What happens when a hotel cancels your confirmed reservation, what you’re entitled to, and how to fight back.
You probably assume if you have a confirmed reservation at a hotel, you’re actually, you know, confirmed. Unfortunately, that’s not always true.
If you have a confirmed reservation at a hotel, it can be canceled by the hotel prior to your arrival under certain circumstances. If this happens, what are you entitled to?
What can cause a hotel to cancel your reservation?
Delayed new hotel opening. You booked a stay at a new hotel and the opening is delayed (which happens frequently; hotels are notorious for missing planned opening dates, sometimes by weeks or even months).
Hotels overbook just like airlines. Hotels may overbook, and there are situations where their projections don’t work out in their favor; that is, they have to “walk” people to another property. This is more common during peak travel times or major events.
Hotels decide they can make more money by renting to someone else. A hotel may decide it no longer wishes to honor your reservation because of some huge event (a concert, sporting event, solar eclipse, etc.) or because a party wants to buy out part of or the whole hotel.
There are other niche situations that can cause a reservation to be canceled. For example, some hotels in China don’t accommodate foreign guests, while other hotels may refuse reservations made by locals. (These are the exception rather than the norm.)
Are there laws regulating hotels not honoring reservations?
When flights are oversold, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has some laws in place regarding the compensation that’s legally required, even if the airline and passenger can often come to a “voluntary” agreement. Unfortunately, there’s no government organization that regulates hotels not honoring reservations in the same way, at least in the United States.
Even if no laws are being broken, you still have legal recourse by way of small claims court. Realistically, that’s something the vast majority of us would never pursue for a variety of reasons. Also, unsurprisingly, the terms you agree to when booking a hotel are generally pretty one-sided; they set out penalties that apply to guests should they cancel outside the acceptable window, but say little about the obligations of hotels.
What happens if a hotel “walks” you?
Major hotel chains have policies about “walking” guests when there are more people wanting to check in than rooms available. In general, you can minimize your chances of being walked by having status with a hotel chain, as they typically walk guests with status last. Further, many hotel “preferred partner” programs have no-walk policies.
Booking directly with a hotel chain also helps, as they’re likely to walk third-party bookings before guests who booked direct. And if you plan on arriving late, let the hotel know—they’ll often walk people in the order they show up, so if you’re only planning on arriving at 1 AM, give them a heads-up.
While policies differ by hotel, if you are walked, you should generally expect to be accommodated at a comparable hotel, plus receive some sort of compensation beyond that. Keep in mind that, like with so many things in the travel space, you’ll likely have to advocate for yourself.
What Happens If Your Hotel Reservation Is Canceled in Advance?
For most hotel chains, internal guidelines about not honoring reservations are specific to walking guests. In other words, they only apply if the hotel walks you on the day of arrival and not if your reservation is canceled on you in advance.
The latter situation is very much a negotiation process. Most hotel groups don’t have published policies surrounding this that hotels have to abide by, so unless you pursue the small claims court route, what you will receive is a function of your persistence and bargaining skills.
At a minimum, you should expect lodging at a comparable property over the same dates. This is the baseline—the hotel canceled your room, so it needs to find you another one.
Push for additional compensation if the replacement hotel isn’t better. Even if it is, I’d push for compensation beyond that, as presumably you selected the original hotel for a reason. This compensation could include bonus points, a hotel credit, or other perks. (With respect to a future hotel stay, I’d expect at least one or two nights to be complimentary, or the rate to be reduced.)
Twist’s Take: Hotels hold all the cards when it comes to “confirmed” reservations, so book direct, earn elite status, and if you get bumped, refuse the first offer and push hard for comparable lodging plus meaningful compensation.