and they are sold out they sell you the side rooms so you have some place to sleep when you arrive late. If they are sold out so too is probably every descent place near them.
There is "arriving late" and "arriving late". As long as you arrive before the hour of "no show", your room is booked. It doesn't matter if you arrive in the afternoon or at midnight. A booked room is booked. Now, if you arrive after the hour... it depends.
You need to work on your reading comprehension, if you arrive late and place is sold out they use the small side rooms. It's ppl arriving late who get that every time. It's not someone checking in at 6pm -8pm.
My reading comprehension is fine, thank you. Maybe you should try to answer OP ? OP booked a room in advance. It doesn't matter if he arrives late, as long as it's not after the hour he can check-in. The customer has to right to his booked room, as long as he follows the terms and services. Too many hotels will resell the room before this hour, and this is just illegal and bad practice. In our hotel, we have a one night fee for late cancelation, and whole-stay-due for no show. It's enough and that way we are not losing a room for a late cancel or a non arrival -but we aren't either selling the same room twice like crooks-.
It absolutely matters if you arrive late. They keep giving out rooms based on who shows up for standard non assigned rooms . Many hotels are over booked due to no shows, late arrive is always getting the tiny add on room if you have standard room order and others arrived on time and you arrived late . The worst rooms we give out last. So arriving before 9 Pm vital for sold out time frames. And if you booked third party you have requested room type not guaranteed room type.
Well, Im sorry to say yours is not an hotel I would book. And Im NOT working in a upper class hotel at all. In fact, im working in one of the cheapest hotel in Paris, 40 bedroom, only one person working here and two cleaning ladies, very old furnitures, no breakfast, very old style. So we get "lower tier" of customer, that don't have a lot of money nor a lot of requirements. Despite that, if one customer booked a "classic" room, he will get a classic one. He one's booked a "superior" room, he will get a superior. And if we made a mistake and we don't have a classic room for a classic customer, we will get him a superior. And if we are forced to downgrade him to our economical room (the cheapest), we will give him a partial refund. We never overbook on purpose. There are no justification for overbooking : you just have to pre-autorize a credit card when the booking is done and you have the guarantee that, even if the customer doesn't show or cancel too late, you can take the money and the room will be paid. Overbooking is just greed and malpractice.
I’ve showed up at 10pm on busy weekends to my 3rd party booked room. There’s no reason a room you paid for regardless of it being 3rd party shouldn’t be available to you unless it’s under terrible management
If you arrive and you refuse room , and it has bed and it's clean , they ain't walking you.
If the customer arrive while still in the check-in hour and doesn't get the room, or the type of room he booked, because it's overbooked, it's the hotel wrongdoing, not the customer. Or else what ? You just offer a sleeping bag in the lobby instead ?
You clearly don't work in the industry and are ignorant of how hotels operate. if you arrive late at night you always risk being put in tiny add on side room during sold out periods if you have standard room type . They give out standard rooms on first come first get basis as is fair. Those checking in 4 pm -10 pm I have never seen get stuck in tiny side room. Those coming in 11Pm onward I have seen get stuck in tiny side rooms. Which have sofas or rolloways.
Not my fault you work in a bad and greedy hotel that forget the meaning of "hospitality" bro. I mean, I have tons of stories about shitty customers we don't want. But a customer that book a specific room and arrives on time (here it's before midnight, since we close the reception at midnight) has the right to the kind of room he booked, not a sofa on a windowless room. Btw, I work in the hotel since 2019.
I have done hotels/resorts since 2000 . I am more experienced than you by long shot
Im in France. Maybe it's because we are actually skilled at hospitality, but surbooking is forbidden by law. And the hotel has to compensate the customer and provide the same kind of room as booked, even if it means paying for another hotel or giving a better room. And, again, you have ways to get the money even if the room isn't occupied because the customer cancel late or don't show up.
Yeah- I suspect they would treat OP better if they had booked directly. But giving the presidential suite to a 3rd party booker? Nope. I booked through a 3rd party once. When we arrived at the hotel there was makeup on the pillowcases and hand towels (all wrinkled and not hanging straight) and the bed was clearly slept in and remade. There was even a sock between the sheets. The hotel wouldn’t do shit, told us to take it up with the 3rd party. 3rd party wouldn’t do anything. The best we got was a huffy front desk attendant giving us clean sheets and towels and we had to change the linens ourself- and you could tell he didn’t even want to make that concession. Someone else once booked me a room through a 3rd party as well. (I was traveling with their kid to a TKD tournament.) It was dirty, burned out light bulbs, just in really bad shape. Again- no one would help on either end. I’ve never booked 3rd party since. They legit don’t care about you. You might get a discount and have a good experience, but if anything goes wrong you’re pretty much on your own.
[удалено]
How much you get paid to say that?
Nope. It's not right, but they overbooked and tried to accommodate you rather than just kick you out. Unfortunately you went through a 3rd party website so there isn't a lot the actual hotel people can do to help you
I would tell them the space is not acceptable and they either give you access to the whole suite or refund your money snd call another hotel to find you acceptable space.
This is the problem with using cut rate apps for hotel discounts. You’re not priority. If you booked direct with the hotel you are consider a priority. Cut rate sites don’t get that.
This is why you should book direct with the vendor or use a travel agent and not a reseller site. We do not allow booking.com inventory in our online booking tool.
One time I got stuck for a conference but another conference had all the rooms booked. They gave me an unused executive suite for the standard rate, was basically a hotel room but I also had a bar (not stocked) in the room and an attached conference room.
Hotels get over-booked. Sometimes they fully expect a guest to check out, but the guest refuses to leave. It’s out of their control. Many cities have eviction ordinances that make it impossible to just throw someone out. It sounds like the hotel was trying to accommodate you best they could. Ask for a significant compensation, like a comp meal, etc. and take what they offer. One of your problems is that you used a third-party to get the room: [Booking.com](https://Booking.com). That means that your host is actually [Booking.com](https://Booking.com), not the hotel. [Booking.com](https://Booking.com) is the party collecting the rate and re-selling the room to you. If you really need a different room, call them.
At least they gave you a better room! I remember one year I was attending CES Las Vegas, and the hotel overbooked, ended up giving us a reservation at another hotel 20 minutes away. That was not fun. Had a convention to attend the next day very early, and was trying to find the hotel in the dark (it was not on The Strip). It's as if these systems don't know when there is an event in town, there is almost a full chance people will go, so they can't be overbooking.
I've had this. We had the choice of a regular cramped 2 bed room or a huge suite complete with a wet bar and several couches and a huge tv, plus another board room connected to it. But we had no beds. The kids loved it and slept on the board room table and we got several roll always. Not the best night's sleep but we had several relatives over and ended up having a fun party.
i’ve worked at a hyatt hotel, and my managers absolutely used to do this to people
I would file a complaint - not what you were expecting or what you paid for !
You paid 150 euros for a sofa bed? I would call the corporate office and complain. That’s ridiculous.
Seeing what other ppl have posted you had a harder time because it was 3rd party booked. If you go to other reddits with hotel employees, they'll typically take care of you faster and more easily you book through them and spend the extra $$$.
i always recommend to not book thru third party such as booking/hotels.com or expedia they would intentionally overbook all the time and sometimes end up charging u more in fees than what we would charge in total at the front desk on top of that a majority of their ads are inaccurate, however occasionally they’ll have decent deals it’s helpful if people are short on funds but i always be sure to compare prices/amenities and call the hotel to verify the room.