Many hotels overbook, just like the airlines, and if too many guests actually show up, the hotel will have to "walk" certain guests to other hotels, which typically involves providing tranportation to the other hotel and being comped for one night. Hotels generally have relationships with one another to make this process easier, so that even when a city is fully booked, the hotels work with each other to accomodate guests that have to be walked.

I've been walked twice in my life (which I describe below), although neither time involved a true luxury hotel. I'm curious if anyone has ever been walked by a luxury hotel and what the circumstances were. Here are my two cases:

1. In 1996, in the earliest days of on-line hotel booking, I was trying to find a room in Boston for that evening. Travelocity was showing zero availability at every major Boston hotel, but I kept on checking, and eventually the Bostonian Hotel showed a room available and I booked it. I caught the last shuttle from LGA to BOS that night and showed up at the hotel at around 11:00pm. I remember my conversation with the front desk clerk almost verbatim: "Hello Mr. [Blumie]. We've been expecting to. We have your reservation, but we don't have a room for you, but don't worry, we found a room for you at the Ramada at the airport."

Now the Bostonian hotel is a near-Luxury property. It's not a Four Seasons, but I'd consider it a step above your typical Westin or Hyatt. The old Ramada at Logan Airport, on the other hand, was probably the biggest dump in the City of Boston. (It has since been torn down, thank god.) I was livid, not so much that I was being walked -- although I wasn't thrilled about that -- but that they thought I was going to stay at the Ramada at the airport after having booked the Bostonian. I asked to speak to the manager. As it happened, the hotel's GM, who was new, was still there that night. I laid in to him, and at the same time got my girlfriend, who was a seasoned travel agent, on the phone who laid in to him as well. As the GM was new to the hotel and the city, he had not yet established the relationships with other GMs in the city that may have helped him resolve this situation; there was nothing he could do. My girlfriend, bless her soul, had a contact at the Four Seasons in Boston, and although they were sold out, they took the living room portion of a suite, which could be locked off from the bedroom portion when that room was sold as a regular room and not as a suite, and put a bed in it for me. (It's what the Four Seasons provides when a guest needs a "cot" in their room, but, as you'd expect from a Four Seasons, it was more comfortable than the regular beds at any other hotel.)

A week later, I received a letter of apology from the GM at the Bostonian and an invitation for a free weekend stay at the hotel. Between my girlfriend getting me into the FS and the free weekend at the Bostonian, everything worked out for the best.

2. Just this week I was walked by Le Parker Meridien in NYC. I knew that the city was fully booked that night, so when I checked in at 7:30pm, I jokingly said to the front desk clerk, "I hope you have a room for me." She pulled up the reservation, and then gave a nudge to the on-duty manager, who happened to be standing next to her. He looked at her screen and then said to me, "It's funny that you should say that."

I'll keep this story shorter than the last. I ended up negotiating a deal with the manager that I would pay for that night, even though he was walking me to Morgan's (where they gave me a huge suite), and he would give me a free night the following week when I was traveling on my own nickel. What surprised me about being walked from this hotel, however, is that I'm somewhat of a regular there (I've probably stayed six times or so this year), usually booking premium rooms. I would have thought they'd walk someone who was less of a repeat customer.

Does anyone know what the factors are that hotels use in determining who to walk?

Certainly two factors are (a) being a repeat guest and (b) the time you arrive (earlier the better - as these often come down to first-come, first-serve situations).

I've only been walked once - actually worse, just told no room, syonara. This was at the InterContinental Barclay in NY. I often travel home to NY on a redeye from the west coast, and rather than journey up to my home in Westchester from JFK, I'll just get a room at a hotel near my office for a few extra hours of sleep.

I showed up at the property at 6am, and was first told I had no reservation for that evening. (The desk clerk didn't seem to get that my reservation was for the current night, not the next night.) Providing my reservation number helped him find the reservation, at which point he told me I'd already been charged for the night (as a no-show). When I asked for the room that I'd been charged for, he told me they gave it away, as last night was a very busy night. There was a long line of checkers-out, and I asked when housekeeping started. Sadly, not till 9am - so earliest a room could be ready was 10am.

No sympathy, no apology, not even an offer to find another hotel. And - the clerk wouldn't refund the charge - insisting I hadn't shown up. (Subsequent calls to the hotel manager did get a prompt refund, and a promise that this will never happen again - a promise I've chosen not to follow up on.)

This situation is doubly frustrating, because I advise the hotel when I'm booking that I'll be arriving very early the following morning. They've figured this out in Europe, just not NY.

What I do now is have my assistant check me in when she's on her way home the night before (now at the W on Lex, no more I/C), so I beat the first-come, first serve game. (Having my assistant check me in has gotten me some jabs at the office, but this is purely above board.)

On the other side of the coin, I used to be a regular at the Rihga in Manhattan (5+ stays a month). I could show up late, without a reservation on full night, and always got a room. One time it was a meeting room with a murphy bed, but it was a clean room with all the amenities.

The old night manager there (pre-Marriott days), Heather (who's now at the Waldorf, last I knew) told me they'd rather walk someone unknown to them than turn away a regular in need. (They frequently asked me to try to book in advance, which I tried to do from time to time.)

I would have guessed these factors, as well, which is why I was surprised that Le Parker Meridien walked me: I'm a repeat guest and was checking in at 7:30pm (which, while not early, is not terribly late).


I find this to be the most frustrating part about being walked: I know that if I hadn't shown up at all, I would have been charged for the room, even though the hotel had already given it to someone else. Your experience at the Barclay I/C is yet another example why they (and the entire chain) are so far from the luxury hotel they believe themselves to be.

My cousin was walked by the Four Seasons Georges V because the owner (Saudi Prince?) had an entire floor occupied by his family and they were not able (???) to check out as originally planned.

Yes, my first (and last) stay at the Carlyle a few years ago. We had longstanding reservations for four nights (two rooms), and they were totally overbooked (there was a huge gala benefit at the Met's Costume Institute that week and I guess both Princess Diana and Tom Cruise were more important guests than I!). The problem was apparently with guests who had decided to keep their rooms longer than originally planned, though that meant little to me.

They had "walking" arrangements with both the Surrey on E. 76th and the Rihga Royal on W. 54th - we chose a Pinnacle Suite at the Rihga Royal because we had reserved tower rooms at the Carlyle and wanted a view. What a mistake, the Rihga was awful, but that's another story.

Both rooms and breakfast and bar charges were paid for by the Carlyle for the first night at the Rihga Royal - we moved to a different hotel after the second night. The on-duty manager of the Carlyle invited us for brunch that Sunday, which was quite nice - the general manager made a point of coming to our table to introduce himself and apologize, and he did receive an earful, though the Champagne had mellowed me out a bit .

They also offered me a credit for a free night in the future (up to two rooms) which I have never used.

My friend and I arrived in Hong Kong last year and we took a limo to our respective hotels - his was the Ritz Carlton and mine was the MO. He is a regular at the RC so that's why he decided to stay at a different hotel than me. I called him in the morning and the RC said he wasn't there - hmmm, I saw him getting out of the limo and the doorman taking his bags. He calls me about a half-hour later and told me that there was an issue with the occupant of his room and the hotel being sold out. He was walked to the Intercontinental and put in a suite with complimentary breakfast and limo back to the Ritz the next day when they could accomodate him.

We were meeting some friends in Scottsdale. I checked in at the Scottsdale Princess first, and got an upgrade to a large 2 BR/2.5 bath suite. When our friends arrived and went to check-in, they were "walked" to the Four Seasons Troon North, a much nicer property, and comped for the two nights they stayed.

In what year was your experience at the Rihga? I've not stayed there since the sale in [2001].

Way before: 1996.

To the originial poster.

Why did you "lay into" the GM when he informed you there was no room?

This is part of life in the big city. I can understand your disappointment, but to "lay into"someone who is only doing what every hotel in the world would do if they have no rooms, I think was a bit over the top.

The world, due to crazy presidents, wars and violence, has become such an ugly place. Do we want to make it uglier?

This gets at what for me is one of the most frustrating aspects of travel. Nearly all of the companies one interacts with in travel, from airlines to rental car companies to hotels, whether or not luxurious, have a tendency to not do everything they can to resolve most customer problems. So as a customer, you are in the very undesirable position of accepting getting unfair treatment, or making a big stink. It is by far most egregious at airports. I have frequently had a situation where I've been told I would not be able to get on a certain flight, and after pushing very hard (and truly "laying in" to the agent), you get on.

It has often happened in hotels as well. My wife and I were given a room at a Luxury Collection once that had a very serious mold problem in the bathroom created by a leak in the bathroom sink that had drained large quantities of water into the cabinet under the sink (water poured out of it when opened). When we were originally brought to the room, there was an overpowering smell which even the bellhop noticed immediately. Upon entering the room, the bellhop told us there was something clearly wrong with the room, and brought us downstairs to get another room. We were told there were none available. We made a stink, and were told that they could accomodate us by giving us an upgrade. The upgrade was minor (we didn't notice the difference). What an absurd way to handle customer service.

It really frustrates me. The result of "laying in" to an agent should be nothing. It should be the case that they do what they can for you. But worse still is that you can actually achieve results by being difficult. For someone like me who feels very uncomfortable with this, I'm in the difficult position of either having to either accept unfair treatment, or do something I don't feel comfortable with.

One of the reasons that the Four Seasons is so pleasant from a customer service perspective is that you generally have confidence you are being treated fairly. If something goes wrong, they will do what they can. And if they tell you it can't be fixed, you can trust that that is probably correct.

The approach taken by many airlines and hotels of only making accomodations to loud passengers or guests has the extremely unfortunate effect of putting us all in a position where we either accept poor treatment, or have to act unpleasantly.

I agree with your sentiment that we all need to be more civil in our interactions with one another. For example, I am frequently frustrated by the tone of posts on this board; I think we can all do a better job of disagreeing with one another without feeling the need to flame each other in the process.

That said, as GrahamR points out, there are times when the service being provided is unacceptable, and as a customer you've got to be able to express your displeasure. In the case where I claim to have "laid in" to the GM, I was being told that instead of the room at the luxury hotel I had booked, I was going to be "walked" to one of the most decrepit hotels in the city. That was just not acceptable.

I will also point out that there is laying into someone, and there is laying into someone. I don't get personal. I don't swear (occasionally one will slip out and I will promptly apologize; although profanity does not offend me, I certainly understand that it offends many others). Where I am complaining to someone who did not create the problem in the first place, I always apologize to them beforehand for having the misfortune of trying to rectify someone else's error. But as a consumer, I still have the right to be firm, and to demand what I think is right.

By the way, to contrast my experience at The Bostonian Hotel, where they tried to walk me to the Radison at the airport, when Le Parker Meridien walked me to Morgan's, which, although I don't like it as much, is still comparable to Le Meridien, I firmly enquired why I (a regular customer) had been selected to be walked, how they were going to get me there, what they were going to do for me, etc. But, knowing that this is part of the business, just as bumping passengers off an airplane is, I did not "lay into" them in any sense of the phrase. And in fact, the on-duty manager's last words to me as he put me into a cab were, "Thank you for being such a gentleman."

Part of the problem people get frustrated when walked by a plane or airline (or treated badly in another way) is that it is so easy to offer generous compensation to the client at marginal cost to the company. It costs an airline nothing (assuming there are empty seats) to upgrade you on the next available flight, and it costs a hotel nothing to give you a voucher for a free night or an upgrade next time you stay. Even giving you a huge pile of loyalty points / miles costs nothing if they are redeemed within that business for a marginal cost item such as a flight or room.

Despite this, we are often faced with customer service staff who appear to be incentivised to offer as little compensation as possible. If I ran a hotel I would be perfectly happy for my staff to give unhappy customers as many upgrades or future free nights (subject to availability etc) as was necessary to keep them happy.

As a manager in the front office, I have to say that the responses so far have been realistic, although there are some that are specific to the type of property where the overbooking occured (star rating, chain/independent). Relocate procedures at a Ramada will be different than at a Hyatt! As a rule, every hotel practices overbooking, luxury ones included, save for maybe the Amans or Orient Express, or some island hideaway where there are no alternatives!

Regarding the best/worst time to be relocated, it really depends on the city (convention like NY or holiday like Orlando), the cause of overbooking (could be emergency situations like water leak that took away an entire floor for the night), as well as the situation with other hotels in the city. In general, I always do the relocate BEFORE 8PM. Most of my colleagues in the industry prefer to do this, as there is nothing worse than relocating a guest at midnight when they're cranky and sleepy. It also assures me that the other hotel hasn't released the room for me to someone else.

Also, I always relocate guests who are supposed to stay at my property for more than one night. The reason for this is when they return the next day, we can make up for it with upgraded rooms, special amenities, etc, etc......

Thank you, ravsquad, for your comments. It's always great to hear the perspective of an insider.