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The St. Regis Aspen Has No Qualms About Charging Joe Sharkey Cancellation Fees

Where: 315 E. Dean Street [map], Aspen, CO, United States, 81611

Joltin' Joe Sharkey, the NY Times Business Travel columnist, is not excused from hotel cancellation fees. In his recent column, he gripes about having to cancel a business trip to Aspen where he was going to attend an aviation conference.

He had booked two nights at the St. Regis Aspen which had negotiated good rates for the conference of $414.29 for two nights.

Yet when Sharkey had to cancel the day before, the hotel told him that they would have to charge him the "whole enchilada" because he had missed the cancellation deadline which was two weeks prior.

Had I known that the St. Regis in Aspen confiscated the full two-day rate, I would simply have made a reservation elsewhere.

Not even speaking with a Starwood rep got his money back. Sharkey then went on to interview our old friend Scott Booker of Hotels.com who shed light on some of the fees that hotels are charging these days.

Still, none of this helped good ole Joe who was out $714.29 from a business trip (that's including his airfare) that he didn't take.

Tags: Hotel Booking Tips / Hotelsdotcom / Scott Booker / Interviews / Booking Hotel Rooms / Hotel Booking Sites / → All Tags

Everything You Wanted to Know About Booking Hotels :: The Hotels.com Edition

Here at HotelChatter we get all sorts of questions about booking hotel rooms such as where to book (boutique hotel or a place with a loyalty program?), how to book (phone or website?), how to get a cheap rate, how to get free upgrades and the always lovely "Can you hook me up with a free room?" (We can't.)

But we do realize that you have a lot of good questions about booking hotel rooms. So once a week we're running Everything You Wanted to Know About Booking Hotel Rooms where we will give you the latest news, advice, tips, and answers on booking a room. And just maybe we'll be able to hook you up with a free room after all.

This week we're chatting with Scott Booker of Hotels.com. With quite possibly the most perfect last name ever for someone in the hospitality industry, Scott is the Chief Hotel Expert and Guest Advocate at Hotels.com.

His responsibilities include making consumers aware of new deals which pop up on the site as well as highlighting guest reviews from Hotels.com customers. We put him through the ringer (sorta) on a bunch of other issues and as far as we know, he's still standing.

Keep reading for the full interview.

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