7 replies to this topic

[Hotel Price Gouge Victim]

I thought it would be good to list the hotels that we have had trouble with, so that we could not stay at them or just let their management know that we know they don't always honor their reservations and we won't be staying there. 

 

Yellow Diamond Hotel Mufreesboro Arkansas

[Hotel Price Gouge Victim]

Come on be Brave we can help each other and who knows maybe we find out a place that one of us would have thought about staying at in the future and we change our plans. I know I'll be travelling cross country soon several times. 

[Ajay1]

Days Inn, Sikeston MO cancelled my room w/o notifying me. I looked at my reservation today and found it has been cancelled. I have opened a case with Wyndham and will talk to their corporate office tomorrow. I doubt anything will come of it but be rest assured I will not do business with any Wyndham facility every again.

[mikepier]

Days Inn, Sikeston MO cancelled my room w/o notifying me. I looked at my reservation today and found it has been cancelled. I have opened a case with Wyndham and will talk to their corporate office tomorrow. I doubt anything will come of it but be rest assured I will not do business with any Wyndham facility every again.

Wow, thats unbelievable.

I booked 3 Wyndham Hotels in upstate NY ( Days Inn & Hawthorne Suites).

 I'll have to keep an eye on my reservations now.

[Alan D. Whitman]

On Feb 6th Ramada Plaza by Wyndham in Niagara Falls, Ontario cancelled the reservation that the Brit that I eclipse-chase with made back in September when rates were cheap. There seems to be a pattern with Wyndham, doesn't there?

 

No problem: my Niagara Falls hotel room has two queen beds and he and his wife will stay in my room. My hotel (which is not part of a chain) is charging me about twice what the rate was for the following week -- not a problem, you expect that when eclipse-chasing. I have spoken to the hotel and my booking is firm. Note that when eclipse-chasing I pay for the room at the time that I book rather than just making a reservation.

 

It might seem unusual for another couple to share a room, but we did it the night after the 2019 totality in Chile, staying in a room that I had paid for in advance just in case we might need it if the traffic back south towards the house that we had rented two hours north of Santiago was not accessible due to traffic.

 

So the upshot for me in Niagara Falls is that although my hotel is at double the normal rate during eclipse week, I will be sharing and thus just paying the average rate. I suppose I could have said that we should split three ways and then I would be ahead, but I won't.

 

They accepted the offer to stay in my room instead of trying to find another one in Niagara Falls because, although we have the hotel for three nights, we will only be viewing totality in Niagara Falls if the weather forecast is good. If not, we will put the pedal to the metal and drive up to 800 miles southwest or northeast along the path, sleeping in the car while the other drives. We might just sleep in the car, or if we don't have to drive too far and hard, we might get another hotel room elsewhere. Yes, I know that rooms inside the path probably won't be available, but a room 150 miles south of the path might be at a reasonable rate.

 

And, if not, have car will travel. I always sleep in my car when traveling with my very expensive sea kayak on the roof -- no way would I park that in a motel parking lot.

[Phillip Creed]

No problem: my Niagara Falls hotel room has two queen beds and he and his wife will stay in my room. My hotel (which is not part of a chain) is charging me about twice what the rate was for the following week -- not a problem, you expect that when eclipse-chasing. I have spoken to the hotel and my booking is firm. Note that when eclipse-chasing I pay for the room at the time that I book rather than just making a reservation.

+1.  I paid for a room in Jonesboro, AR, right then and there rather than just make a reservation.  Though I admittedly chose a place without much of a baseline tourist draw that's also on the edge of the path.  I'd worry more about a place like Niagara Falls.

Clear Skies,

Phil

[MEE]

If a hotel (or other lodging) has cancelled a reservation that you made, please state whether you made the reservation directly with them, or through a third party (website? travel agent?)

[vodakjack]

I personally (knock on wood) have never had that happen to me, but a lot of friends/acquaintances have. Their experience almost always involves a 3rd party travel site like Travelocity or Priceline. For eclipses and other critical travel during high demand periods, I always book directly through the hotel chain and choose the expensive option with the right to cancel for a refund. Mariott and Hilton also offer a free rewards program, so I join it because it gets you through customer service faster. I do this based on advice from a close friend of mine who is a regional manager for a major hotel chain.