Business Traveler makes money while on the company dime

August 17, 2004 at 2:16 PM | by markj | 0 Comments

[Publisher's Note: While we do not condone lying, which figured heavily in this business traveler's story, we do condone fighting like hell when a hotel tells you your prepaid room is suddenly not available to you. Any GM who is thinking of pulling this s**t should immediately read this story. The following story comes to us from a HotelChatter member who convinced Marriott to pay them for their troubles! Impressive.]

When I head to Washington DC, I stay at the Herndon, VA Marriot "Worldgate" . This is a great hotel for the Reston area. Large "suite" rooms, fast high speed access, indoor pool and Jacuzzi, access to a full gym. The past couple times I've tried to stay there, I've been getting in on the late Oak-IAD Jet Blue flight so I've been sure to guarantee the room by paying in advance.

However, during a recent trip to Reston I showed up at the Marriott after 11:30PM and was told that there had been a conflict with my reservation. The "conflict" was that the Marriott did not have an available room for me.

Their solution, which had a distinct backroom feel, was this:

They would be happy to provide me with a room at the nearby Holiday Inn, and give me a full refund in cash (since I had already paid for the room by credit card so I could still expense it to the company). I was tempted to take this but the nearby Holiday Inn is without high-speed Internet access and I needed to upload a video demonstration before my morning meeting. I balked, told them that I paid for the room, and booked this hotel specifically for Internet access, and that I needed a room at the Marriott. At that point the manager said that was the best they could do. I thought about it, then came back in and laid out my case. I've stayed there 5 times in the past year. The refund won't help me because I don't expense the trip it's my own business (blatant lie but oh well), I like this hotel best, I've been a loyal customer and I deserve to be treated better. Bing, this did the trick. She offered me double the cash (over 400 bucks). I made a quick call to the Holiday Inn and asked them if I could use their business center tonight, they agreed. I took the cash and ran.

My advice... always guarantee your room and call prior to getting on your flight to confirm.

If there's a problem, you have the leverage so go to battle.

Make sure that you benefit, not just your company. It's your inconvenience, not theirs.

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