Damned hotel lies

Do hotels use state laws as an excuse to recklessly overbook themselves?

That’s the intriguing question asked by a hotel analyst in response to my column about property that blamed Texas state law for refusing to honor a guest’s reservation. The answer: You betcha.

“The truth of the matter is the hotel uses the language of ‘under departed’ and ‘extended stay’ as a way to divert the blame elsewhere,” said the insider, who asked to remain nameless for obvious reasons. “The hotel wants to sell out all rooms 100 percent. Hotel owners and corporate offices like to see 100 percent figures on their daily revenue reports. In order to do that, they must oversell the hotel.”

Why oversell? Because there are always a certain number of “no-shows” — guests with reservations who don’t check in. But despite advances in yield-management systems that can predict how many guests are likely to not show up, the process is still basically a guessing game. “The hotel never knows how many ‘no-shows’ there will be, so they oversell the hotel by a certain percentage to guarantee a full house.”

What if they guess wrong? Then guests get “walked” to anther property.

“Some hotels sell up to 100 rooms over what they actually have, but the normal oversell is anywhere between 10 and 30 rooms,” according to the analyst.

Bottom line: Even though a hotel tells you it’s state law, or a booking error, or even tries to even blame it on guests, it is really their own fault.

“Next time you are ‘walked’ ask to talk with a manager,” the analyst adds. “Tell him that it’s a bunch of bull.”

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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