You choose your room, click “complete booking” and it’s done – you’re on your way. In the background, your reservation is being handled by an automated system which ensures that your reservation finds its way directly to the hotel or via a trusted supplier working on their behalf. The hotel receives the booking and it is logged securely into its reservation system. Problems can occur at any stages in the process. This can be due a system failure or down to human error. Let’s think about what can go wrong with your booking and how to put it right.

Problem №1. You arrive at the hotel and reception tells you your reservation does not exist.

The booking did not reach the hotel. Whichever channel was used to send the reservation to the hotel (either directly or via a partner), glitches can occur along the way. In this case, the hotel did not receive any information about your reservation and was not even aware of its existence.

In the case of an error on the part of the hotel, the information about the reservation was delivered on time, but the hotel did not load the data in time or entered it into the system incorrectly. It could be that the reservation is actually in the system, but the person checking you in cannot find it and thinks there is no reservation at all.

Problem №2. You arrive at the hotel but no rooms are available

The reasons are the same: somehow on the way to the hotel, the booking was lost, there was a malfunction in the system, the hotel did not have time to load the booking information or did it incorrectly. The bottom line is that you do not have a room.

Problem №3. You have booked a room with breakfast, and you are told that there is no breakfast included

For technical reasons the information did not reach the hotel – your reservation was received, but the breakfast data was lost. It is also possible that the hotel did not see the breakfast confirmation and booked a room without breakfast.

It could also be down to human error. You might have read that although the hotel serves breakfast, but did not see that not all room rates include breakfast…and then it turns out that in the “standard room” category there are rates where some are with breakfast and some without and you just clicked on the option without breakfast.

Problem №4. You open the door to the room and realize that this is the stuff of nightmares

Sometimes we book in a hurry and there is no time to research the hotel in detail. You saw the low price, skimmed over the photos or didn’t look at all and just clicked “book”. It could happen to anyone.

Alternatively, the hotel uploaded photoshopped images or photos from years ago when everything sparkled after the last renovation. You were led to click “book” under false pretences.

What should you do in all these cases?

• Immediately contact ZenHotels.com customer support. Our team is trained to communicate with hotels as a valued partner and to remind them of their contractual obligations so as to ensure you are checked in. If even this approach does not work, the hotel is obliged to offer an alternative hotel of an equivalent standard or higher.
• Take photos of the room: the beds, bathroom and other things which are not up to scratch.
• You will be compensated for communication and transportation costs if you need to move hotels. Obtain a list of calls made from your mobile operator and keep your transportation receipts. If you used a bona fide taxi, the driver will give you such a receipt.