As Hurricane Irene bore down on Brooklyn, the posh Hotel Le Bleu in Park Slope raised up its rates from $250 a night to $999. [More]
hotels
Getting The Hotel Bed You Ask For Is Only For The Elite At Hyatt
By 8.23.11
When Rosalie and her husband reserved a room at a Hyatt Place hotel, they thought that by requesting two queen-size beds, they were reserving two queen-size beds. This is not so: they were requesting two queen-size beds, and the couple learned this the hard way. This wasn’t just a case of travel preferences and first world problems: Rosalie suffers from severe back problems, and needs a nice, immobile bed to herself in order to prevent Even More Pain. [More]
Hotel Gives Away My Room, Hotels.com Won't Give Me My Money Back
By 8.22.11
For all the confirmation e-mails and reservation numbers you receive when booking a room through Hotels.com — and most third-party discount reservation sites — there is still a slim chance that you’ll arrive at your destination only to find out your room has been sold off to someone willing to pay more. [More]
Guy Files Class Action Against Hilton For Charging Him 75 Cents For Newspaper He Didn't Ask For
By 8.1.11
A man has decided to turn a minor annoyance, getting a newspaper at your hotel room door and getting charged for it, into a class action lawsuit. [More]
Hyatt Apologizes For Turning Heatlamps On Strikers. Heat Index Was 90 Degrees.
By 7.25.11
The Hyatt hotel chain has issued an apology after heatlamps were turned on above workers who were striking out front of the Park Hyatt Chicago during a day when the heat index was 90 degrees. [More]
Vegas Resort Tells Lodgers They May Have Been Infected By Legionnaires' Disease
By 7.18.11
Not everything that happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Count legionnaires’ disease among them. The Aria Resort and Casino has warned its guests that they may have been infected with the severe form of pneumonia by the hotel’s water supply, which tests revealed contained high levels of the bacteria from June 21 to July 4. [More]
If I Rebook At A Holiday Inn I "Favorited," I Expect The Hotel To Be In The Same Location
By 7.14.11
In the five years I’ve been writing for Consumerist, I’ve read plenty of hotel horror stories and complaints, but this is a new one. Using the “Favorites” option on his HolidayInn.com account, reader Andy booked a stay at a Holiday Inn Express that he had gone to before and enjoyed. When he arrived at the same location, it was now a “Mission Inn.” They told him the Holiday Inn had moved down the road. The new facility was sub-par compared to what it had been previously and he complained to Holiday Inn corporate, they basically said “tough noogies.” Which is how Holiday Inn just lost a life-long customer. [More]
DirecTV Says It's Filling Hotels With Germ-Resistant Remotes
By 6.21.11
Stuff in hotel rooms isn’t known for being particularly sanitary, and remote controls everywhere are known to be disgusting germ repositories, but DirecTV is out to stock hotel rooms with clean, anti-microbial remotes. [More]
Hotel Openly Advertises For Fake TripAdvisor Review Writers
By 6.16.11
It’s no secret that hotels put bogus user reviews of themselves on sites like TripAdvisor, but usually they’re more discreet than this. TripAdvisorWatch found an example of an owner of several hotels in Hanoi posting on freelancer.com under his real name asking “if anyone can teach me the way to write reviews on this forum in which my reviews can not be found as fake and be removed.” [More]
Hotels.com Leaves You Without A Place To Stay In Beijing, Shrugs
By 6.15.11
Dylan traveled to China a few months ago. His consumer complaint doesn’t directly involve any company in that country, though: his issue is with the company that was supposed to provide him with a place to stay in Beijing, Hotels.com. Miscommunication ensued when Hotels.com first had the wrong address for the hotel, then failed to actually reserve a room for Dylan. When he called the company for help, he learned that while they help customers book rooms in foreign countries, they don’t necessarily have anyone on staff who speaks the language of those countries to smooth over issues. [More]
6 Ways To Be A Savvier Traveler And Save
By 5.2.11
Q: I’m taking a vacation, room rates are ridiculous. Any way you can save me some money?
A: This is fun. You can start your own miniature bidding ware by calling up several hotel desk clerks and ask them for “the cheapest non-refundable rate.” Play them against each other. Using this method, you can save upwards of $20 off the online rate, even though they insist that that’s their cheapest available rate.
Hotel Issues Refund, Priceline Keeps All Of The Money
By 4.28.11
Wynn could use the services of a Priceline negotiator. He booked a stay at a Marriott through Priceline, but due to some confusion, the hotel put the price of the entire stay on his credit card. The hotel promised Wynn a refund of the incorrect charge, and didn’t end up charging Priceline for the hotel stay, either. That was incredibly nice of them, but leaves Wynn with a problem: Priceline still charged him, and simply kept all of the money. [More]
Before Taking That Hotel Towel Home, Check For An RFID Chip
By 4.18.11
If one of your favorite parts about staying in a hotel is loading up on all the free towels, you may want to take a pause before stuffing your suitcase next time. A few hotels, which don’t want to be named, have started to use a new washable RFID chip that can be sewn into towels, robes and bedsheets. [More]
The Nastiest Hotel Of All Time
By 3.14.11
When you’re touring with an indie band, you don’t have the cash to stay in the Four Seasons every night. But if you think you’ve stayed in some nasty places, try the one Lecee Abee stayed in, with a pool where they store box mattresses and broken tvs, a room covered in stains and grime, and blood spattered bedsheets. [More]
Casino Offers A St. Patrick's Discount But Won't Let Me Book A Room For St. Patrick's Day
By 3.7.11
Hey everyone! Let’s go to New York, New York Casino in Las Vegas for St. Patrick’s Day since they’re offering a Paddy’s discount! But guess what — you can’t actually book a room for that holiday because they’re busy with a convention. [More]
Resort Owner Shows How He Games TripAdvisor
By 2.25.11
A guy shows TODAY how he posts fake glowing reviews for his own resort and restaurant on TripAdvisor, and trash talks the competition. This doesn’t mean that customer review sites like TripAdvisor aren’t worthwhile, though. Just take his own advice and throw out the best reviews and the worst. The ones in the middle are the most likely to be from real people reflecting their real experience. [More]
MGM Grand No Longer Charging $20/Night To Get A Non-Smoking Room
By 2.17.11
A couple weeks ago, we told you about how the MGM Grand Las Vegas had begun charging $20 per night to guarantee non-smoking rooms to guests. That didn’t go over well with the general public and now the resort tells Consumerist that it’s rescinded the policy. [More]
Would You Pay $20/Night To Guarantee A Non-Smoking Room?
By 2.9.11
You can almost imagine the moment when some executive at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas was walking by the check-in counter and heard an employee ask a guest, “Will that be smoking or non-smoking?” And in that moment, yet another idea for a tack-on fee was born. [More]
