Swan- cancelling reservations?!

[Disneytrip]

Has anyone seen the trip reports on tripadvisory recently for the Swan ( and also the Dolphin) where the resort is simply canceling peoples' reservations just days before their trips begin (b/c they have overbooked), and leaving voicemails at home to notify them, but then not doing much to compensate? This is frightening. We have booked for February and I notice when we are traveling neither the swan nor the dolphin have any rooms left. i hope this doesn't mean they've overbooked, and i hope we don't lose our reservations!

 

[*Flower*]

Do you have a website for tripadvisory?

We've stayed there quite a few times (including a couple of weeks ago) and have never had the hotel try to cancel our reservation.

Now you have me curious.

Good luck with your trip though- I'm sure that you'll have nothing to worry about.

 

[Disneytrip]

www.tripadvisor.com

 

[PNO4TE]

Has anyone seen the trip reports on tripadvisory recently for the Swan ( and also the Dolphin) where the resort is simply canceling peoples' reservations just days before their trips begin (b/c they have overbooked), and leaving voicemails at home to notify them, but then not doing much to compensate? This is frightening. We have booked for February and I notice when we are traveling neither the swan nor the dolphin have any rooms left. i hope this doesn't mean they've overbooked, and i hope we don't lose our reservations!

If you look at the two reviews discussing the canceled reservations at the Swan I think you would agree that they were possibly for the same reservation. The reviewers are both from Boston and their writing style and their tale of woe is remarkably similar. The single bad Dolphin review is also from the same time frame.

The two hotels are run by good hotel companies and could not afford to be canceling reservations all the time. It appears you have stayed there before, for your honeymoon. Did you have any problems then? If you are really concerned, contact the hotel in advance and state your concerns. I have never stayed at either the Dolphin or the Swan, but I would not let these few bad comments affect my reserving a room there.

 

[webray]

We have stayed at Swan and Dolphin so many times we lost count.
We have never had a problem with overbooking. I usually call them direct, if they are full, they tell me and I can't book.

I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

I think someone was unhappy, they didn't get an upgrade when they booked a cheap room, etc. The Swan and Dolphin are fantastic deluxe resorts!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[deej696]

Anytime you reserve a room at a hotel whether its Disney or not, there is always the chance the hotel could be overbooked. Sometimes the situations are severe enough that the hotel relocates people in advance, usually picking up the tab for one night, etc. Sometimes they are only over booked by one or two room, and they simply roll the dice and hope a couple people dont show. As a guy who spent several years managing the front desk of a luxury hotel in Orlando, the last thing any hotel manager wants to do is "walk" a guest.

Chances are you'll have zero problem. If you are really concerned, perhaps give a ring to the hotel, ask for the front desk/office manager and ask about it. I can tell you if someone called my desk concerned, and I gave them my word they would not be walked, then by golly they would not be walked

 

[kaytieeldr]

Okay, let me get this straight. Whether the reviews are from (likely) two different people in one party, or two entirely separate parties - they each made reservations a year ago, but just paid the deposit for that reservation a week before arrival? Am I missing something? Are there actually hotels that let you do this? That just, well, trust you to show up until almost the last minute, only then asking for money to guarantee the room will be held for you?

 

[deej696]

Okay, let me get this straight. Whether the reviews are from (likely) two different people in one party, or two entirely separate parties - they each made reservations a year ago, but just paid the deposit for that reservation a week before arrival? Am I missing something? Are there actually hotels that let you do this? That just, well, trust you to show up until almost the last minute, only then asking for money to guarantee the room will be held for you?

Some might, but its rare. Most hotels require a credit card as a form of guarantee, and if you dont show up you are charged the one night room and tax. Some hotels may allow you to book on a "cash" basis, which means no credit card, but you usually have to prepay for your room by check or cash. The policy with my hotel was if you did not put a credit card or prepay 1 night, we had the right to cancel your reservation inside of 48 hours before arrival. In oversold situations, those were the first reservations I would look for to clear out, and rarely did those people show.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Cool, thanks! So, both the parties on trip advisor had rooms reserved on spec for between 51 and 58 weeks (one booked a year ago, one two months before that - although, again, they're probably the same reservation), but only paid a deposit a week in advance, and THEN only because the hotel called THEM to get the deposit. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Maybe you can do a search on this forum because 2 posters here both said they were getting the boot from the hotel, sorry I cant remember if it was the Swan or Dolphin, but I think it was the Dolphin and the reason giving was that the renovation was not done etc. I dont know if they posted the outcome. People were telling them to call corportate etc.

 

[DisCopper]

Ok, I worked for years in hotels, and here's the deal...

They can require you to leave a credit card number (or cash advance). They can cancel you if you don't.

If you don't leave a credit card number, they can cancel you on that day at 4:00 or 6:00 pm (based on their policy).

If you leave a credit card number, show up on your reservation day, and they don't have a room for you, they have to provide you with a room at another hotel (it's usually called "a walk"). That other hotel SHOULD be of equal or better value, but if nothing else is available, all they have to do is whatever they can... which may be something horrible.

If they have some sort of crisis, they can cancel you prior to your reservation... crisis generally means fire, flood, etc...

Hotels always overbook.. there's always a certain percentage of people who don't show up.

So if the Swan and Dolphin are REALLY cancelling people a few days in advance because of being "overbooked..." I'd raise the roof. You need to contact their corporate office, Disney, etc... Remember, ESPECIALLY in the hotel world, the squeeky wheel gets the grease.

 

[tlcoke]

I had a hotel( the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN) at the last minute email to tell us they overbooked the 1st night of our conference, but they (the hotel) moved us to another hotel for the 1st night of the stay at their cost, then gave each of us registered in the room a $100.00 gift certificate for the problem. Since we were splitting our room cost 3 ways, after applying the Gift certificate our room cost each of us $18.00 for our 4 nights (3 at Opryland & 1 at the other hotel). They did this to approximately 1/4 (200+ people) of those who came in for our conference at the hotel - many of which had made reservations 3-12 months in advance of the conference.

Based on my experience above, I would be surprised if the Swan/Dolphin didn't compensate and/or make other arrangements for those affected if they truely overbooked, even if they moved the guests affected to a non disney hotel in the area. The Negative Publicity would be a PR Nightmare for the hotel if they cancelled the reservations with no help finding lodging for those affected. If they did not help, there must have been an underlying reason for the cancellation, that is not being posted.

 

[deej696]

So if the Swan and Dolphin are REALLY cancelling people a few days in advance because of being "overbooked..." I'd raise the roof. You need to contact their corporate office, Disney, etc... Remember, ESPECIALLY in the hotel world, the squeeky wheel gets the grease.

Wow, way to throw a fellow hotel worker under the bus. Remember what it feels like to have the "roof raised" on you because of overbooking? Cause I sure do, and I wouldnt wish it on anyone, even if it was my decision to overbook in the first place....

To the OP, as I mentioned earlier, call the Swan and ask for the front office manager. Express your concerns, and I can pretty much guarantee you there wont be a problem. Even if I was overbooked, there's no way I would tell a guest there was a possibility of them being walked, and their reservation would be flagged as "DO NOT WALK UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES." Obviously doing so would make a bad situation incredibly worse, and no manager is going to bring that additional grief on themselves....

 

[wood145]

It was at the Dolphin and there were 2 posters who had ressies and were moved. Both were moved to the Hyatt I believe. One was within the last few weeks and the other was a month or two ago.

If you go the the Swan/Dolphin info thread it's in there.

 

[Disneytrip]

Thanks everyone. I didn't mean to cause such a fuss. We have stayed at the Swan many times now and have never had a problem - we LOVE the resort and the guest services have always been wonderful. I don't want to give the resort a bad name. I wish i could edit the title of my post..but again thank you for relieving my fears

 

[DisCopper]

Wow, way to throw a fellow hotel worker under the bus. Remember what it feels like to have the "roof raised" on you because of overbooking? Cause I sure do, and I wouldnt wish it on anyone, even if it was my decision to overbook in the first place....

That's why I said to call the corporate office or Disney (meaning guest services). I DIDN'T mean to scream at some poor schlub at the front desk or on the reservations line. In that situation, I'd start asking for managers and keep going up the chain. Squeaky wheels' get the grease, but it doesn't have to involve screaming. Especially if it's a few days in advance, there are "people in power" who can make decisions and come up with some sort of acceptable alternative for you.

If it WAS your decision to overbook in the first place, you DESERVE to be screamed at. I worked for years at a hotel in Boston. They purposely overbooked during a prime foliage weekend, and I was having to turn confirmed reservations away and send them to New York City. The sales manager that made those decisions not only deserved to be screamed at, but probably fired.

 

[Mineu]

I posted about my friend's situation with the Swan this summer. They received a call the night before they were due to arrive saying they were being moved to the Hyatt. They were not given a choice-it was just stay at the Hyatt or don't come at all! They were told that the renovations were not completed in time. They were only supposed to stay 2 nights at the Hyatt-but this was extended to 3 nights. I noticed a thread about a similar situation months later-so obviously, there is a problem with overbooking. I would definitely have my concerns noted on the reservation-my friends had a teacher discount-so am not sure if this is why they were bumped or not. Good luck!