Does hotel have to refund my travel expenses.

[AMYSULLIVAN]

I booked into a hotel last October and I did state on the booking form we would be bringing our dog.
The owner of the hotel at the time sent me a letter confirming this was in order and said there would be no charge for the dog.
We got to the hotel last week and unknown to us the ownership had changed in the meantime.
The new owner stated the hotel has a no dogs policy and refused to let us in and has refused to refund our £100 deposit.
He was however honouring other bookings made with the old owner.
We tried to get into 3 other places but they would not take the dog.
We then returned home as we were getting concerned where we would sleep for the night.
Does anybody know the legal position in relation to our deposit and the cost of our wasted 300 mile round journey.


Amy

[d9f1c7]

Your booking is with the former owner, the new owner clearly took on the booking so they are honouring that. However as with all cases like this the management reserve the right to make the rules and they are doing. They are under no obligation to relax their rules based on reference to previous rules ro lack of that may have been in place at the establishment. Sadly I'd say you have no claim.

[sunny-dave]

I would say that the deposit should be returned at least - they should have reviewed all bookings (and associated letters) and written to you and told you of the new 'no pets' policy - so they are at fault there.

I can't comment on the 'out of pocket' expenses - it would seem reasonable for them to pay a part of that, but reason and 'the law' are not always bedfellows ...

[tonywiltshire]

You had a contract with the original owner that a dog would be permitted to stay, this was a condition of the contract though this may be difficult to prove in the absence of a written contract unless you booked by post and received written confirmation. I can however think of no one who would travel the distance you did on the pretence of a correct booking.

Write to the new owner making the point you had a contract and they did not exclude consequential losses therefore you require the return of your deposit together with the cost of making alternative arrangements which they (the new owners) could foresee. Do not be to greedy with the cost of alternative arrangements, set a time limit of 14 days for repayment, and if that is ignored send a further letter headed “ Letter before court action” and state that if repayment is not received within 14 days you will take action in the court to recover the amount. If this is again ignored start action in your local county court, not any other county court.

[joko]

i dont agree that the contract was with the original owner - that implies it was a single person - your contract was with the establishment - you booked into the 'The XXXX hotel' - regardless of who owns it.

they had a duty to check the establishments prior bookings and do whatever was necessary.

kick up a fuss.

[Davethedog]

Consult trading standards - You should without doubt get your £100 back. When a business is sold the liabilities go with it. He is guilty of fraud.

It is also the owners responsibility to inform people of any change of policy.

[MartinBev58]

Hi Amy

I think the Citizens Advice Bureau may be your best option.
I booked a hotel about 7 months in advance and the owner decided to sell the hotel about 4 months prior to the holiday.
In all fairness he did inform me, refunded my deposit and recomended a similar hotel.
I used the hotel he recomended and had a look at the road the original hotel was in to find it had been demolished.
I do not think I would have recovered any money from the builders which purchase the site to build flats.
In your case the new owner may say your contract is with the old owner and he may not be easy to trace.
I do not tend to book hotels more than about 2 months in advance now but I do phone them a few days before travelling.
Another thought. Did you pay your deposit by credit card. If you did you may be able to recover it from the credit card company.

Martin