We Still Have Reservations About This Hotel

An extended relative’s son gets married at a downtown Boston hotel. Since we live in a Boston suburb, I realize too late that I need to reserve several hotel rooms for my family, my brother’s family, and my parents, and I cannot get any rooms at the wedding venue, [Hotel #1].

Fortunately, the bride and groom have provided two other hotel options: [Hotel #2] and [Hotel #3]. My mother has long-term knee ailments, so she requires an accessible bathroom, and [Hotel #2] does not have any available accessible bathrooms, which leaves [Hotel #3] as our only option.

Knowing I cannot reserve the accessible bathroom online, I call [Hotel #3], hoping I can complete these reservations during my lunch break. Instead, it takes me three days.

Day 1:

Me: “Hello, my family is attending [Bride and Groom]’s wedding, and we would like to reserve four rooms from their wedding block.”

Representative #1: “Yes, we have rooms available. Which dates were you wanting?”

Since the wedding is taking place on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, the bride and groom have reserved a total of three dates: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Me: “We will need the rooms for Friday and Saturday. Also, one of the rooms needs to have an accessible bathroom.”

I explain my mother’s knee problems.

Representative #1: “Oh, an accessible bathroom?” *Sigh of irritation* “Um, okay… I’ve never made this type of reservation before. I will need to ask for assistance from a supervisor. Can I put you on hold?”

Me: “Sure.”

I then spend the next twenty-five minutes “on hold” as she repeatedly tries to get the supervisor’s assistance… while listening to her complain about her position! Finally, thirty minutes later, she completes the reservation. However, when I review the confirmation email, I notice that she only made it for one night, instead of the two I requested. No problem. I will resolve these reservations tomorrow… or so I think.

Day 2:

Me: “Hello, I made a set of reservations yesterday for [Bride and Groom]’s wedding under [My Name]. Here are my reservations numbers. I need to update them; they are only for Friday night and I also requested Saturday night.”

Representative #2: “Okay, let’s take a look.” *Typing noises* “Hm… Are you sure you made these reservations? I’m not seeing anything under your name.” 

Me: “Yes, I made the reservations last night. They should be under [My Name] and here are the reservation numbers.”

Representative #2: “No, I’m sorry. I still don’t see anything here under your name. You will need to call our reservations number and make these reservations again.” *Hangs up abruptly*

Me: “…”

Completely puzzled, I take a break and call the reservation number again.

Me: “I really hope you can help me figure out why my room reservations are not showing up in your system.”

I explain everything again, including my mom’s need for an accessible room.

Representative #3: “Okay. Does the name [Brother] sound familiar to you?”

Me: “Yes, he is my brother. Why?”

Representative #3: “Well, we have reservations under his name for those dates, but not your name. Did you know he was making these reservations?”

Since my brother was also trying to book rooms, he mentioned his reservations to me… but then he canceled them after hearing about my confirmed — and less expensive — reservations.

Me: “What?! I did know about my brother’s reservations… but he canceled them!”

Representative #3: “My apologies. You would need to ask your brother to resend his cancellation notices. I can go ahead and make a new reservation for you right now.”

Me: “Okay, let’s go ahead and start a new reservation.”

I give them all the information again.

Me: “Also, we will need one room to have an accessible bathroom for my mother.” 

Representative #3: “I can put this request in for you, but I can not guarantee it will be available right now… and you will need to call again in about two weeks.”

Me: “Two weeks?! But why? All your previous colleagues assured me you have an accessible bathroom available.”

Representative #3: “They were incorrect. You will need to call back in two weeks. I will now send you your new reservations numbers. Thank you.” *hangs up abruptly*

Me: *To myself* “What is going on here?! Okay, here we go again.”

I reach out to my brother and he reconfirms his cancellations. So, fourth time’s the charm, right?

I explain everything that has happened so far.

Me: “Can you please tell me why I need to call back in two weeks for the accessible bathroom?”

Representative #4: “You only need to call back about the accessible bathroom in two days, not two weeks. I will verify this information and leave a message on your voicemail later today.”

That evening, I do receive a message from her confirming the two-day time frame. Still wondering why they could not confirm the accessible bathroom immediately, and exhausted by my efforts, I call it a night.

Day 3:

Extremely frustrated, I explain everything YET AGAIN.

Me: “I am very confused about why you are not able to immediately confirm if one of my room reservations has an accessible bathroom! I only need one accessible bathroom. Does my reservation say I need more than one?”

Representative #5: “I am so sorry for your experience so far with these reservations. I am not sure why you were told you needed to wait even two days. Maybe my coworkers were quoting an old policy. Can I put you on hold for just a minute?”

Me: *Heavy sigh* “Yes.”

Ten minutes later…

Representative #5: “Thank you again for your patience. Your reservation now has a confirmed accessible bathroom in one of the rooms. You will receive your final reservation numbers very soon in your email. Please check them and contact us immediately if they are still incorrect. I hope you enjoy your upcoming stay at [Hotel #3].”

And yes, I did check my email message. This time, all the reservations were correct.

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