The Travel Troubleshooter: Two extra kids equals a 200-euro surcharge?

Question: I need your help to resolve a situation that I encountered recently when my family and I stayed at the Brussels Marriott.

I generally book directly on the hotel’s website. So in this case, I went to Marriott.com and entered the number of guests — my wife, two young children, and me.

My reservation was for three nights. When we tried to check in, the clerk said that the room had a king bed and could not accommodate us. I mentioned that my kids are quite young and can easily share the bed, as we do this often when staying at Marriott properties in the United States.

I was told that the only option I had was to upgrade to a larger suite, pay for an additional room, or walk away. I asked for the manager, who told me the same thing.

I pointed out that there was no way I could stay in two separate rooms, as I would be separated from my family. I also pointed out that I have a child who is autistic, who cannot be separated from us, but they firmly held their ground. They said that the only thing they could do was to upgrade me to a suite for an additional cost of 300 Euros.

Eventually, the hotel agreed to lower its surcharge to 200 Euros for a three-night stay.

We had a miserable time in Brussels and had to cut short our sightseeing activities to somehow compensate for this extra expense. In short, they ruined my vacation. Can you please help us? — Hari Doraisamy, Newtown Square, Pa.

Answer: The hotel shouldn’t have forced you to upgrade. I reviewed your correspondence, and it appears that you did almost everything you could to alert Marriott that you were traveling with your family. Something may have gotten lost in the translation.

Many hotels — and this is particularly true in Europe — only allow two people per room. Maximum occupancy is often set by fire codes, not the property. It’s unlikely the Brussels Marriott was trying to pull a fast one. Rather, it wanted to ensure you and your family were in a room that met government requirements.

What got lost in the translation? I blame the Marriott.com website. When you made the initial reservation, you tried to choose four guests but the system would only accept two. You inquired about the problem, and were left with the impression that it was a glitch in the system. So you chose two guests, believing that the site was asking for the number of adults — not the total number of people in the room.

In the States, when a room is listed as “double occupancy” it often means you’re getting two beds. And hotels don’t mind having a few extra kids in the room or wheeling a crib in for a baby. But when you’re traveling overseas, hotels sometimes see things differently. Either they want to monetize every guest or local fire codes prohibit them from allowing more than two people from occupying the room. Someone should have alerted you to that.

You followed all the right steps to get this resolved, appealing your case in writing to Marriott. I do think you may have overlooked one thing, and that was trying to get this fixed when you checked in. You asked a manager to review your request, but you might have also made a quick call to Marriott. I notice that you’re an elite-level frequent guest with Marriott, and it seems to me someone should have been able to help you.

Once you agreed to pay the 200-Euro upgrade, your options for getting this fixed were limited … but not without hope. I contacted Marriott on your behalf, and it agreed to a full refund of the upgrade charge, plus 10,000 points by way of an apology.

(Photo: lew ishamd reamer/Flickr Creative Commons)

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  • Josh

    I’m a big fan of researching and booking online, and generally not a big believer in using third party agents (partially because I find I’m more likely to get inaccurate information from them).  However, you have to be willing to do *all* the research, and follow up on things not answered there.

    If you go to the Marriott site for this hotel, the only normal rooms are listed as “1 King or 2 Twin/Single Beds”, and 291 square feet, which would tell me right away that it doesn’t have space for a rollaway.

    It sounds like the family was planning to have all 4 share a king bed, which many families do at home.  And many hotels don’t really ask many questions, probably depending on how strict their local code/fire authorities are with them.  However, since it’s not considered a “standard” occupancy, the OP really needed to clearly ask the hotel itself, preferably with a written followup, to confirm that 2 adults + 2 children would be allowed to stay in that room.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    Last September, we went to China to visit the World Expo.  I made a reservation at a SPG hotel where the occupancy was limited to two guests.  I called SPG, e-mailed SPG as well as sent an e-mail to the general manager of the hotel stating that there will be three of us (one being our then 4-YO son) and please confirm if that was going to be a problem.  I didn’t want to show up and have a problem.

    There is nothing wrong with the Marriott website and it was correct.  If you enter the correct number of guests, it will tell you which rooms are available based upon the number of guests.  It wasn’t disclosed in the article who told the OP that the problem was a glich which raises a red flag for me…why wasn’t it disclosed?  That was the person that made the mistake.

    We have a cousin that is confined to a wheelchair.  They (his wife, his parents and his three adult children) went on a cruise to Alaska and everyone had a blast.  They decided to take another cruise…this time to the Caribbean.  He didn’t like it because most of the ports and islands that they visited were not wheelchair friendly.  If they dealt with a travel agent and/or done some research, they would have discovered that there are countries don’t have the same wheelchair access laws like the US.

    It is my opinion that if you are traveling outside of the US, you have special needs, you are traveling with young children, etc, consult with a travel agent and/or do some research on your own before going.    

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    When traveling outside of the US, it is my recommendation to use a travel agent or consult with a travel agent.  Furthermore, if you (or a party in your group) have a special need; you are traveling with young children; you have a medical condition; etc., I think that it is prudent to use a travel agent especially one that specializes with travelers with special needs, etc.

    In regards to the OP contacting Marriott, nothing was disclosed in the article on WHO he contacted.  The only thing that I saw was Chris slamming the Marriott website for being wrong which it wasn’t.  Until the ’name’ (i.e. Marriott web support; Marriott general reservation; Marriott elite) is disclosed, I have doubts that we are getting the whole story.

    If he contacted Marriott, why didn’t he made the reservation with the person who told him incorrectly that the website has a glich and that CSR could have entered four guests instead of going back to the website and book the reservation for two guests?  There is no extra fee to book a reservation with a Marriott CSR.   

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    If he contacted Marriott, why didn’t he made the reservation with the person who told him incorrectly that the website has a glich and that CSR could have entered four guests in order to have a correct reservation instead of going back to the website and book the reservation for two guests?  There is no extra fee to book a reservation with a Marriott CSR. Until the ’name’ (i.e. Marriott web support; Marriott general reservation; Marriott elite) is disclosed, I have doubts that we are getting the whole story.

    I am NOT one of those “business is always right” types.  I have been a long time reader of this blog and have read several articles where the travelers didn’t disclosed the whole story…only their side of the story to get their refund, change their reservation, etc.  

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    Did he contact the general manager of the hotel where he was staying?  When I travel, I will send an e-mail (or fax) to the general manager of the hotel where I or we will be staying especially if we are staying outside of the US; requesting special things like a room on the first floor, a mini-refrigerator, etc; etc.

    Regardless if he contacted the GM of the hotel before his visit, IF he contacted Marriott, why didn’t he made the reservation with the person who told him incorrectly that the website has a glich and that CSR could have entered four guests in order to have a correct reservation instead of going back to the website and book the reservation for two guests?  There is no extra fee to book a reservation with a Marriott CSR. 

    I have doubts that we are getting the whole story until the ’name’ (i.e. Marriott web support; Marriott general reservation; Marriott elite) is disclosed.  I think that there was an incompetent CSR who told the OP incorrectly information as well as I think it is a possibility that the OP could have been tyring to scam the system…without the facts, it is hard to judge…we can only speculate. 

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    I agree with you.

    I went to six hotels websites:Marriott:  # of guestsHilton:  # of adults and # of childrenSPG:  # of adultsHoliday Inn:  # of adults and # of childrenChoice Hotels:  # of adults and # of childrenBest Western:  # of guests that are 18 YO or older and # of guests that are 17 YO and younger

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    We don’t know who the OP spoke with.

    IF the OP contacted Marriott, why didn’t he made the reservation with the person who told him incorrectly that the website has a glich and that CSR could have entered four guests in order to have a correct reservation instead of going back to the website and book the reservation for two guests?  There is no extra fee to book a reservation with a Marriott CSR. 

    There could have been an incompetent Marriott CSR that told the OP the incorrect information.

    I wish that the hotel chains record their conversations with guests and e-mail that conversation to the guest.  This will show incompetent CSRs as well as guest who didn’t listen to what they were told.  It will eliminate a lot of these he saidshe said situations.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    Who did the OP spoke with a Marriott that told him the website has a glich?  That wasn’t disclosed.  Also, it was disclosed in the article if he booked the reservation after he spoke with the Marriott CSR.

    Why didn’t he made the reservation with the person who told him incorrectly that the website has a glich and that CSR could have entered four guests in order to have a correct reservation instead of going back to the website and book the reservation for two guests or keeping the online reservation with the incorrect number of guests if it was already booked?  There is no extra fee to book a reservation with a Marriott CSR. 

    It is my guess that the OP spoke with an incompetent Marriott CSR not that the website had a bugerrorfaultetc. as Chris wrote in the article.  However, without having the whole story, it gives me doubts.

  • Arizona Road Warrior

    He didn’t cut the trip (in regards to the number of days)…they reduced their sightseeing activities. 

  • SickMomma

     My assumption here is that the family probably co-sleeps and assumed that since they feel they fit in a king-size bed at home, it didn’t really seem like a big deal when they couldn’t get the website to accept the actual number of people. I think it’s a HUGE difference when you’re talking about young kids who sleep in the same bed as their parents and (as one commenter did) college students cramming as many bodies into a Fort Lauderdale motel room as can physically fit in the room.

    I fudged that number several times in the U.S. for hotel reservations on the web when we were co-sleeping with an infant or toddler. Why should I pay for a crib or rollaway bed that I’m not going to use? But it also was never an issue when I showed up with the child; I guess that’s a difference between the U.S. and different rules in Europe.

    It never would have occurred to me that it would have been an issue in Europe, but I also would have been surprised to find a king-size bed there. :) (Clearly, the places I’ve stayed in Europe are NOT as nice as a Marriott, although I stay in Marriott regularly in the U.S.) I do know that you can find “family rooms” in European hotels, although possibly not in American-based chains like Marriott, that have multiple beds. I once ended up in one rather crowded room with one queen bed, one double and two twin beds.

  • http://www.facebook.com/andrelot Andre Lot

     I’m currently living in The Netherlands as an expat. I second to the info Christ wrote: in many countries, Belgium and Netherlands included, there are very strict laws in regard to firing codes and maximum occupancy of a whole property, some of them with tax and licensing implications.

    It is a different approach than the one take by most US cities, where they give more leeway to properties, which can face sky-high lawsuits if they fail or do any harm. So, while I agree there was some misunderstanding about the allowed occupancy and so on, and that Marriot should have burnt the costs of the upgrade from start, I don’t think this was any “switch and bait” scenario.

  • skoc50

    I find it hard to believe that someone who claims to have traveled extensively all over the world has never heard of the limit of 2 to a room.  It is VERY common across the world, especially in Europe.  Maybe you have never had the need to have more than 2 to a room and therefore have not encountered it personally.  But trust me, it is definitely common.  I also find it hard to believe that the extra 200 euros somehow “ruined” the OP’s vacation.  While I admit the extra 200 euros is an annoyance, if it makes that much difference, maybe they shouldn’t be traveling somewhere where they have to cut corners that closely. 

  • skoc50

    The exchange rate is about 1.427 which equals about $285 not $600.  You’ve exaggerated this a bit.  He was hit was a 200 euro additional cost not 300.  

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