"Rules/Rights" regarding rooms

[diskids2]

I have always wanted to ask this question and I was reminded of it today when I was reading the thread on faxing the room controller.

I have been told on more than one occasion and by more than one hotel that once a party is in a room they can choose to stay longer than originally booked and they cannot be required to leave or even change rooms.

I find this interesting since I have also been told that if I choose to stay longer (or because of UPH ticket reasons) have two reservations back to back, that I may need to move my room.

Does anyone know what this is all about and what the "rules, rights" really are?

 

[Kimberle]

Well, I don't know abt Disney, but I've been "forced" to check out of other hotels at the end of my reservation.

Look at it this way, when you've got a reservation, especially one you've paid for in full, you're going to want your room to be ready. If the hotel is full and someone refuses to check out, where is Disney (or any hotel) going to put the new guests?

I know Disney has many hotels, but I wouldn't always be thrilled at having to change.

 

[diskids2]

I totally agree with you, but I have been told that the most important reason why a particular room is not promised is that if a party was in that room the night before and chooses not to leave on their scheduled departure date, that the hotel CANNOT ask them to leave or even change to another room.

I know that when we go to the shore and stay in smaller motel/hotels we are required to leave, but I was wondering if this is really a rule/law or what is the "scoop"?

Thanks!

 

[LadyLt]

Originally posted by diskids2

I have been told on more than one occasion and by more than one hotel that once a party is in a room they can choose to stay longer than originally booked and they cannot be required to leave or even change rooms.

I find this interesting since I have also been told that if I choose to stay longer (or because of UPH ticket reasons) have two reservations back to back, that I may need to move my room.

No, you have a right to the room for the length of time of your reservation. No more, no less. The Disney resorts have been booked at almost 100% for the entire summer. There is no way that you can just refuse to vacate your room. Other guests are arriving who have paid reservations and they are entitled to those rooms. I have had to tell numerous people this summer that they could not extend because there were no empty rooms.

Now if there are empty rooms, you will usually be allowed to extend your stay if you want. But if you have received a deep discount and the resort is almost full, you may not get that dscount for any extended stay. It varies with many different factors.

 

[Lewisc]

This has come up in the past. In some states (I think including FL) the hotel can't physically evict you if you refuse to vacate at the end of your reservation. Someone actually posted the applicable law. The hotel can charge you rack rate.

The hotel can certainly de-activate your room key which will make it difficult (if not impossible) to continue your stay.

As a matter of courtesy it wouldn't occur to me not to change rooms if my reservation required me to change rooms.

I think the purpose of the law is to handle situations such as illness, weather and flight changes that may require a guest to extend their stay.

 

[floridafam]

I believe there is a law in Florida that says they can't force youto leave if you wish to stay longer than your reservation.

I asked this of AKL Concierge last year and they said that it was true.

Maybe someone will post the actual law.

 

[>>^..^<<]

Yes, I have also heard that Florida State law prevents hotels from evicting you from your room, however they can charge you rack rate for your additional nights

>>^..^<<

 

[diskids2]

Very interesting. As I said this is usually the reason I am given, when I ask for a particular room. I'm happy to have this information because I will be better prepared to respond the next time I need to when I make a reservation.

I guess it is just an excuse that the reservation agents use when you want to put a block on a particular room that you have stayed in before.

So just to make sure I have this right -

"No, you have a right to the room for the length of time of your reservation. No more, no less. The Disney resorts have been booked at almost 100% for the entire summer. There is no way that you can just refuse to vacate your room. Other guests are arriving who have paid reservations and they are entitled to those rooms. I have had to tell numerous people this summer that they could not extend because there were no empty rooms."

The real issue seems to be that it may be too difficult to make sure that they don't put another party in the room that you have requested who has a length of stay longer then your arrival date.

 

[Lewisc]

What information? Three of us posted that there is a FL law that prevents the hotel from physically evicting you. Disney is confirming that information. It's rude if you continue a stay after being told you can't but that's not the question.

Finally Disney doesn't guarantee a specific room. They can certainly agree to extend a stay for a guest even if that means you don't get the exact room you want. If you need a handicap room or reserved a specific suite you have some grounds to complain but otherwise NO.

Originally posted by diskids2
Very interesting. As I said this is usually the reason I am given, when I ask for a particular room. I'm happy to have this information because I will be better prepared to respond the next time I need to when I make a reservation.
.

 

[diskids2]

Sorry for the back to back replies. I just saw additional replies.

Here's where I am confused. If the law states that a person cannot be forced to leave their assigned room, then why is it that if I want to make a back to back reservation (for example 3/12 - 3/14, and then another one with 3/15 - 3/22 to include UPH), I am told I will have to change rooms. Why can't I just stay in the same room if I am not required to leave it even without another reservation? When I ask this question, I'm told that another family may have been assigned to my first room.

But when I ask for a particular room that I have stayed in before I'm told that a "block" cannot be placed because the family that is in the room the night before I arrive cannot be asked to leave if they choose to extend their stay.


It seems to me that the reservation agents want it both ways. People are either allowed to stay or not.

HELP!

 

[diskids2]

Lewisc,
I had not seen the other three posts and my original reply was being made to the one from Ladylt stating that you had to leave.

If my original post is unclear then maybe I can restate it. This is not a question about whether it is rude to stay in a room or not. My question is about the law that I am being quoted from reservation agents not only at Disney but at other hotels as well. I wanted to see if anyone else had ever encountered this and if they knew it to be true. It was confusing to me because I get conflicting information depending on what my request is.

Just to add, if I were in a room and wanted to extend my stay and the hotel told me that there were no rooms and I would be putting another family out, I would not stay.

I believe as a paying guest that I have the right to ask why my request is being denied (to put a block on a particular room and/or to be able to stay in the same room when I have a back to back reservation). I also believe I have the right to confirm or find out about the answer that I am being given.

Sometimes it is difficult to determine the tone a person is taking with an email message. I hope that you were not offended by my reply. Your reply seemed that you were. That's why I took the time to detail this reply.

Quote:
"What information? Three of us posted that there is a FL law that prevents the hotel from physically evicting you. Disney is confirming that information. It's rude if you continue a stay after being told you can't but that's not the question."

 

[LadyLt]

Okay maybe I was wrong in my answer. I haven't worked in the hotel industry for very long. I was answering what I have told in the past. I have been advised that if someone wanted to stay another night or two and we were at 100% to tell them No. I guess if they INSISTED and quoted some Florida law that it might be allowed. I have never seen that. In fact, I have had to tell quite a few guests that they could not extend. So far, no one has challenged me or got nasty about it.

But if we are not at capacity, a lot of people are allowed to extend their stay when they ask. And we do not normally make them change their room if they extend. Therefore, if someone is already staying in a room and a new guest asked for that room, it would not be granted to the new guest. The one exception as stated above would probably be for some type of medical need or a specific named suite. But I have never personally been involved in that situation.

Normally if someone wants to extend their stay, the price jumps to rack rate if the guest is not already paying rack rate. There are some exceptions and those have to do with time of year, occupancy rates, type of discount. etc.

 

[Lewisc]

Originally posted by diskids2
Lewisc,
I believe as a paying guest that I have the right to ask why my request is being denied (to put a block on a particular room and/or to be able to stay in the same room when I have a back to back reservation). I also believe I have the right to confirm or find out about the answer that I am being given.

Sometimes it is difficult to determine the tone a person is taking with an email message. I hope that you were not offended by my reply. Your reply seemed that you were. That's why I took the time to detail this reply.

I wasn't offended, just surprised that you seemed to disregard half the posts. Your answer that you replied before seeing 3 posts makes sense.

You really don't have a right for an explanation as to why you can't have a particular room. I think it's (somewhat) unreasonable to actually request a specific room. How about the hotel is trying to block off the floor for a youth group. How fast would you move?

You have back to back reservations and the hotel wants you to move. I think it would be rude to refuse. Under my understanding of the FL law (posted by others) if you refuse to check out the hotel may be stuck BUT you may very well lose your discounted rate. At minimum they may stick you with rack rate. Some posters in the past think you could wind up paying the maximum rate listed on your hotel door. The contention is you are now under a special rate (guest who exceed their reservation).

If the hotel isn't sold out they are likely to allow the guest to stay in the same room. Yes that may be someone else isn't going to get the room they were hoping for. Same situation could occur if a guest checks out early. A guest checking in the previous day might get the room you were hoping for.

Most people posting don't have to move when they have back to back reservations. The exceptions seem to be when the person got a complimentary upgrade for the first part of the stay.

It's a lot easier for the hotel if they don't make you move.

 

[cindyfan]

I have heard of laws like this.
I think they are designed to protect people from ending up out in the street with no where to go in extreme situations.

Example....what happen if there was a hurricane and all flights were cancelled so you had no way to get home and no other place to stay.
From what I understand, if someone refused to leave (I don't see that ever happening at WDW though), then they would actually have to go through legal eviction procedures to remove them....as I am sure WDW has some kind of set up to take care of this.

 

[Nuts4Disney]

Originally posted by diskids2
Here's where I am confused. If the law states that a person cannot be forced to leave their assigned room, then why is it that if I want to make a back to back reservation (for example 3/12 - 3/14, and then another one with 3/15 - 3/22 to include UPH), I am told I will have to change rooms. Why can't I just stay in the same room if I am not required to leave it even without another reservation? When I ask this question, I'm told that another family may have been assigned to my first room.

But when I ask for a particular room that I have stayed in before I'm told that a "block" cannot be placed because the family that is in the room the night before I arrive cannot be asked to leave if they choose to extend their stay.


It seems to me that the reservation agents want it both ways. People are either allowed to stay or not.

HELP!

I am not a lawyer...& I wouldn't want to have to start bringing my lawyer on vacation with me.

But perhaps this might answer some of your questions...

I've been going to WDW for quite a few years. I can recall at least 1 time where we were there & decided we'd like to extend our stay. [This was several years before 9/11]. We spoke to the resort & they had availability. The *resort* even said they could make it very convenient for us & we could stay in our current room.

I've also had stays where we had more than 1 ressie. I remember the reservation CMs saying they would make a note of this in our ressies & that the resort CMs would try to make it as easy for us as possible.

Thankfully, I have never personally been in the situation of a catastrophe & *stranded* at WDW. We had a couple of near misses due to inclement weather, but never really *stranded.*

I do recall hearing that on 9/11 & the days that immediately followed, WDW did whatever possible to assist & accomodate their guests who were *stranded.*

It seems to me that WDW does go through great lengths to accomodate their guests & make them happy. There are endless stories of this right here on the DIS.

IMHO, I think WDW *has* to say that you may be asked to change rooms... & there may be an actual situation where your resort may *need* you to change rooms, but IMHO, WDW would consider your convenience & try to accomodate you to the best of their ability.

Hope this helps you.

 

[dznyntnh]

I think that when Disney is telling you in advance that you may not be able to retain your room with a back to back reservation, they are really covering themselves in case they assign you a room that they need to assign to someone else later.

Say, you check in late tonight and the only room they have available is a handicap accessable room, so they put you there for the first night of your reservation.

Then, the next night when your 'next' reservation takes place they need that room for someone that actually needs a handicap room and they have to move you.

This is not something that is going to happen often, but it could 'conceivably' happen and by telling you they cannot guarantee the same room for both reservations they are covering themselves (as any business would).

That said, I have had a 'back to back' reservation several times and have never actually had to switch rooms.

It's not like they want you to switch rooms, they want you to be happy, but they are letting you know of all possibilities.

I don't think the laws would apply here because you are not being asked to leave the hotel only to switch rooms. The laws are intended to prevent (permanent) removal from the room (and the hotel).

 

[LKS]

Well, on two occasions we tried to extend our stay at WDW and were turned down flat because no rooms were available in the entire Contemporary Resort, much less our particular room - we would have gladly changed rooms. One of those time, there was nothing available on property at all, and as I recall, the other time we could have changed hotels. Both times we just decided to head on home as per our original plan. I have since learned to "plan long."

Anyway, no, I didn't stamp my foot and refuse to vacate, so perhaps it is possible that they could not have evicted me. I find it hard to believe though. I think they would have sent someone to the room and removed my stuff the first time I stuck a toe out.

 

[CarolA]

LKS,
Well if you had just stayed you probably would have paid a rate that would have made you part owner of the hotel. Have you ever read those rate cards in hotels. I stayed in one recently where the maximum rate per night in my room was $6,000.00 that is not a typo!

It was a Florida hotel (not Disney) and if they could charge me the max if I exceeded my original resevation you bet I would vacate! LOL!!!

 

[Eeyore1954]

$6000!

Sheesh, I want to rent the room not BUY it!!!

 

[lmhall2000]

You guys are giving me hope!! You mean to say that when my husband and I retire we can make reservations at our favorite hotel, and stay there as long as we can pay for it?? WOW- then we could actually blow through our 401k, our IRA's, and pension and possibly live at WDW for oh about 2 years? That would be AMAZING! We often joke how we're going to take jobs as street sweepers so we can get our grandchildren in for free- can you imagine if we could have our grandchildren visit us at the Grand Floridian? Hey, after 2 years we could just find another job and work until we drop....I'm going to go up my husband's contribution rate in his 401k program!! Now don't anyone go changing the law on us- we won't retire for another 25 years!

Thanks for the vision!
Tara