Room Type Problem when Booking Hotel Room Using Dream Miles

[AngelDisney]

DD and I are visiting Japan and Hong Kong in July. Due to ride closures (Monsters Inc. starting July 2 and Sindbad starting July 1) and both rides being original attractions only in TDR, I have to add one more day to my stay and then there is the vacation package limitation of only 2 nights max. Japan is expensive and I am planning to splurge on staying at two Ryokans rather than spending high rates to stay at Tokyo Disneyland Hotel or DisneySea Miracosta Hotel. So I am thinking to book one night using my Dream Miles for our last night there to save some money. We will be leaving for Tokyo the next morning, so any hotel in the resort area is fine. Hilton Tokyo Bay is an official Disney hotel and it is available for booking. The hotel offer twin rooms with 2 beds or king rooms with 1 bed. However, the booking page shows all rooms, even the suites and magic rooms, with 1 bed. I am not sure if it is a typo or a special arrangement between Airmiles and the hotel, so I live chat with the travel "agent". He told me if it showed 1 bed then there would only be 1 bed and advised me to call the hotel directly. Does anyone have any experience with this situation? If I tell the hotel that I am trying to book a room using Airmiles, I don't think they would be very helpful. I can ask if they have any twin rooms with only 1 bed I guess. TIA! I thought the process would be very easy and straightforward.

Also, there was the word advance next to the room type. Does anyone know what "advance" means? Does it mean no changes can be made once the booking is done? Does it mean if I book other room types using Dream Miles, I can make changes afterwards? Thanks again!

 

[star72232]

I just called about this issue! They told me that anything that says 2 twins will have 2 twins. Anything that says, for example, "double or twins" is assigned by the hotel. For some reason the default number of beds is always 1, even when the listing specifically says that there are 2. This is important for me, because I'm traveling with my 12 year old son in May and I refuse to share a bed with him! If you do a chat, they should be able to verify that what you are booking is indeed 2 beds.

I really wish they would show a picture of the room and make the information a LOT more clear.

 

[AngelDisney]

I just called about this issue! They told me that anything that says 2 twins will have 2 twins. Anything that says, for example, "double or twins" is assigned by the hotel. For some reason the default number of beds is always 1, even when the listing specifically says that there are 2. This is important for me, because I'm traveling with my 12 year old son in May and I refuse to share a bed with him! If you do a chat, they should be able to verify that what you are booking is indeed 2 beds.

I really wish they would show a picture of the room and make the information a LOT more clear.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I did a live chat but the rep was not very knowledgeable. He said if it’s one then there is only one bed. I checked the hotel website again and it clearly states their twin rooms have 2 beds. I have found it challenging to call Japan for inquiries. I prefer email but I will try tonight. I had no luck calling Tokyo Disney last time. The line kept dropping. Hoping for better luck with Hilton this time!

I agree that there should be more details about the room types. Hilton Tokyo Bay shows no description at all.

 

[AngelDisney]

I did an online live chat with Hilton. Very efficient process and way more helpful than Airmiles chat! I was transferred twice within a few seconds each time to the right representative who confirmed that all twin rooms had two single beds and a solo traveller would either book a twin room with 2 twin size beds or a king room with 1 king bed. Then he offered to check availability for me and I told him I was planning a stay with no firm date in mind yet.

I will go ahead to book the twin room. I hope Airmiles can do a better job with hotel description on the Reward booking page. I also checked out the Travel Hub page. It was worse with no description on the different terms or room types. It lists standard, standard with breakfast and standard non-refundable. Once I clicked on Book Now to see if there would be more room info, it said no room is available. Is this typical? I wonder whether Japanese hotels somehow contribute to this issue.

 

[hdrolfe]

Their descriptions are somewhat lacking. I have used them a couple times and once it said "two beds" but in reality it was only one king sized (it was a suite with a kitchenette and really the only type of room they had!). They also quite often say "no breakfast included" when there is a free breakfast put out that anyone staying there has access to. It would be nice if they would do a better job on describing things.

 

[AngelDisney]

I am glad that I didn't book the hotel room. I checked my World Elite Rewards (non-Airmiles one) and my Airmiles accounts. Each had enough points to buy a one-way flight from Toronto to Haneda. I have been waiting for Air Canada to offer seat sales on this leg as I have already booked the return flights from Sapporo to Hong Kong to Toronto with Cathay Pacific (it is about $300/ticket cheaper than booking return flights with Air Canada and a one-way flight from Sapporo to Hong Kong). I booked two one-way flights using my points with no issues, and I am so happy with the outcome! Now that I have saved money on the flights, I am going to book the rest of my stay at the Disney Ambassador Hotel so that we will not have to move hotel. Thanks for your kind support! Without you all, I wouldn't be able to earn enough AM so soon after I used it all up on flights last April.