Best Western knows that hotel customers hate trumped up fees for minor perks, which is why they kindly offer this complimentary bottle of Poland Spring for only $3.
hotels
Four Reasons Not To Book Your Hotel Room Through A Third-Party Site
By 1.31.09
You won’t get the best deal booking your hotel room through third-party sites like Expedia or Travelocity, according to an anonymous hospitality industry insider. Inside, four excellent reasons to book directly with a hotel to guarantee the best rooms at the best prices.
Orbitz: Act Fast, This Promotion Expired Four Days Ago!
By 1.25.09
Orbitz sent out an “email exclusive” advertising 20% off select hotel rooms, which might have been a decent deal if hadn’t expired four days before the email was sent.
Hotels Eliminating Hand Lotion, Coffee, Providing Fewer Towels
By 1.22.09
If you’re a frequent business traveler your life is probably getting less and less plush as the economic disaster continues. Hotels say that they are cutting small amenities such as hand lotion, coffee, extra towels and buffet breakfasts in order to save money.
Hampton Inn Bans Customer For Parking In Their Garage
By 1.11.09
Hampton Inn general manager Jennifer Stahler banned reader Jack from staying at her Inn again because he dared to park his car in the Inn’s garage. Jack wasn’t sure he could park there in the first place, even though there weren’t any signs warning “private” or “employees only,” so after parking, he checked in with Jennifer who told him he was fine and even wrote him a parking slip. The next morning she changed her mind and demanded $38 in valet charges. When Jack reminded her that she never mentioned any fees and had given him a parking slip, she agreed to remove the charges but then explained that he was “no longer welcome to stay.”
Save Money Shopping Online By Deleting Your Cookies
By 1.8.09
Familiarity breeds contempt, and nowhere is that made more explicit than when shopping online. By deleting your cookies and returning to internet stores you’ve previously bought at, you may find yourself getting discounts usually reserved to lure in first time buyers.
Super 8 In Pasadena Is Super Run Down
By 1.6.09
You know you’re not in for a life-changing experience when you get a room at a Super 8 motel, but you at least expect that for $190 a night, there will be hot water and blankets big enough to cover both you and your girlfriend. And no plywood in the bathroom. And four legs holding up the bed. But not at the Super 8 in Pasadena, CA, according to Matt, who was just there for the Rose Bowl.
By 11.18.08
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Over on Elliott.org, a woman describes how her $29 Days Inn room ballooned to a $180 charge when the hotel’s owner refused to honor the deal, and what she did to get the difference refunded. [Elliott.org]
Hilton Tells Loyal Customer He's Not Important Enough To Get Reservation Changed
By 11.4.08
When Mr. Glassman tried to change his reservation date at a DC Hilton, a hotel clerk told him he couldn’t do that because a large group was checking in and, “There won’t be anyone on the desk to accommodate you.” When he asked for clarification, that no matter what time he checked in during that day, no one would be able to help him, the answer was in the affirmative. So Glassman, a frequent Hilton customer, canceled his reservation, all his future reservations, and all those of the rest of his 21-member law firm. When Hilton corporate caught word, “gaskets were blown” and they took it as a “training opportunity,” but by that time, they lost Glassman’s business for good.
Leading Hotels Still Kinda Committed To Selling 5-Star Rooms For $19.28 Per Night
By 10.12.08
The Leading Hotels of the World want you to know they are still committed to offering 6,000 five-star hotel rooms for $19.28. The contest, originally conceived as a way to honor the association’s 1928 formation, is proving ironically successful, fusing a modern giveaway with 1928 technology. That whole email do-over idea? Silly! Forget it even existed. The group has gone and hired themselves some internet sherpas to help run the contest, and here’s what they’ve come up with….
Don't Even Look At Your Hotel Room's Minibar Or You Might Get Charged
By 10.7.08
My wife and I are there right now. We opened the minibar last night to put a piece of pizza in there in a pizza box. This morning, there’s a $26.04 charge for food on the bill slid under our door. Why? My wife just called to ask and was told, “If you open the mini bar door, there’s a sensor in there and if you move anything in there… you get billed for it.” In our case, we must have jiggled a $20 bottle of wine.
Leading Hotels Do-Over Postponed
By 10.2.08
Don’t bother getting up early tomorrow to submit your Leading Hotels Of The World do-over app in the hopes of snagging a $19.28 hotel room. All the registrants just got an email saying it was postponed. Here’s their full email:
Do-Over Announced By Leading Hotels Of The World
By 10.1.08
Leading Hotels of The World is having a “do-over” for today’s botched $19.28 5-star hotel room promotion. You just need to fill out this document and email it to the email address listed inside it starting at 8am Eastern, tomorrow, Oct 2. The forms will only be accepted for 80 minutes. Orders will be handled on a first-come-first serve basis. The link was left in our comments section by a commenter reposting a message from Marshall Calder, SVP of Leading Hotels Of The World marketing. He also made an apology, posted inside…
$19.28 5-Star Hotel Room Promo Ends In Fiasco
By 10.1.08
“Leading Hotels Of The World” was supposed to have a sick deal today where you could get five-star hotel rooms for $19.28 per night, but the inevitable short supply and online stampede left many futilely clicking refresh for over two hours as the servers crashed. Instead of polite bellboys, many consumers were greeted by the message, “Just a moment, please…Due to the overwhelming number of consumers participating in this promotion. We regret to inform you due to technical difficulties beyond our control the 1928 promotion has been suspended indefintely. [sic]” Irate would-be customers left messages in various forums describing their experiences…
Extended Stay Hotels Must Smell Really Bad
By 10.1.08
Okay, we got the bathroom humor of Kellog’s All-Bran commercial last year. We’re not sure if this commercial for Extended Stay Hotels, which shows guests so relaxed that they pass gas—or what the French call un petit éclatement—is quite as effective. Maybe they should change the tagline at the end to, “Our windows can be opened.”
By 10.1.08
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A Days Inn in Cleveland, Ohio, has bedbugs, a mother of four found out when the Red Cross put her family there for the night after her house burned down. Yes, it’s another bedbugs-in-hotels story, but this time there are pictures! [WKYC.com]
By 9.17.08
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The stock market meltdown means bargains for hotel guests. [elliott.org]
U.S. Airways: Abandoning Passengers "Is Not A Compensation Issue"
By 8.31.08
“In order to ensure that all carriers remain focused on safety, aviation regulations do not require airlines to pay compensation for consequential expenses because of delayed or canceled flights.”
