Tokyo Disneyland
Topic: Hotel Hopping at TDR

#	Author	Message
21	TDR_Fan Fri 8/17/2007 3:36a	Question though, are you staying for the duration of 6 nights at the MiraCosta? If so, how did you manage to get past the maximum 5 nights rule that they seem to enforce?
22	The Goddess Mara Fri 8/17/2007 7:38a	I had a friend in Japan make the reservation for me via phone. After reading some comments about the 5 night rule, I had him call and reconfirm it. No problem. 6 nights. They may have a rule like that for gaijin only for some reason.
23	TDR_Fan Fri 8/17/2007 7:43a	I have a feeling it's for foreign guests too. Must remember to get one of my Japanese friends to make the reservation for me next time(though 5 nights is enough for me considering the high rates in July).
24	SuperDry Fri 8/17/2007 10:30p	Wow - 5-night rule just for foreigners. There must have been a problem at some point. They've always had a 14-day cancellation policy, but when I first stayed there in 2003, they did not collect a credit card guarantee at time of reservation. It must have been the honor system to enforce the cancellation policy. I noticed that that changed at some point and they now require a credit card to guarantee a reservation. I probably will not have the need to stay more than 5 nights, but now I'm supposedly "on file" as a frequent guest in the computer, such that I don't have to go through the regular registration process the next time I'm there. I wonder if that means I could get special dispensation for the 5-day rule?
25	SuperDry Fri 8/17/2007 10:41p	<<< If you requested a non-smoking room when you made the reservations , that is what they'll give you. >>> We were talking about the differences between hotel service levels between Japan and the US in another thread. This is a great example of something that Japan consistently does better than the US. How many times have you heard "room types are noted but not guaranteed" when making a hotel reservation in the US? Most US hotels, including major chains like Sheraton and Hilton, seem to make a big deal about the point that even though you reserve a room with a particular bedding type and smoking status and guarantee it with a credit card, you're not actually guaranteed to get that type of room when you check in. Especially if you check in late, you may have to settle for whatever is left that night. The Mira Costa, Sheraton, Hilton and other hotels like that in Japan are likely to pay very close attention to these things, and you can be reasonably assured that a room of the proper type will be ready for you when you arrive.
26	Faith Sat 8/18/2007 8:03a	I bet hotels in Japan don't have as many problems with no-shows or with people demanding things they did not note on their reservation. I used to work at the front desk of a hotel, and we always overbooked because we'd get tons of last minute cancellations and no shows. The only way to achieve close to 100% occupancy was to be fairly aggressive about overbooking. We also got unbelievable amounts of people who either had a Smoking request noted, or none at all, who insisted they had requested Non Smoking at the time of their reservation. And, unfortunately, the way America is- if you complain loudly enough about something, you will get it. So then we'd run out of Non Smoking rooms by the time people with guaranteed Non Smoking reservations came in. I never totally agreed with this policy, but that's how things work at US hotels. There were also a fair number of people who extended their stays which would also cause problems with the preferences for incoming guests. Aside from management's philosophy about a bird in hand, I was told that legally, you can't just kick someone out of their hotel room. (especially when they have their belongings all over the room despite not even informing us that they wanted to stay)
27	Mr X Sat 8/18/2007 8:34a	Good info Faith, thanks. **I was told that legally, you can't just kick someone out of their hotel room. (especially when they have their belongings all over the room despite not even informing us that they wanted to stay)** This is interesting. Talk about inconsiderate people! (not only to the hotel, but to other guests who made reservations themselves!) On a similar note, is it true that the hotel can charge you for an additional day if you check out late? Or is this just an empty threat? I'm always the shmo who's running for the elevator at 10:59 because I'm afraid if I'm a minute late to check out I'll get charged lol.
28	Faith Sat 8/18/2007 8:50a	>>On a similar note, is it true that the hotel can charge you for an additional day if you check out late? Or is this just an empty threat? I'm always the shmo who's running for the elevator at 10:59 because I'm afraid if I'm a minute late to check out I'll get charged lol.<< We would sometimes charge 1/2 day rate, but that was only if someone stayed significantly later than checkout time- especially if they stayed after housekeeping had left and if they hadn't asked for a late check out (unless we had a special event coming in, we were generally very liberal about granting late checkouts if needed). Actually, we didn't even check the rooms until 1-2 hrs after our "official" check out time. We expected that if checkout said "11am" that many people wouldn't get out til noon (or whatever the exact times were) Different hotel policies may vary, though. I've stayed at places that were much stricter with even giving a slightly late checkout. It was very enlightening working in a position with such public visibility. We had people coming in during the high season who still wanted the winter special rate, people who yelled at me because the sign mentioned in our directions didn't exist (even though I saw it every single day), people who wanted rooms that didn't even exist in our hotel- like connecting suites (I may have actually told them that we could not build a new room while they waited because they were being total pains) On that last one- here's a tip: if you ever have some kind of really special request (like connecting suites- or even connecting rooms), don't rely on what a central reservations office may tell you; try to contact the hotel directly. We were more likely to grant hard-to-fill requests if someone at our hotel had talked to the guest- it made us be more sure that they truly wanted that request, plus whoever talked to them had some personal accountability. It was hard for me sometimes, because I wanted to give everyone great service- but that becomes impossible when people get so demanding and stubborn. And a lot of times, it's the nice guy that gets screwed. (I'd be totally annoyed when the manager would give out freebies to someone with a petty complaint just because they made a ton of noise about it)
29	SuperDry Sun 8/19/2007 11:16p	<<< I bet hotels in Japan don't have as many problems with no-shows or with people demanding things they did not note on their reservation. I used to work at the front desk of a hotel, and we always overbooked because we'd get tons of last minute cancellations and no shows. The only way to achieve close to 100% occupancy was to be fairly aggressive about overbooking. >>> What was the cancellation policy at your hotel? A great many hotels in the US now have a 24- or 48-hour cancellation policy, which gives the hotel the opportunity to resell the room to another guest if someone cancels. If they're unable to do so despite a 24- or 48-hour cancellation, then it's probable that the room would have been empty even if the canceling guest had never made their reservation (I'm talking about city hotels here, not remote resort locales). Now, if the hotel wants to have all rooms actually filled with guests, in addition to the no-shows that paid for a room that they're not occupying, then that's another matter. Of course from the hotel's point of view, the ideal situation would be to have all rooms actually filled with guests each night, in addition to as many additional guests that have confirmed reservations and pay for a "guaranteed" room but don't for whatever reason show up. For a hotel to get close to that holy grail, they have to overbook. I don't really have a problem with that, as long as if I show up with a confirmed reservation but they have no room, they're willing to "walk" me to a comparable hotel under traditional industry standards (they pay for transport to the other property, and they pay for my stay at the other property and don't charge me for the original reservation, such that my 1st night's stay is completely free). But I digress. Certainly, guest behavior has an effect on how a hotel is operated. Regarding what we're talking about here, let me quote myself from what I said on another thread: <<< But whatever the reason, I was trying to address the matter from the point of view of a hotel guest, without respect to the underlying reasons behind the differences. >>> If you have a reservation at the Mira Costa for a particular bedding type, view, and smoking status, you can pretty much take it to the bank that you will receive that exact type of room when you check in, regardless of when you check in that day.
30	Faith Mon 8/20/2007 7:21p	>>What was the cancellation policy at your hotel? << 6pm day of reservation. That was another good one- at 6pm, we'd cancel all the reservations without credit card guarantees. But then a lot of people would arrive later and absolutely insist that they'd given a CC... And while we did charge for no shows- a lot of times the charges did not go through or they were disputed (in the latter case, we usually reversed the charge without question) Oh and another tip- if your travel agent/job has made reservations for you, do some follow up to be sure that the reservation is at the correct hotel, with the correct preferences, and a CC guarantee.

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