,What! no interconnecting room!

FAMILIES, often those
with younger children,
request interconnecting
rooms when family rooms
are not available. Agents
say certain hotels’ inability
to confirm the availability
of these rooms before
families arrive is damaging
the client-agent relationship,
with agents losing confirmed
sales and clients.
Tracy-Lee Cooks, senior
consultant of Go2Bangy
Travel, says a client who
had a R200 000 booking
in Mauritius, cancelled
because the hotel could
not confirm whether an
interconnecting room would
be available. The agent then
tried to make a booking at
a hotel in the Seychelles,
which also could also
not confirm whether an
interconnecting room was
available.
“How do you pay for a
product not knowing if
your child is going to be
allocated the room next to
you?” says Tracy-Lee.
When Tracy-Lee spoke
directly to the manager (of
the hotel in the Seychelles)
she received an email
confirming the inter-leading
room, otherwise the client
wouldn’t have taken that
booking either, she says.
However, the client-agent
relationship had already
taken strain. “The client had
to fill out forms again, he
wrote complaints, he was
unhappy, she says, adding
that it took two months to
wrap up the booking, which
then caused her to fall
behind on her other work.
Marco Tomasicchio, gm
of XL International Travels
says a client faced a
similar situation. “I ended
up calling the gm of the
hotel directly, who gave me
a commitment to confirm
the inter-leading rooms,”
he says. “I fail to see how
it can only be requested.
Surely it’s available or not.”
Sean Hough, former ceo
of Pentravel, says: “When
you use a reputable
supplier whose expertise
is family business, you’re
not going to have that
problem.”
John Ridler, media and
pr manager of Thompsons
Holidays, says most
hotels won’t guarantee
interconnecting rooms,
especially in high season.
He says some Mauritius
hotels now include rooms
with an additional bedroom
(often with bunks) and at
some resorts it is possible
to reserve two-roomed
villas.
“Where a hotel cannot
confirm inter-leading rooms,
we advise the client that
it is subject to availability
says Cathie Bester,
marketing relationship
manager of World Leisure
Holidays. She says where
interconnecting rooms
are unavailable, next-door
rooms will be offered.
She says hotels cannot
confirm the status of
interconnecting rooms
before arrival as they have
a limited number and have
to accommodate families
arriving and leaving on
different days. “Agents
must be honest and tell
their clients if the tour
operator cannot guarantee
inter-leading rooms and
assure them the wholesaler
and hotel will do everything
possible to accommodate
their request.”