Carol Egan accidentally booked an expensive and non-
refundable room at a Hampton Inn. Can she fix the mis-
take or is she stuck with a $264 bill?
By Christopher Elliott
Q: My grandniece is getting married soon. We used
the travel information she provided online to book our
room at a Hampton Inn.
When we clicked on the link, it opened up a web
page listing the rooms available for the wedding
dates in the special block with a nonrefundable rate
of $264.
We thought the rate was high, but we followed the
wedding party’s instructions. Two days later, we got
a call from the bride’s mother informing us that our
room rate was supposed to be $149 and instructing
us to call the manager at the Hampton Inn to get it
straightened out.
In that call, we found out that the block of rooms
allocation must have been filled when we used the
website to book the room, so it quoted the $264 price.
The block allocation had already been extended be-
fore we contacted the local manager. The manager
said he could not modify or cancel the reservation
since I made it on the Hilton website. He gave us a
number for Hilton and suggested that they could can-
cel or change our reservation.
We called Hilton and requested that they modify the
reservation to be the wedding block rate of $149 or
cancel and refund the reservation. We got nowhere.
They did offer to cancel the reservation and give
us 12 months to use the whole $264 for a booking at
another Hilton property. We did not accept that offer.
We don’t plan on booking any $264 per night rooms
during the next 12 months. Can you help? — Carol
Egan, Marco Island, Fla.
A: Congratulations on your grandniece getting mar-
ried. It was nice of her to find a block of hotel rooms
at the Hampton Inn for her family, but you’re right —
$226 a night is a little high for a night at the Hampton
Inn. When you see a rate like that, don’t click on it,
even if your family has arranged the rate. You’re bet-
ter off calling the hotel and asking for a better rate. Or
you can stay somewhere else and use the money you
save to buy your grandniece a nice wedding present.
Be extra careful when you book a nonrefundable
rate (even if it’s with your family’s apparent blessing).
Hotels love nonrefundable rates because it means
they get to keep your money no matter what happens.
And it appears that would include you booking a room
at the wrong rate. Want a refund? Tough luck — it’s
nonrefundable!
There’s no reason hotel rates should ever be non-
refundable. Usually, hotels will offer a small discount
— 10 to 20 percent — in exchange for non refundabil-
ity. In your case, they skipped the discount and just
added the onerous terms. Come on.
Never, ever book a nonrefundable hotel rate.
The solution is a case study in self-advocacy. I
gave you the executive contacts for Hilton</
a> (which owns Hampton Inn) and recommended you
send a brief, polite email to them. You did, and you
received a quick response.
“I apologize for any inconvenience and how you
stated your concerns were addressed,” a representa-
tive said. “Kindly note that there are specific cancel-
lation policies in place for Advance Purchase Non-
Refundable reservations. Our customer service and
hotel agents could not modify or refund as per proto-
col.”
However, as a “one-time exception and gesture
of good faith,” Hilton refunded the full $264. “We at
Hilton thank you for bringing this matter to our atten-
tion and hope that this does not deter you from stay-
ing with our brands in the future,” the representative
added.
Christopher Elliott is the chief advocacy officer for El-
liott Advocacy. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help
with any consumer problem by contacting him at http://
www.elliott.org/help
© 2022 Christopher Elliott.
