Message #68670

[Cathy S]

Good morning

My preferred choice is to make the entire booking online and receive a confirmation by e-mail - it has never failed me yet.

My pet frustration with hotels is the local 'large boutique' hotel that we get preferential rates for - they are very good rates BUT to get them we have to phone central reservations (they can never find us on the list of accounts and by the time they do they often don't have any quota left on the rate); if we pass that hurdle we have to make an electronic order on our commitment purchase system (make sure the VAT is deducted from the preferential rate they have confirmed because they will not quote us an ex VAT price); then we have to send a fax to the hotel reception.

Overkill in the extreme, but what is most frustrating of all is that 8 times out of 10 they then claim not to have received the fax and insist on charging our guest directly AAARRRGGGHHH!

The worst reservation I ever had to make was with an Italian hotel - I had sent e-mail, which hadn't been answered within the hour so my boss insisted I phone "... since they will all speak really good English".  The Receptionist couldn't speak a word of English and plainly didn't understand any - came back to bite him though when they hadn't booked the return taxi for the correct time and he hadn't thought to check in person during his stay!

Cathy