Hotel overbooked what are my rights?

Hotel overbooked what are my rights?

Hotel overbooking is a popular practice used in most hotels. Therefore, it may happen that you booked a room and you will not be accommodated when arriving at a hotel. Maybe you already experienced such a situation. You do not have to worry, there are hotel overbooking solutions that protect guests. What hotel should do and what are your rights when the hotel is overbooked, but you have a reservation done?

Hotel overbooked what are my rights with a guaranteed reservation?

In case you booked a room and your reservation was guaranteed with a credit/debit card, or paid in advance, one of the hotel overbooking solutions is to find alternative accommodation for you. Therefore, when the hotel knows that it will not be able to check you in, they need to provide you with a place in another hotel with a similar standard. Basically, the hotel just switches your reservation to another hotel. You can be informed about that before your arrival by e-mail/phone call, or when coming to check in.

The price of your accommodation stays the same. You do not have to pay extra, even if the hotel you have been switched to has higher room prices. As well your reservation conditions stay the same, for example, if you booked a room with breakfast, you will get breakfast in the new hotel.

What about transport to another hotel? When you have been informed at the front desk, that your booking was switched to another hotel, you should have provided transport. You have a right to ask the hotel to order you a taxi and pay for it. Probably the hotel will do it in advance anyway, to not make you worry about that.

What in case hotel overbooking solutions do not meet the conditions mentioned before?

  • If you have been switched to a hotel with a clearly lower range, you can ask for a return of the price difference. Reduction from 5 to 4 stars hotel is fine, as there is no such difference in service standard. However, changing a hotel e.g. from 5 to 3 stars may be a significant issue;
  • If a new hotel cannot provide you with a service you paid extra during making your reservation, you can demand a return of its costs. For example, if you paid for breakfast, but the new hotel does not serve it, you should get breakfast costs in return;
  • If the hotel overbooked rooms, and is not able to provide you with another accommodation place, you should get all your money back.

Hotel overbooked what are my rights with a non-guaranteed reservation?

There are no hotel overbooking solutions for guests who did not guarantee their stay with a credit/debit card or pre-payment. Most of the hotels cancel reservations that are not guaranteed with any payment method, as this is according to their reservation policy.

However, if you arrive at a hotel where you made a non-guaranteed reservation, and there
is no room for you, you can ask the hotel for a favor. It can help you to find another hotel or order transport. In this case, you cover the transport expenses and pay a room price according to prices in a new hotel, as you make a new reservation there.

These are mostly used hotel overbooking solutions which should be applied for guests who have a reservation but cannot be accommodated. Your biggest right is to get accommodation anyway, even in another place. Full money return you can get when there are no available hotels nearby (all are fully booked). As well you can ask for a full money return if you want to find another hotel by yourself, and not use a solution suggested by the hotel you were supposed to stay at. However, in this case, the hotel may not be willing to agree to that.

 

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