I booked a room through booking.com on August 1st for the evening of August 20th, 2017. It was the evening before the total solar eclipse about 100 miles from Wray, CO. I received a confirmation number from booking.com and an email assuring me that I had a room at the Cobblestone Inn in Wray, CO. Upon arrival at the hotel, I was told that I did NOT have a reservation and that Booking.com did not contact the hotel. Additionally every hotel within 150 miles was booked completely due to the solar eclipse the next day. I called customer service at Booking.com and they produced two emails they sent to the Cobblestone Inn in Wray requesting a reservation; for some inexplicable reason, the Cobblestone Inn did not make the reservation. Booking.com did not follow up on the emails and the Cobblestone Inn never communicated why they did not make the reservation. I am sure the reservation fell through the cracks in Wray, CO.
The reason for the poor review is poor to non existent customer service from anyone. From the very start, the hotel blamed me for the mix up and did not believe I made an attempt to secure a reservation. After showing the clerk the email confirmation, the confirmation number and a call from customer service at booking.com, the staff still denied that I attempted to make a reservation. The hotel manager never appeared and did not call me. After about 10 minutes, multiple calls to her, the front desk clerk shrugged her shoulders and said, "Oh well. We are fully booked, what do you want me to do?" She meekly mentioned other hotels in the area that were already booked full and became increasingly irritated and short with me until I left. I ended up sleeping in my car in a corn field.
Other than a) blaming me, b) denying booking.com tried to secure a room and even though I produced an email record of booking.com trying to reserve a room, and c) Never suggesting anything other than leaving the premises, the staff at the Cobblestone Inn were not helpful or even empathetic.
I would have appreciated the offer to sleep in the parking lot, use of a shower, or have a free breakfast, but no offers were forthcoming and they wanted me gone because I started to spook a long line of people waiting to check in (wondering if their reservation was valid). After I called Cobblestone corporate, they sent me an email saying they would not charge me a cancellation fee or a deposit for the room. I found that odd since they claimed I never had a room.
Bottom line: do not use booking.com for reservation as their is no actual confirmation that you have a reservation, only that they [booking.com] tried to contact a hotel. Always call the hotel to ensure you have a reservation, particularly during big events (duh!). Always be nice. I was really in a tight spot and the staff, management, and corporate customer service at Cobblestone Inn could not be more disinterested or apathetic. I am sure it is a nice place to stay but I will never find out as I do not intend to stay at another Cobblestone Inn in the future. read more