<p>Okay CC family, I need some advice, suggestions, etc. My husband and I share a birthday weekend which happens to fall this year on the Alabama vs LSU game. In January of 2013, I booked 3 nights (November 7,8, and 9) at the Yellowhammer Inn through Expedia for $200 a night. I paid in full and have the Expedia guarantee of a room. We have been planning for this trip all year and did not visit Parents’ Weekend as this was going to be our big weekend with our DD. I just received my game day tickets this week which I purchased through Stub Hub.</p>
<p>This afternoon I received a call from Expedia saying that the Yellowhammer is overbooked and we do not have a room. They have 3 other clients in the same position. They assured me that the Expedia guarantee will get me a room in Tuscaloosa and they have the Microtel or Masters Inn available. Even though I booked and paid in full in January, this is the first notification I am getting of this dilemma.</p>
<p>We contacted the Yellowhammer directly. They told us they were booking in January for $300 a night and notified Expedia on January 21st they would not honor our booking. She refused to honor our reservation because people paid more than us for their reservation even though we were confirmed in early January. She is blaming Expedia for dropping the ball. My husband spent an hour and half on the phone with her between trying to gathering information and being put on hold. She did not handle this situation with the southern hospitality and graciousness that we have come to love about Tuscaloosa. Finally she did say she would call a couple of the customers that booked more then one room and would we be interested in reserving that for the difference in price if she could find one? This was the General Manager at the Yellowhammer. </p>
<p>At the same time my husband was also on his cell with Expedia. Expedia denies ever receiving an email from the Yellowhammer. The only thing Expedia is willing to do is put us in another 2 star hotel in Tuscaloosa. </p>
<p>We have also filed a report with the Better Business Bureau of Central Alabama. </p>
<p>Any thoughts, feedback? Do I have any recourse or should we just accept the alternative 2 star option? Not the dream football weekend we have been planning for the last 9 months.</p>
<p>I’ll pm you the condo info where we stayed last weekend. It’s walking distance! Like super close and very nice. I’m not home but as soon as I am I will send it to you.</p>
<p>That is a bummer. Which Microtel is it? If it’s the one on Veterans Memorial Parkway, that one is fine and would be an acceptable alternative I would think. You can also check VRBO but it is unlikely you will find anything still available for LSU weekend at this point, unfortunately. :(</p>
<p>I am so sorry that this has happened to you. Expedia needs to make this right. Plus, Expedia needs to figure out that Tuscaloosa lodging venues jack up the prices for football weekends and figure out a better way to handle this. </p>
<p>Do not stay at Masters Inn…it’s a flea bag.</p>
<p>Which Microtel are they talking about.</p>
<p>You can look at VRBO, but I don’t think anything will be available at this point. My VRBO condo booked last Jan for the LSU weekend, and I got a gazillion inquiries since…likely people who booked elsewhere.</p>
<p>Expedia or Hotel.com did this to us a few years ago for Parents Weekend. We had paid a much lower rate for a hotel, and then around August we were told a similar story. They offered us a Super 8 (another flea bag) as an alternative. We declined. Luckily our son was living in The Bluff that year with his NMF scholarship and Bama never put anyone in the second bedroom the whole year. So, son had the whole apt to himself…so we stayed there for free.</p>
<p>These Ttown hotels either need to take their gamedays off of these discount websites or stick to the reservation.</p>
<p>Your MISTAKE was booking w Expedia. I’ve been burned by them too many times. In the future, use Expedia, Travelocity, etc. to shop for rates, then book directly with the hotel or airline.</p>
<p>Not that it will resolve the situation, ,but ultimately I think the fault lies with the hotel and not with Expedia. Expedia doesn’t just make up the rates and availability that they advertise on their site, the hotel tells them how much they charge and how many rooms they are willing to sell at a ‘discount rate’. If the Yellowhammer discovered that they were able to book rooms at a higher rate, then it was either their obligation to honor what they told Expedia even if it meant ‘taking a loss’ or ensure that the rates and availability advertised on Expedia were changed. If they attempted to change the rates, it would have been simple for them to confirm with Expedia or to check the Expedia site on their own to see if the updates were made. </p>
<p>I’ve stayed at both the Microtel and the Yellowhammer and the Microtel is an OK substitution, but it really isn’t the equivalent of the Yellowhammer, so it’s too bad that Expedia isn’t going to be able to find an equivalent property. Although it definitely wouldn’t be the ideal solution, they could most likely get you a very nice room in Birmingham for that price. I strongly believe in traveling economically and I’ve driven by the Masters and <em>I</em> wouldn’t stay there, so I definitely wouldn’t accept that as a substitute. </p>
<p>Also FWIW when I stayed at the Yellowhammer the staff was very pleasant and helpful.</p>
<p>All hotels in college towns do this for parents weekend and game days. It’s not just Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>Years ago I used Expedia and other sites to make travel reservations. Then, they used to have a lower rate. No longer does that hold true. I use the sites like Expedia to see what is available and the rates. Then I go directly to the hotels, airlines, etc and book. I’ve found I receive the same price or lower going direct. Not only that I’ve also found that the treatment I receive from the hotels especially is much better when I book direct. The hotels will stand more behind the price and/or room you booked when you go direct to them. Not to mention I get my rewards points accumulated by the hotels when I stay at their properties.</p>
<p>I, too, have been booking more with the hotels direct so that situations like these can be solved and if not then you can complain to the chain with results.
After spending last weekend in Hoover there are many advantages of staying in town BUT we stayed in an amazing hotel for half the price of a Tuscaloosa dump.
Message me if you want the hotel name. Perhaps the hotel site you are using can get you a great rate with them. We just left our room early and hung out at our child’s room (doing laundry for her too) until game time.
Not having to carry Lysol and being afraid of sitting on the bed (and a free first class breakfast) was worth the drive to the hotel.
Good luck though.</p>
<p>We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Hoover last year. Very nice rooms! Free nice breakfast. Price was around $130 a night. </p>
<p>At least UA has a fairly large city in close proximity to have options. Friends with kids Texas Tech in Lubbock really get bent over! Friend paid over $350 a night for an old Days Inn last weekend for their parents weekend.</p>
<p>Thank you to the CC family for giving me reason to smile despite our bleak hotel dilemma. The LSU loss also helped. Now if our beloved Crimson Tide can keep it together in the second half, all will be well with my world.</p>
<p>As far as the Expedia situation goes, I have been booking with them for 10 years with great success. This is my first problem with Expedia, and boy did they ever go big and I am stuck at home! I will not be booking with them again. We are giving them an opportunity to rectify the wrong. We were updated this morning that 13 other families are in the same situation specifically with a Yellowhammer reservation for the November 9th weekend. According to Expedia, we all booked on January 8th for the negotiated price of $200 a night. (Good to know I wasn’t the only one that recognized what a great deal it was – a “too good to be true moment”, if you will.) Expedia has assured us they are bringing in their big guns, the Southern Regional Manager (eye roll on my part), and that the Yellowhammer is in breach of contract. So we shall see. </p>
<p>Fortunately, DD has her own bedroom/bathroom in a 4-person apartment so if we need to camp on her floor for game day, we shall. Not quite the Yellowhammer, but also nowhere near the caliber of the Master’s Inn! Plus if we are reimbursed in full, I will be forced to spoil the DD and roommates rotten for the imposition. I don’t think they will complain.</p>
<p>Thank you again for the offers of help, advice and suggestions. Thank you also LSU for brightening my day!! Now on to more important things, ROLL TIDE!!</p>
<p>Years ago, when DD was little, we bought folding twin “mattresses” at COSTCO or Sam’s that came in their own case…we bought four, and they were used at numerous slumber parties, and, when my Step-D and her BFF graduated from college, they actually doubled-stacked them up and slept on the floor in DD’s playroom for almost a YEAR until they found “real” jobs.</p>
<p>They are great items, and your DD might benefit from having a couple on hand in just a case such as yours. ;-)</p>
<p>Do you have any way of contacting those other families who also don’t have reservations suddenly? There is a 3 bedroom condo available for a flat fee of $2000 for the weekend. If 3 of you split the cost, it’s not much more than the $200 per night you were paying. I’ll PM you the condo link. Then you can deal with Expedia/Yellowhammer at your leisure.</p>
Now if our beloved Crimson Tide can keep it together in the second half, all will be well with my world.</p>