Beware, everyone !!!

[Shoesy]

I've waited 'till my sister returned from her trip before posting this because I wanted to make sure that I understood all the details first.

Months ago my sister booked 2 suites (actually large rooms) in the Relais du Louvre, which is the hotel that holger has raved about in many posts on TA. Aude has also stayed there a number of times and only has good things to say about it. Naturally, she received a confirmation, and everything was set............or that's what she thought. When she arrived at the hotel on the 10th, it immediately became clear that the hotel had screwed up her reservation. The info. on their computer said that they were arriving on the 14th, which was in fact the day they were leaving. Of course my sister showed them her written confirmation, and after checking their books, it became clear that they had made a grave error. They were apologetic, etc. but simply didn't have availability for her family. She spent 3 hours in their lobby trying to get another hotel, and they came up with other options, which didn't exactly please her because she really wanted a nice place that was very very central. They let her use their computer, and she checked out hotels on TA, but after a long flight, she found that to be tedious. Eventually, she agreed to go to a particular hotel, even though it wasn't what she really had in mind.

However, since they had wasted so much precious time in the lobby of the Relais, they decided to leave their luggage there and go for a walk before checking into the new hotel. To make a long story short, when they came across a different hotel, the Relais Christine, they immediately fell in love with the place and were happy that they had 2 rooms available for them. Apparently, it's quite a nice place, which definitely costs more than the Relais du Louvre, but my sister and her hubby decided that that was where they wanted to stay. Lucky, it was off-season so the rate was affordable to them, though it was a lot more than they would have spent for the original hotel.

My sister claims that they were VERY nice to them at the Relais du Louvre, and they really DID make an effort to help them out, but let's face it.........they screwed up big time. Anyway, the reason I am posting this is not to give a bad review of that hotel, but to warn all of you to re-confirm your reservation (even if it means a phone call) before you go to Paris. Such a reservation mess-up may be rare, but it could and did happen. Furthermore, if it hadn't been off-season, finding another hotel could have been even more difficult.

I'd like to add that my sister and family absolutely LOVED the Relais Christine (duh.......who wouldn't?), so jokingly I told her that I guess she was destined to only stay in very luxurious hotels. ;D

[Laura NY (aoi33)]

Oh Shoesy, Thank you so much for posting your sister's tale. I am glad it turned out well, but this is one of every traveler's nightmares.

I am curious though, while I am delighted that the Relais du Louvre was helpful, did they offer to pay the difference in rates between the two hotels or offer them a few free nights at another time?

BTW, I am also relieved that your sister did at least like some Berthillion!

[kasthor]

This to me seems more like the old trick, "hello we're overbooked and tell you some heartwarming story" to eventually get you to another hotel

The floodings, the sick person who couldn't leave, the "oops we thought you were coming tomorrow", or "there was a problem with your credit card" and the like are very popular!

Not that I have told these stories myself a 1000 times...

But lets face it all of us good and reliable travelers pay for those who don't show up and cheat on their credit cards and hotels, such as airlines, have to overbook every now and then.

Sorry for your sister though

[holger]

;D

Shoesy,

I am really glad things worked out for your sister although I do think that the hotel might have offered some compensation like a nice dinner, if nothing else.

In some way, I do feel that my glowing report of our experience last year was partly responsible for their cjoosing the Relais. We are returning this year, as well.

Kasthor, I don't think this was overbooking. last year, the wife of the couple in our suite did fall and break her leg so that while she was at the hospital the husband needed an additional night. The Relais moved us for that night to the top floor apartment which was far more expensive than the suite and they absorbed the difference. We moved to the suite the next day and they took care of that so we did not have to stay around but could sight see.

[holger]

;D

Shoesy,

I am really glad things worked out for your sister although I do think that the hotel might have offered some compensation like a nice dinner, if nothing else.

In some way, I do feel that my glowing report of our experience last year was partly responsible for their cjoosing the Relais. We are returning this year, as well.

Kasthor, I don't think this was overbooking. last year, the wife of the couple in our suite did fall and break her leg so that while she was at the hospital the husband needed an additional night. The Relais moved us for that night to the top floor apartment which was far more expensive than the suite and they absorbed the difference. We moved to the suite the next day and they took care of that so we did not have to stay around but could sight see.

[Shoesy]

Kasthor - It was not a case of overbooking. Their computer clearly listed them as coming on the wrong date, and they were definitely unprepared with another hotel option, which took some doing. The whole thing was obviously a careless error on their part, but I do believe that there are hotels that do overbook.

aoi33 - No, they didn't pay the difference. I suppose my sister could have selected something that cost the same or similar price, but she didn't find a hotel that she liked that was in a location that she liked. Her hotel was quite important to her, and I had spent so many hours on the phone with her during the winter, searching for the "perfect" hotel. At a certain point she had narrowed her choices to 2 places: the Relais du Louvre and Hotel de L'Abbaye St. Germain. Her finally choice was made based on its more central location (close to the Seine and Ile de la Cite) plus the fact that they'd be paying less for larger rooms.

Holger - It was your "glowing report" indeed that made me suggest the Relais to my sister. I knew that my hotel, the Britannique, wouldn't be suitable because their rooms are very small there, and there is only one junior suite. My sister clearly wanted to have privacy from her 2 teenage daughters.

[joan1]

Well Shoesy I am glad all ended well for your sister,, but ,, for some travellers it would have been a real disaster,, some people cannot afford to " pay more" or if travelling as a triple , they would have a harder time finding a hotel with vacancy.
I do understand mistakes happen,, but really , with written confirmation it really was not too smart of the hotel to make such a mess. I do think they could have done some research for your sister, sent her out for a lunch, and when she returned presented her with three or four options that they had already confirmed had vacancies.

[Shoesy]

Joan - The hotel DID try to find another hotel for my sister, but she wasn't willing to agree to just anything. From the beginning (months ago) she was fussy, and she had every right to be because she (and I) had spent many hours trying to find what she wanted. After wasting so many hours in the hotel lobby, my sister finally settled for one of the hotels that was found, even though the location wasn't exactly what she was hoping to get. Then, when they found the Relais Christine on their own, they decided to stay there instead.

You were right, though, in saying that the original hotel could have perhaps treated them to lunch or offered them some other kind of compensation. However, I still want to emphasize the fact that the staff there was very pleasant, and my sister has nothing bad to say about them except for the fact that their error caused her to lose precious time.

[Shoesy]

The following is an update, which my sister asked me to post.
Yesterday my sister received a letter (e-mail?) from Sophie, the lady in charge of the Relais du Louvre. (She had just returned from vacation and heard about the unfortunate mess-up in my sister's reservation.) I can't even begin to say how apologetic she was for what had happened, and she took full responsibility for the mix-up. She wrote that she remembered speaking to my sister on the phone at the time, and she was apparently the one who had entered the wrong info into the computer. Apparently, all reservations are supposed to be double-checked by the staff, and this wasn't done by he 2 new staff members. Anyway, she went on and on about how sorry she was and was hoping to see my sister on a future trip, and she would try to give her a special deal.

Needless to say, my sister was very happy to have received Sophie's very kind letter because it reinforced the fact that the staff at the Relais are extremely pleasant people, and it was that fact (her long phone conversation with Sophie) that contributed to her wanting to stay at that hotel in the first place.

[Jody]

Nice to know that some places still value customer service. I'm sure your sister appreciated to response

[aude]

Shoesy,

I'm so glad to hear this. I remember Sophie well, and the during our many stays, the staff at the Relais du Louvre has always been very kind and helpful to us. In every business things sometimes go wrong, and it is gratifying to learn that when your sister was the unfortunate vicitim, Sophie is trying to make amends.

I haven't decided whether we'll stay there again or not. The location is central, the familiarity is comfortable, and it's nice to be in a place where we already know the lay-of-the-land. But as Holger has reported, Cador, the nearby patisserie has closed. It used to be nice to pop into the Samaritaine department store but now that's just huge empty building. And the hotel is not located in a neighborhood where people actually live. It's sandwiched between the Louvre, the old Samaritaine department store, and the Seine. All that combined with your sister's experience has made me question whether we'll go back. It may be time for us to find a new home in Paris. (Maybe Truffaut will find one for us during his November visit! ;D)

Thanks for reporting the update! Please let us know if your sister ever takes advantage of the offer of a future deal.