PART OF AN ONGOING SERIES EXPLORING THE (SOMETIMES) LIGHTER SIDE OF A LIFE SPENT WORKING IN A HOTEL. READ EARLIER INSTALLMENTS HERE.
by DEVEN MATTHEWS
“We’re here to check in. We booked our room through one of those travel websites.”
Anyone who works behind the front desk of a hotel is well aware of third-party travel websites. They operate much like many discount retailers. Their advertisements may claim that when hotels have unsold rooms, they sell them at a discount. Actually, this is a marketing technique that isn’t completely true.
These companies actually buy their rooms from major hotel chains in bulk at the beginning of each fiscal year. Because they purchase so many room nights, the hotel sells them at a deep discount. In return, these third-party travel websites sell the room nights to the consumer at a marked-up price that’s still often cheaper than the hotel’s rack rate. The consumer receives a genuine discount for the same room.
The hotel chains still have quite an upper hand in this transaction. When making the deal for the negotiated rate, the hotel can dictate which night the third-party travel website can sell those rooms, which room types, and the number of rooms they’re willing to let go on any particular night. For the brands, it can be big business, and the third-party travel websites are a multi-billion-dollar industry.
However, it should be pointed out that many hotel operators themselves, understandably, aren’t huge fans of the present-day OTA model. What follows is neither a critique nor an endorsement of OTAs; it’s simply an interesting, perhaps stressful, example of how booking via a third party can go very, very wrong, despite the best of intentions on behalf of everyone involved. We now join our story, already in progress…
READY TO ROCK
Kathy and Sammy were friends who were traveling together on New Year’s Eve. They’d booked their reservation at the hotel through a third-party travel website well in advance and, after traveling all day on December 31, had finally arrived at the hotel about 9 p.m., ready to ring in the new year.
“The reservation is under Kathy Sawyer,” they told me, excited to check in and begin celebrating.
I asked them about their plans for the evening as I typed Ms. Sawyer’s name into the computer. I was taken back because I saw that she had a reservation back in October but it had been canceled. I also saw there was no other reservation for her in our system. To make matters worse, we were completely sold out because of the holiday.
“I’m sorry Miss Sawyer…“ I began to say.
She interrupted and said, “Call me Kathy.”
I smiled and said, “Okay, Kathy. I don’t have a reservation for you for tonight. Are you sure you’re at the right hotel?”
“I know we’re at the right hotel,” Kathy replied.
Sammy spoke up. “I have the confirmation from that website right here”. She reached into her purse, pulled out a piece of paper folded in half and handed it to me. I unfolded the page and instantly recognized the third-party travel website’s logo in the corner.
The paper confirmed the flight which I could assume they had just taken: JFK to LAX, December 31, seats 12 C and 12 D.
The confirmation from the hotel was a different story: HOTEL, CA, Oct 30-Nov 1.
“This has the correct flight information, but it says your reservation for the hotel was back in October. What’s funny is that my computer shows your reservation for October 30, but it’s labeled as a no-show.”
“What?” Kathy asked in disbelief.
Sammy turned to Kathy in disbelief. “Oh my gosh, do you know what happened? They didn’t change the hotel’s reservation.”
Sammy looked at me and said, “We were originally going to take this trip for Halloween, but something came up with one of the kids and we had to move it to New Year’s Eve. We called the third-party company, and I’ll bet you anything they moved the flight reservation but never adjusted the dates for the hotel.”
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
In the many years I’d been dealing with third-party travel websites, I’d never encountered this error before.
“That would make sense,” I said, “as you guys are here. Obviously, the memo was sent to the airline but not to me.”
“This is horrible,” Kathy said, taking out her phone, immediately pushing buttons. “I’m calling them. We’ll get this all straightened out.”
I felt horrible for Sammy and Kathy. Here they were just trying to enjoy a vacation, and thanks to this third-party travel website, they had no reservation at the hotel. I logged into the hotel’s internal website to check properties within a 20-mile radius of my hotel for vacancies. Unfortunately, everything was sold out due to New Year’s Eve, which is statistically a very busy day for hotels.
While Kathy was on the phone, Sammy’s phone rang, and she started lamenting to the person on the other end about their negative experience thus far.
What I had going for me is Sammy and Kathy were completely understanding this wasn’t the fault of my hotel. They were learning the hard way third-party travel websites often are quite affordable but can cause problems.
There were several problems I’ve experienced with these websites since they entered the hotel arena. The most common problem is guests who were upset with the hotel but were unable to get a refund. They may have an uncomfortable room or noisy neighbors which prohibited a good night’s sleep. When these guests demand some sort of refund for the negative service, all I can is say, “you’ll have to call the third-party travel website. After all, you paid them directly, not the hotel. I cannot rebate you funds that you did not pay to us.”
You can imagine how well that goes over with angry guests.
Another problem I’ve encountered with these third-party travel websites is the guest is often promised something the hotel cannot deliver. One example is connecting rooms. The agents for the third-party travel websites generally make bonuses based on the number of rooms they book. Guests who request connecting rooms will be told their request is guaranteed, so the sale will be successful.
However, my hotel does not have any rooms that connect.
Imagine the disappointment when the guest discovers their request cannot be met. Agents for these third-party travel websites aren’t familiar with the properties and will make empty promises to meet their quota.
WHERE DO WE GO NOW?
Kathy hung up the phone and returned to the front desk. “It’s their fault. They did exactly what I thought they did.”
“They changed your flight but not your hotel reservation?” I asked.
“Yep,” Kathy replied.
Sammy now joined Kathy’s side. “What’s the verdict?”
“When we changed our dates, they changed the flight but not the hotel reservation.” I noticed Kathy made a quick glance at my name tag. “Deven, you said you’re sold out?”
“We are. I’m so sorry, but with New Year’s Eve, most hotels are completely sold out. I even checked the hotels within a 20-mile radius, and I can’t find a single room.”
“This is awful,” said Sammy said.
Kathy looked at me, “Deven, do you mind if we sit in your lobby for just a little bit and figure out what we’re going to do?”
With honest empathy for them and their situation, I replied, “You can stay as long as you need to.”
“Thanks,” Sammy replied. “We may need to sleep in your lobby tonight.”
We all laughed, and Kathy and Sammy went to sit on the sofa in front of the fireplace.
I was grateful for their kindness. Generally, guests in situations like these take their frustration out on the front desk staff. I was very fortunate Kathy and Sammy were so understanding and willing to recognize the hotel had done nothing wrong.
IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?
I turned to my computer to check the current status of the hotel. Front desk agents generally want to review the hotel’s current status, including current occupancy, remaining arrivals, and room statuses. What I saw was nothing short of miraculous. The hotel had been sold out for weeks, but now, on the availability screen, I showed one room available to sell – room 1624.
I quickly reviewed the reservation activity history and realized that within the last five minutes, a miracle had occurred for Kathy and Sammy – a cancellation.
Unable to contain the excitement in my voice, I called to my friendly guests. “Kathy, Sammy, I have a room for you!”
They both spring from the couch and rushed over to the front desk. Sammy was the first to speak. “Are you serious?”
Kathy piggybacked on Sammy’s question and followed up with, “Where did it come from?”
“Believe it or not,” I answered, “I just had a cancellation. If you want it, room 1624 is yours.”
Kathy and Sammy squealed with delight and gave each other a big hug. Kathy said, “it’s a miracle! This is great. This trip won’t be such a disaster after all.”
I looked at them and said, “I’m really happy for you two. And seeing what you have been through, and how kindly you treated me, I’m going to comp your room for you.”
Sammy replied, “No, you don’t have to do that for us.”
I told them, “I want to do it for you. You have been so understanding, and I’m so grateful you didn’t take your frustration out on this poor front desk agent.”
They both smiled and thanked me profusely.
I got their information, made them two keys, wished them a very happy New Year, and sent them on their way to the room.
Working in the hospitality industry gives one many opportunities to make someone’s trip exceptional. This was one of those moments. There’s a feeling of complete job satisfaction when the guest is truly satisfied with their experience. And knowing you were a tool in making their stay phenomenal brings about a positive feeling which words cannot describe.
Deven Matthews is a hotelier who has worked in the hotel industry for more than 23 years. A professor of hotel management at the College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, Deven enjoys instructing the future managers of Las Vegas hotels. He holds a master’s degree in business management and is fascinated by all things hospitality. When not immersed in hotels, Deven enjoys playing the piano and spending time with his wife and their six children.
