US hotel chains implement cancellation fee

HOTEL chains, Marriott
and Hilton, have
implemented a fee for
last-minute cancellations in
the US.
Effective January 1, guests
will be charged a penalty of
one night’s room rate if they
fail to cancel a booking the
day before their scheduled
arrival.
Marriott’s policy only applies
in the US, while Hilton has
introduced the strategy across
the board. The group told TNW
individual properties could
still use their own strategies
and agents and guests were
encouraged to check with the
hotel at the time of booking.
Local hotel chains have no
plans to follow the US hotel
group’s strategy.
It would be difficult to
execute a similar scheme in
SA, says Clifford Ross, ceo of
the City Lodge Hotel Group.
“Last-minute cancellations
and no-shows are a sign of
the times, unfortunately. With
hotel occupancies being in
the doldrums since the end
of 2008, travellers and hotels
have become complacent
and apathetic when it comes
to making bookings and
in enforcing deposits and
penalties on cancellations and
no-shows. This will change
once occupancies reach a
point where hotels are fully
booked on a regular basis.”
Clifford says: “It is not on
the cards that we will be
implementing any further
penalties over and above
our current deposit policies.
Rooms not guaranteed with
a deposit or voucher will
be immediately released at
18h00 and resold.”
Wayne Hill, Emperors Palace
gm of hotels and resort
operations, says Peermont
maintains the same policy.
“With the advent of OTAs,
direct web portal bookings
and instant online availability,
our booking pace has
dropped in some instances
to between three and five
days. We encourage a long
lead booking at a discounted
rate and in the future are
considering making the rate
attractive enough so that it
cannot be released at short
notice.”
Marcel von Aulock, ceo of
Tsogo Sun, says: “We charge
cancellations depending
on the type of booking
made and whether it is a
prepaid, discount reservation
or full price. Last-minute
cancellations have not
generally been an issue as
the industry is not running at
capacity.”