BTaP 2010 rooms - all gone.. sort of

[pikey]

Just called the hotel and been told that "all the rooms allocated for this event have been taken".

They do have vacancy but the only way someone can now stay at the hotel on the Saturday is if they book for two nights.

Anything PH can do to assist?

[Garlick]

Really? I/we had no idea that they had plans to implement a two nights only rule.

Leave it with me for a moment.....

[pikey]

Garlick said:

Really? I/we had no idea that they had plans to implement a two nights only rule.

Leave it with me for a moment.....

Cheers!

So quick - Was just about to drop you a line actually :-)

Also (assuming you have the power to fix the room thing), how many people are on a table and do you have that many tickets left?

Ta!

[Garlick]

No problem, we're about to give the hotel a call.

Tables will be set to seat 8, but we can make them up to take 10 if you are friendly (it will be a bit close) and want to request it.

With regards to the tickets, I'll get a confirmed number from the shop later today but I would imagine that we still have plenty left (we can seat up to 200)

I'll get back to you about the rooms as soon as I have an answer for you

[Garlick]

pikey, I hope you don't mind me replying here rather than your email, but it shares the information to all.

The hotel has a new 'manager' and we (well, Sarah the HM Events manager) is talking to them about this matter. We will get it resolved, and I will update you on this thread once it's sorted.

[pikey]

That's great, thanks

[LHD]

Garlick said:

pikey, I hope you don't mind me replying here rather than your email, but it shares the information to all.

The hotel has a new 'manager' and we (well, Sarah the HM Events manager) is talking to them about this matter. We will get it resolved, and I will update you on this thread once it's sorted.

Is that Sarah (Mrs Garlick?)

[Garlick]

Not 'my' Sarah, another one.

[GTIR]

Their website allows only a min of two days booking, standard policy it seems. (£150 per night! )

[Garlick]

That's what we are trying to sort. It's a new rule put in by the new manager. We are in discussion with him now as we want single night bookings at a better rate.

We have a contract in place so it should sort itself out.

Why do the hotels always cause us hassle with the rooms?

[GTIR]

Because they're shortsighted.

They've given Haymarket deals on the rooms, in the knowledge they may have had full price bookings on those dates too capacity, but they fail to realise how much we will be spending at the bar!

I can just imagine them being all arsey and grumpy like stroppy teens.

[pikey]

To be fair to the lady on the phone, she said they had allocated a number of 'single night rooms' to the event, but these had all been taken.

I have come across this before on a different hotel's website and decided to call and ask what room classes they had available. "All of them" was the answer, so I said I'll take a certain type, and for one night. Despite me pointing out they were near empty, the "it's our policy that you have to book two nights" meant I didn't book (finishing work in London at 7pm didn't allow getting to the place until 9pm, hence bit of a waste). It's a great policy to have, but if you're a hotel with most of your rooms vacant three weeks before the date, perhaps it's the policy that's causing the occupancy problem? If it was my business I would want to know how many 1 night booking processes (on the website) terminated right at the point they were told of the 2 night minimum.

[Plotloss]

It's moronic.

If people can't stay for one night, they won't go, so there will be less money through the till.

[Garlick]

The best bit is that we didn't 'allocate' any rooms at all, we simply advised them that we would no- doubt fill the hotel so keep them all free for as long as you can

We are still awaiting a call back.....

[dazren]

pikey said:

Just called the hotel and been told that "all the rooms allocated for this event have been taken".

They do have vacancy but the only way someone can now stay at the hotel on the Saturday is if they book for two nights.

Anything PH can do to assist?

So how many rooms were allocated to the event by the hotel?

I booked my room for two nights ages ago through an online reservations company. I made no mention of the fact I'm only attending due to BTaP. Others have done similarly without refering to BTaP, so a lot of their bookings will be for BTAP without the hotel even knowing.

[JonRB]

A few points to note:

• certainly a few months ago, they didn't know what "Pistonheads" was or "Black Tie and Pie" and you had to ask for the "Haymarket dinner dance".
• The hotel's website enforces 2 nights, however if you book through Expedia then it doesn't.
• There are no pre-booked Pistonheads rooms, as far as I am aware. It's a free-for-all.

I'd advise trying the Expedia website and see what that turns up. That's how I booked.

Edit: And I made no mention of BTaP - didn't need to. There is no discount for doing so anyway, so no point.

Edited by JonRB on Friday 13th August 15:49

[Garlick]

Chaps - 18 rooms for Saturday have been released now (or at least they will be shortly), and we will strive to get more next week.

In the meantime, might want to have a look here too as it's only 1.9 miles away http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/Hotels/Best-Western-T...

[pikey]

JonRB said:

A few points to note:

• certainly a few months ago, they didn't know what "Pistonheads" was or "Black Tie and Pie" and you had to ask for the "Haymarket dinner dance".
• The hotel's website enforces 2 nights, however if you book through Expedia then it doesn't.

Same. I called the number, lady asked me if I was attending for an event. She didn't have PH or BTaP but did "Haymarket Dinner". That's when she tapped away a bit more and said "sorry all the rooms allocated for that are gone". She offered to sell me two nights or put me on a reserve list should one of the allocated rooms be cancelled.

[Garlick]

pikey said:

Did you see my note above pikey? Also, expect a text from Daz shortly.

[pikey]

Garlick, thanks for sorting it.

JobRB & Daz, thanks - booked with Expedia without problem. Not only is it cheaper to me, the hotel have to pay comission to them.

Weird way to run a business...