Q: Hotels.com is refusing to honor the terms of our reservation, and I would like your help with getting a refund. My wife and I made a refundable reservation and prepaid $3,630 (and $504 worth of OneKeyCash) on Hotels.com for a 10-day stay at Lost Property St. Paul's London.
The rules said we could cancel without penalty. After checking in, we found that the room was much smaller than advertised, with barely any room to move after laying down our bags. Also, we could not open the window.
As a result of insufficient ventilation, I woke up with a migraine the next day, so we checked out. I called Hotels.com, and a representative said they would contact the hotel about the refund. Hotels.com offered to make another reservation at a different hotel if we paid the price difference. We had already checked into another hotel through a reservation I made on Hotels.com.
I asked for a refund for the nine nights we didn't stay at Lost Property. Hotels.com refused because Lost Property would not refund the money.
A: You prepaid for a hotel room, but also had free cancellation, so you should have been able to get a refund. But you might be wondering if the hotel breached its contract by giving you a small room with a window that you couldn't open.
Maybe. Small hotel rooms are common in London, as are hotel rooms with windows that don't open. I have stayed in some really small rooms in Europe, and like you, I think we deserve a fair warning before we pay good money for them.
The best thing to do when you get a room that doesn't work for you is to ask someone at the front desk if you can move. If the hotel won't relocate you, then you should contact your online travel agent.
You should have allowed Hotels.com to fix the situation instead of taking matters into your own hands. I think the company would have been able to find you new accommodations at a reasonable rate, but you had already booked another hotel. So, you ended up paying for a hotel room again.
Your case seemed pretty cut and dried. My advocacy team took it up and reached out to Hotels.com.
In response, the company sent you $100 in OneKeyCash, which is the loyalty program currency for Expedia, Hotels.com and Vrbo. That didn't sit well with you — or me. So, we sent your case back to Expedia (owner of Hotels.com). The company reviewed your case again, and this time, it gave you a full refund, including your points.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of the nonprofit Elliott Advocacy. Contact him at chris@elliott.org or elliottadvocacy.org/help.
