Don't use Travelodge

Philip Whiteman

You will have heard that airline overbook their flights but I bet that you did not know that Travelodge do the same.

Lisa and I had paid and booked a room at a Glasgow Travelodge on Saturday evening as a stopping off point on the way home. When we arrived at Reception we were prompty told that all the rooms had been let as a result of over-booking.

In all fairness to Travelodge they did relocate us to a four star hotel in Glasgow City Centre some 10 miles away. That worked out a net loss of £155 to them. However, after a long six hour journey, a relocation was the last thing we wanted. It begs the question, what would have happened if we had not been driving a car or had been disabled?

shouldbeinbed

I hope you've complained to Wiggle.


still good on travellodge for sorting out out quickly, locally and to your advantage, not bad going when you can moan about getting a free upgrade to a much nicer hotel.

amaferanga

Would you also advise people not to fly, ever?

If you didn't have a car they'd likely have paid for a taxi.

Don't see what the problem is here.

Lillywhite

+1 to Travelodge for finding you better and more expensive accommodation, at their cost.

Philip Whiteman

shouldbeinbed wrote:

I hope you've complained to Wiggle.

You've lost me. What are Wiggle able to do about it?

Gazzaputt

I agree I don't see a problem here. Yea ok had to travel to another hotel but 4* instead of 1*? Did they immediately rectify the issue? Did you have to argue?

Homer J

Don’t worry about it Phillip they are just being flippant. In all honesty I think Travel Lodge gave you a good service given the circumstances, they could have easily stuck you in some dodgy B&B.

Jaguar.

A genuine mistake, a computer glitch, an operator error, a blocked bog...

I'd say *do* use travelodge.

Things will go wrong, how a company reacts when it happens is more important and I struggle to see what more Travelodge could have done! Thanks for the recomendation

Philip Whiteman

My underlying point to the original message was the fact that Travelodge actively overbook their hotels as a matter of policy. If I have pre-paid for a room I expect to get a room. It is quite understandable to re-let rooms if provisional bookings have been made and not fulfilled.

Homer, true comment about the B&B, especially as it could have been in nearby Paisley!

schweiz

Philip Whiteman wrote:

You will have heard that airline overbook their flights but I bet that you did not know that Travelodge do the same.

That's pretty much the norm.

In my time at Uni (96-00), I worked part time for Greenall's who owned the DeVere and Village Hotel chains. Overbooking was the norm and the daily sales target was something like 108%. So in a 60 room hotel that is 64/65 rooms sold. Rooms would also be re-sold after (IIRC) 9pm if there had been no check-in and the customer had not been in touch. A delayed flight, problems with getting a hire car, traffic hold-ups etc. could all result in a customer losing a room and then having to drive (or be sent in a taxi) to another hotel. Or we would receive disgruntled customers at 11pm from other hotels who'd overbooked.

shouldbeinbed

Philip Whiteman wrote:

shouldbeinbed wrote:

I hope you've complained to Wiggle.

You've lost me. What are Wiggle able to do about it?

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... highlight=

another one that came on whinging without good reason, its become a bit of a game to 'complain to Wiggle' about nothing incidents, your moaning at excellent service from TL fitted the bill. you'll find most places overbook slightly on the basis that invariably someone doesn't turn up and there isn't a problem, otherwise they end up with unused capacity which is bad for business - you copped (un)lucky that for once everyone did but still have the gall to moan when you do so much better out of it than you could have done.

Ben6899

Philip,

I'm glad it worked out well in the end for you and your better half. I've spent many nights in Travelodges or similar when travelling with work and I have definitely read small print along the lines of "if you don't check in by 9pm, then we cannot guarantee your room. Please let us know if this may be a problem."

The Wiggle response is just a topical joke around here at the moment and I'm guilty of using that line myself!

Headhuunter

Personally I'd happily use them if I thought there was a chance of an upgrade to a 4* hotel for the price of a Travel Lodge! I've been upgraded on flights due to over booking. Went to Japan 1st class on JAL once when I'd only paid a discount economy fair... Bring it on.

toontra

Sorry to hear about this problem. I have to support Travelodge though. I've used them when cycle touring for years, often turning up in the small hours with a couple of friends (so 3 bikes as well) soaking wet and muddy, and I've always been welcomed by friendly, helpful staff.

The rooms are clean and spacious (plenty of room for bikes) and I've usually paid no more than £20. I don't know of any other hotel/motel chain who are so cycle-friendly and who are as cheap and I would thoroughly recommend them.

I'm aware of the overbooking issue, although I've never suffered myself. If you are particularly worried then it's always a good idea to ring in the evening if you will be turning up late.

ExeterSimon

schweiz wrote:

Philip Whiteman wrote:

You will have heard that airline overbook their flights but I bet that you did not know that Travelodge do the same.

That's pretty much the norm.

In my time at Uni (96-00), I worked part time for Greenall's who owned the DeVere and Village Hotel chains. Overbooking was the norm and the daily sales target was something like 108%. So in a 60 room hotel that is 64/65 rooms sold. Rooms would also be re-sold after (IIRC) 9pm if there had been no check-in and the customer had not been in touch. A delayed flight, problems with getting a hire car, traffic hold-ups etc. could all result in a customer losing a room and then having to drive (or be sent in a taxi) to another hotel. Or we would receive disgruntled customers at 11pm from other hotels who'd overbooked.

Yep...the norm in the hotel trade. You'd be surprised how infrequently we actually had to send people to other hotels though. Good business practice.

This was with Forte in the early 1990s though!

cougie

Sounds like pretty good service from them ? I've never had a problem mind you. Cheap and clean and friendly. I'm happy enough.

sampras38

I used a Travelodge for the Wales Dragon last week and after the getting home I realised I'd left my washbag in the room and it had loads of stuff in it I needed. A quick phone call to the hotel reception and I had my bag within 2 days.

Buckled_Rims

I lived in a Travelodge for 3 months whilst on work duties. No real complaints, but my mate had a few expense queries accidentally added on to his bill.

I think Travelodge will have a reciprocal arrangement with a lot of hotels in the area, so it probably wont have cost them £155. They probably may even have made a profit by being fully booked and sending you somewhere else!

passout

Yield Mangement has its origins in hospitality and is used by airlines, cruise companies and hotels. One part of Yield Management can be overbooking in the anticipation of cancellations and no shows. Now and again this complex approach back fires - hence your experience. It is by no means restricted to this company though - it's widespread. Many if not most hotel chains will practice this to some degree. There are ways of dealing with it though - compensation, putting you up in rival hotesl near by (gratis), giving as much warning as possible etc.

Anonymous

Jaguar. wrote:

A genuine mistake, a computer glitch, an operator error, a blocked bog...

I'd say *do* use travelodge.

Things will go wrong, how a company reacts when it happens is more important and I struggle to see what more Travelodge could have done! Thanks for the recomendation

Nah they overbook as a matter of policy,the Travelodge in Bridgend in 2007 for the Dragonride was almost the site of a riot.

rake

i agree with stewart lee on this one. i hate travelodge. i didnt see the sketch untill after i tried to book in and was turned away. the name is missleading, it should be called " internet pre-book lodge only".