WARNING: We booked and put a down payment on Trinity City Hotel in Dublin for our Honeymoon months before our trip (via their own site) -- we even confirmed our reservation the morning we were arriving with their Reservations Coordinator, Jacinta. After three long plane rides, we arrived at 11:30PM just to see a couple ahead of us getting into a heated debate with the receptionist which we soon realized was because they were overbooked due to "a problem with their system".
What they don't explain is "their system" is not a technical glitch, but instead something they do as a business to ensure they have a full house while also making extra on those who have to cancel their reservations (similar to airlines). We, unfortunately, were the unlucky couple to arrive last on a busy, Easter weekend (which is why they didn't give us a warning because their tactic is "first-come-first-serve").
I know this is something Trinity does often because you can find it in their reviews dating back several years (see a few examples below). I also know it's something they do since we confronted the receptionist the next morning with these reviews asking for a clearer understanding of "their system failure" and in her response was, "A lot of hotels do this!" A few reviews:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186605-d212667-r115157280-Trinity_City_Hotel-Dublin_County_Dublin.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186605-d212667-r141865215-Trinity_City_Hotel-Dublin_County_Dublin.html#CHECK_RATES_CONT
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186605-d212667-r16662664-Trinity_City_Hotel-Dublin_County_Dublin.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186605-d212667-r16353013-Trinity_City_Hotel-Dublin_County_Dublin.html
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186605-d212667-r13035313-Trinity_City_Hotel-Dublin_County_Dublin.html
There are things to note in Trinity's way of dealing with this problem:
-- Book another hotel (they claim to book hotels of equal quality but in our case, the hotel was under renovation and our room smelled like fresh paint. Also note: you must pay out of pocket for the less-than-equal hotel).
-- Pay for your taxis to and from the temporary hotel (remember: this is not a perk since you only need the taxis because of their miscalculation)
-- Offer their breakfast service, free of charge
And if you question this issue then you may also get:
-- An upgraded room
-- Complimentary wine to your room
We did not care about the breakfast, the upgraded room, or the wine. But we did ask them to discount our first night stay at the renovated hotel instead.
The day manager, Jan, was EXCELLENT at listening and handled our case respectfully. She agreed to the discount and continued to apologize in hopes that this did not affect our honeymoon-high (it did). HOWEVER, their night and early morning receptionist, Pawel, almost seemed like he enjoyed this sort of thing because during our 6:30AM checkout, he tried to negotiate with us again (even though he started the conversation with, "I see you've gotten a discount").
MORAL OF THE STORY:
If Trinity (or ANY hotel for that matter) overbooks your stay... then be prepared to fight them on the ethics of this. If hotels are going to charge us fees for canceling a reservation within X-time, then why should they not compensate their reliable customers when they do it without any warning? In the case of Trinity, it was clear they put "bad cop" on nights and mornings to deal with the push back they might get from their deficiency, and "bad cop" made it clear they only care about making as much money as they possibly can.
TO TRINITY:
I understand you have a business to run, and I'm sure you make a lot of money keeping a full house at all times, but rethink your approach when it comes to busy weekends, and definitely be ready to "eat the cost" when customers such as my husband and I are not okay with this scheme. Lastly... I work very closely with a Customer Support team, and Jan is a great example of a Manager who listens to the customer and solves their problems in a way that would have turned this experience into a 4-star. However, Pawel only thinks in black and white... and it's because of him and your history of doing this that we believe you're only as good as a 2.
Cheers,
Allison read more