Hotel headache: Best Western booking mix-up resolved by NBC10 Boston Responds

A Weymouth, Massachusetts, man headed out west for a vacation earlier this year. But some confusion surrounding a hotel booking left him with a charge he didn’t think he should have to pay.

Kevin Bates and his girlfriend took a trip to Arizona in January,  visiting several cities. He says he booked hotels online ahead of time, but it wasn’t until he arrived in Sedona that he realized he never got a confirmation from the Best Western Plus Arroyo Roble Hotel where they planned to stay.

“I never received any correspondence with them whatsoever,” says Bates.   “Some of the hotels that we booked, they would charge you a refundable fee, they would call it or a portion of it right away, but I never got any confirmation or any charges or anything like that.”

Bates says he called the Sedona Best Western Plus to confirm that he had a reservation for the night.

“I gave my name and they said no,” he says. “I said, are you sure? And I gave my name again, I believe I spelled my last name, and they said, no, we don't have anything under your name and we were at a hotel that we were eating dinner in, essentially, so I could just walk into the hotel and get a different reservation.  And the view was amazing from where we were. So I just decided to stay where we were when they told me that I had no room.”

But the next day, Bates says a charge came through from the Best Western Plus.

“I woke up in the morning, and there was the full amount of the room, $396.50 charged to the to the card,” says Bates. “I called immediately as soon as I got that and they said that I was considered a no show.”

Kevin says he made several calls to the hotel in an effort to get the situation resolved.

“I called multiple times and never got past the front desk person,” he says.  “I would ask for a management and they would say that they are busy at this time and they'll call you back. And that would be my name and number, and they would never call back.”

He says he contacted the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney General’s office and Best Western Corporate.

“I got pretty angry when I was calling the Best Western corporate, they kept saying that they actually agreed and they said, yeah, so that doesn't seem right to me, but the franchisee or the locations have the ability to refund the money, and we do not,” he says.

He was ready to give up when his mom told him to call  NBC10 Boston Responds.

 “The reason why I ended up calling you in the in the end was because she said, she says that she answers everybody… and you did reach out immediately,” says Bates.

We contacted Best Western corporate on his behalf and later that day he says the manager of the Arizona hotel called him and refunded his $396.50.

“He just apologized up and down and said that, said that it was a mistake on their end and that I would have a full refund within 7 to 10 days,” says Bates.   “It was a nice surprise. “

Ensemble Investments, which owns and operates the Sedona Best Western Plus Arroyo Roble hotel tells us:

"Our hotel strives to exceed guest expectations. In this matter, we contacted the individual, apologized, and refunded the entire charge.   It is our understanding that the matter has been resolved."

When you book a hotel online, make sure you receive a confirmation email from the hotel with a confirmation number.  Print it out and bring it with you as proof that you have a reservation and proof of the room rate that you agreed to pay.  

If you have a consumer problem, contact NBC10 Boston Responds by filling out our online consumer complaint form. We will get back to you!