Curious Event at Red Lion, Seattle

[Saruman]

We are just back from a week cruise out of Seattle. I booked two rooms for our party at the Red Lion Hotel on 5th St. back in November of 2010, based on good reviews here at CC and on Trip Advisor. We wanted to fly in the day before the cruise, enjoy the waterfront that evening and shuttle to the pier the next day, our usual routine.

 

We arrived at our hotel around 6 PM to find the city bustling with a U2 concert and a Mariners' game, besides the usual weekend cruise crowds. The desk clerk at the hotel informed us that there was a "problem". While one of our rooms was ready, the other wasn't. She said there was someone still in the room, long past checkout time. We stood in the lobby with all of our cruise luggage while they double checked. A desk mgr. returned and said there were still luggage and personal items in the room and they couldn't locate the guest. She was quite apologetic, but said they could do nothing about it, and only one of the rooms we had booked....way back in November...would be available to us.

 

To their credit, they offered to put the whole party up at another hotel, at their cost, as well as give us travel vouchers for cabs to the hotel. As there were other family members already registered at the Red Lion, and we all had booked the same private van to the pier on Sunday, they gave us additional vouchers for cabs BACK to the Red Lion in the morning and said we could join them for breakfast, again on them, in their dining room.

 

We agreed to the deal and after dinner at the Red Lion's pub...a nice experience, I have to say...the desk called cabs and the bellman helped us schlep our cruise luggage (5 people's worth) to the curb. We cabbed to the University Inn across town, north of the Seattle Ctr. The staff there was warm and helpful. This venue, while certainly not at the same level as the Red Lion, was clean and pleasant and the staff there couldn't have been more helpful and friendly! We would definitely go back there, (if the plan wasn't to walk to places like Pike's Mkt or the monorail from the hotel.)

 

The next morning we schlepped everything back to the Red Lion and the bellman kept our luggage, with that of the other family members who had been checked in earlier the day before, while we enjoyed the Breakfast Buffet upstairs...courtesy of the Red Lion. We were able to walk down to Pikes's Mkt for a short visit before meeting our shuttle to the pier.

 

We are still baffled as to just why/how a hotel of that caliber allows a guest to just stay over and prevent a properly booked party from using the room they contracted for. The idea of packing the overstaying guest's stuff and moving it out to a storage room was apparently not the hotel's idea of how to rectify the situation. While the University Inn rates were lower than Red Lion's, the Red Lion lost the money we would have paid for two room and breakfast, and paid for four cabs across town. I can't see how they came out ahead, unless the overstaying guest was someone they valued more than my party. I suspect that a booking error was made and they allowed the previous guest to book our room for an additional night and that it was the hotel's fault, rather than a guest who wouldn't leave.

 

Overall, I am happy about saving some money on accommodations and appreciated how the Red Lion did what they could to make the five of us feel better about being bounced. But they still lost me as a future customer. The added confusion and additional time involved, as well as the stress level, was NOT what I wanted for my family on the first day of the vacation. (One of the group is 82 years of age!) We are left to wonder just WHY this happened in the first place.

[Casagordita]

This seems like a really unfortunate and inconvenient incident...but I have never heard of a hotel just moving an overstaying guest's belongings out of a room so the next guest could move in. Besides the inevitable hissy fit they would throw upon their return, the hotel would be sure to be hit with claims for supposedly-damaged and missing items (all highly valuable, of course! :rolleyes:) Just doesn't seem like a good idea at all, or worth it, even if the alternative costs them as much as your experience did.

 

Just curious--has anybody ever heard of a hotel forcibly moving a tardy departing guest out, on the same day they were supposed to be checking out, so the next one could move in?

[Saruman]

If we hadn't been quite tired from a long flight...and not the children of parents who taught us to behave like civilized people....I can imagine the "hissy fit" the five us COULD have had at the desk that night. Seems like a toss up to me. Gamble on making someone unhappy....gamble on which guest might have a public meltdown in the lobby...

[Bruin Steve]

Long ago, I started my career as a corporate attorney in the hotel business (in another industry now)...

 

This happens far more than you would think...

Hotels are sometimes accidentally overbooked...or, secretly, they've got some other reason to accommodate someone and bump someone else...AND, on occasion, it happens that someone doews not vacate a room--either a mix-up over the check-ouit date...or, sometimes, you might have some unfortunate occurrance preventing a guest from moving out as planned...

 

Luckily, none of this happens that often...because, as you note, it costs the hotel money...

 

What most hotels do is exactly what they did here--find the bumped guest a room in another hotel...Ususally, they will attempt to put them in a nearby hotel--Hotels are often located in close proximity...But, often, if it's a large chain or hotel group with multiple hotels in the same city, they will try to move you into another associated hotel...keep the money within the chain...

 

Where it gets difficult is where the is a convention or major event going on and all of the hotels are booked...

 

The situaltion is not good...for anyone...

 

Personally, my attitude would be to stay insistent...

Often, there may be some leeway...Are you the LAST new guest to check in that day? Let them cancel someone else's reservation! Especially if other family members are at the hotel...Time and convenience is worth more than money...additional shuttles are not an answer in my book...

 

If that fails--Demand that they put you in a nearby and BETTER hotel...and THEY pick up the difference in cost...I would not let them send me to a lesser hotel clear across town...

 

It is truly unfortunate for them if it was ALL one single guest who did not check out as scheduled...BUT, think about it...it's a big hotel...They have lots of rooms...They must have some late arriving guests...and you really don't know what else may have led to this situation that WAS THEIR FAULT...Did they screw up this guest's check out date? Did they overbook the hotel? Did they surreptitiously bump you to accommodate someone else? They are the ones in the business of running a hotel...and this is at least their liability if not their outright fault...Thye need to "make good"...It does sound like they tried to do that...at quite an expense for shuttles and free breakfast...but they could have and should have done more...

 

JMHO...

[mapleleaves]

it's basically an eviction, so you can't just put someone's stuff on the street and say goodbye. We encountered this situation on a business trip several years ago. I was surprised to learn that this is the case in many cities and states.

[Bars7816]

Very curious, indeed, my dear Watson. Per chance the room had become a crime scene? Love a good murder mystery. :D

[pizzalady1]

I believe that it is against all states' innkeeper laws for the hotel to "evict" a guest if they do not choose, for whatever reason, to vacate the room at the set time. If they don't check out when scheduled, they can't be forced out.

[kenish]

I have zero experience in hotel management, but know as a traveler your situation is called getting "walked". From Wikipedia:

 

During times of high demand, hotel operations also practice overbooking and apply similar procedures to that of the airline industry in which an equal or greater service of that of which was booked must be provided to the customer, in the case of a hotel, most states have laws requiring accomodations to be provided at an alternate hotel referred to as a "walk" in hotel terminology. In the event that a hotel is overbooked resulting in no rooms remaining available, hotel management will often "walk" the customer to a neighboring hotel at an equal or complimentary rate depending on the situation, hotels often maintain partnerships or agreements with neighboring or competitor hotels to utilize as alternate arrangements for overbooked customers during walk situations.

Some hotel chains have specific company policies which determine which customers will be walked in order of priority, often customers who belong to the highest tier level of the hotel's loyalty program or are considered a VIP guest will likely not be walked or would be the last to be walked in an extreme situation. Customers with third-party reservations that were not made directly with the hotel or first time customers with a discounted rate may be a at a higher risk of being walked.

It sounds like your situation was a bona fide problem but some hotels seem to turn it into a profitable scam: http://www.elliott.org/blog/a-walking-scam-how-hotels-profit-from-overbooking/

 

Bruin's comments seem right on !

[Saruman]

Customers with third-party reservations that were not made directly with the hotel or first time customers with a discounted rate may be a at a higher risk of being walked.

 

All very interesting. Well, this first time customer will not be a return customer. And since I frequently return to Seattle, often with other family members, they lost more than just one bed. I hope it was worth it to them!

 

Thanks for the input, folks!

[Saruman]

Very curious, indeed, my dear Watson. Per chance the room had become a crime scene? Love a good murder mystery. :D

 

Ah! A Bow Street Runner!

How about I rename it "The Curious Case of the Room That Wasn't There" ?

[Keith1010]

I am glad that this all worked out for you and that the Hotel did things properly.

 

Keith

[6rugrats]

To their credit, they offered to put the whole party up at another hotel, at their cost, as well as give us travel vouchers for cabs to the hotel. As there were other family members already registered at the Red Lion, and we all had booked the same private van to the pier on Sunday, they gave us additional vouchers for cabs BACK to the Red Lion in the morning and said we could join them for breakfast, again on them, in their dining room.

 

 

We are still baffled as to just why/how a hotel of that caliber allows a guest to just stay over and prevent a properly booked party from using the room they contracted for.

Overall, I am happy about saving some money on accommodations and appreciated how the Red Lion did what they could to make the five of us feel better about being bounced. But they still lost me as a future customer.

 

This happens all the time. Hotels get overbooked. A guest overstays. The new arrival is walked to a different hotel. If this guest was not in the room, the hotel cannot remove their belongings. Sounds as if the Red Lion was very generous and handled this well. I am not sure, as someone else stated, that you are really entitled to anything more.

 

If it cheers you up any, if this was due to a guest who didn't check out when they were supposed to, it's possible their rate was raised to the highest allowed for that room.

[Gunther1]

I was assuming the hotel would charge them the highest rate they could :).

[Saruman]

As this was a primetime, high season Saturday night, with a U2 concert and a Mariners Game just down the street, I assume that they charged the max! Which is why we couldn't get a closer hotel.

And since I booked this so far in advance, with AAA rates, the rate I would have paid...had I actually been given the room I booked... was not what a walk-in paid earlier that day!

 

So, yes, I came out okay, if money is the central issue. But I planned on paying, and was paying for the convenience and the location, neither of which I got. To say nothing of my embarrassment for this happening in front of the other five family members I'd talked into coming on this trip and who trusted me to handle everything!

 

Like I said, live and learn.

[jklmrm]

I worked a front office manager for a large brand-name hotel for a period of time. As much as we sometimes wanted to, we were absolutely prohibited by law from "evicting" a guest even if they exceeded their agreed check out day. The hotel's hands really are tied - Hotels must serve them with a "3 day notice to quit" if they refuse to leave. The hotel may however charge them the full rack rate for any portion of their stay over the agreed time. There are exceptions, of course, that hotels can use to force an immediate eviction if the guests violate the law, such as exceeding the maximum occupancy, noise violations, damaging the room, etc. Unfortunately, if the guest who refuses to leave isn't breaking any laws or ordinances, and the hotel is sold out, they are forced to "walk" the incoming guests to another hotel. Sounds like the Red Lion handled it as best they could.

[Saruman]

Thanks, jklmrm! This has been a true learning experience into the world of hotel mgt. I recall ASKING politely once if we could stay over an extra day at a hotel, due to airline issues and being told, again politely, that it was not possible. Ended up sleeping at an airport hotel. Didn't know that I could have just refused to leave....still would have paid less, even at full 'rack rate' and enjoyed the area an extra day! Another case where being polite and doing the right thing failed me. Sometimes I think the world really is better suited to those who think only of themselves, break the rules and yell loudest.:(

 

PS But I now agree that Red Lion did their best!

[Saruman]

Just read April2986's review ...in the Member Cruise Review section....of the same cruise we took and she had (mostly) favorable comments about the Red Lion. (I think she was one who asked about hotels on our Roll Call thread and I told her about the Red Lion's good reviews. I am glad she actually got a room and thought it was fine!) She did say they had a bit of a problem with her luggage and she was dissatisfied with their bellman. There were two of them by the time we arrived and the one who helped us with our luggage told me it was his first day on the job. Things were so busy, he was getting his "baptism under fire". I have to say that he was quite attentive to our needs and sympathetic to our situation, and I hope he survived his first day and that the hotel appreciates his fine attitude under pressure. I could easily see how errors in luggage storage/delivery could have happened that day, though.