Hotel...

[MudasarKhan]

Hi All,

Just a quick question. Is this normal?

Reserved a hotel room a while ago online, and the money was taken from my bank account a day before period of stay. But when I got there, the lady at the counter asked for a deposit, for extras, or something like that she said.

So I asked how much, she said £60. I paid it (but i had already paid for the stay in advance). I was confused, but paid up to save myself any potential embarassment. Only bought a few drinks at the bar, (which was £8). They then refunded the £52 few days later...

Is that normal? They charge you for the room in advance online (expected), but then they charge you again in advance when you get there for any extras?

Edited for spelling.

Edited by MudasarKhan on Friday 16th July 04:01

[RobDickinson]

Usualy take a CC no to charge any extras on when you leave.

[Liszt]

Normally they do an auth rather than a charge which means thar they can go ahead and charge you at a later date with out needing you. I think the auth expires after 7 days or such.

Which hotel was it?

[Nat_H]

I was at The Atlantis in Dubai at the beginning of June for a week, and when I checked in they requested a credit card for security deposit.

They ended up earmarking 11,500 AED, which worked out to be over £2000!!

I think we spent around £70 in the hotel over the week.....

[steveo3002]

credit card swipe is the norm , incase you smash up the room or poo in the bed etc

[MudasarKhan]

Thanks for the replies people,

It was Holiday Express Inn. What if somebody refused, or didnt have their crd with them. Would they refuse to let you stay?

[boomboompow]

MudasarKhan said:

Thanks for the replies people,

It was Holiday Express Inn. What if somebody refused, or didnt have their crd with them. Would they refuse to let you stay?

We had the same experience with them when we were down in Bedford for the GP. Having worked in a hotel I see their logic; they are just ensuring that you're going to pay for any extras you may charge to your room.

If they didn't take that deposit, a more dubious character may book and pay for a room online, then charge a host of extras to their room during their stay. Then when checking out, simply toss in the key and walk away without paying for the extras (as the main bulk of the bill has already been paid online previously). May sound far-fetched, but it happened quite a few times at the place where I worked; all the person had to do was spot a busy receptionist, gesture to them they were leaving the key and then walk out scott-free.

[MudasarKhan]

Ahh, makes sense.

Iv not had much experiance with hotels. I was thinking that any extras would/could be billed on the same card used to pay for room online in the first instance. But maybe not,

Thanks anyway. Just got about 3000 more questions in my head i need to clear up now.