UPDATE: Fairmont Hotel Drama Gets Happy Ending For College Students

Yesterday, we brought you the story of 128 Washington University students whose reservations at the Fairmont Millennium in downtown Chicago had been canceled and relocated 15 miles away to an airport Sheraton. We’re happy to report that the situation appears to have been resolved, without much bloodshed.

After being told by Fairmont that their contract had been canceled because of overbooking and that the nearest available rooms to downtown would be out in O’Hare country (which, if you know Chicago, isn’t exactly a quick jaunt to downtown), the students went about finding their own accommodations.

They ended up splitting the displaced student tourists into two hotels — a Marriott ExecuStay and a Homewood Suites — in the downtown area. Unfortunately the increased price at the Marriott, coupled with their difficulty in getting back the $9,000 from the Sheraton, meant that the organizers were in a financial hole.

However, according to Washington U.’s student paper, Fairmont has agreed to pay the difference in cost.

Said a Fairmont exec in an e-mail to the Senior Student Council:

We are committing to pay for costs related to the contracting of an alternate hotel in the O’Hare area… and the additional room rate increase associated with the downtown rooms at the Marriott.

Senior class to stay downtown [StudLife.com]

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