I made a mistake for my upcoming trip to Sweden, I booked a Choice Hotel. I usually avoid these rat traps like the plague, but I have found that in Europe the hotels tend to be of higher quality and standards than in North America, therefore I decided to book a three night stay with the Comfort Hotel City Center in Gothenburg, Sweden. Today, I called up Choice Hotels to modify the reservation, as the website would not allow me to modify it and the friendly reservation agent informed me that the hotel is now requiring that all award bookings now require a two night stay minimum!
After some back and forth, she offered to transfer me to customer service as she was hopeful they might be able to help me out. Wrong! The agent told me again that I should of known the rules before booking the hotel and told me I needed to call the hotel if I wished to make any changes. I asked him to call the hotel for me, as 1) I didn’t want to call Sweden and 2) that is just good customer service.
After about 5 minutes on hold he returned back and informed me that the 2 day minimum would not be waived and I should have known the rules before booking as the website displays the “rules”.
I have a copy of the reservation with the rule details and no where in the reservation does the reservation state that the rate is only valid on stays of two nights or longer. In fact, the only rule or warning in the reservation details states
you need to change or cancel this reservation, you may do so up until Friday, May 22, 2015 before 4:00 PM hotel time. The reservation cannot be cancelled through email.
Choice Hotels is playing a dirty game and this is one I do not want to play. Although the Choice Hotel Brand has been my go to chain in Europe, I will now look elsewhere when traveling international as their unfriendly polices and made up reservation rules are not displayed properly. If you’re traveling in Europe. I’d advise you to book elsewhere!
