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August 2017
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Where I’m not staying because they cancelled my reservation: Radisson Hotel Cheyenne

Radisson Hotel Cheyenne - A Hotel to Avoid.

The Radisson Hotel Cheyenne: Cancels Reservations Because they can.

Normally I would not choose to visit the US during August, but this year, I am. Like thousands of others, I want to see the eclipse on Monday, August 21st.

But a wrench was thrown into my plans by the Radisson Hotel Cheyenne after they cancelled my reservation for the evening of August 20th — the night before the eclipse.

Understand that I planned ahead. I made my reservation more than nine months in advance. On November 13, 2016, I examined my options on Booking.com and chose the Radisson Hotel Cheyenne. As I am a frequent user of Booking.com, I was offered a “Booking Genius” rate of $86.90, including tax. The reservation was confirmed and guaranteed with a credit card. I was given the option to cancel for free, as long as said cancellation was made on or before July 20, 2017.

On July 18, 2017, Booking.com sent me an email reminding me of the penalty-free cancellation deadline.

Then on August 11, 2017, Booking.com informed me via email that the “Radisson Hotel Cheyenne is unable to accommodate your reservation” due to overbooking.

The alternative offered was the Estes Park Resort in Estes Park, Colorado, which is not really a realistic substitute for Cheyenne, Wyoming. The alternative hotel, in addition to be almost two hours from Cheyenne, is $319.49, with taxes, for one night. While Booking.com is willing to pay the difference in price between the two rates, this, of course, does not account for the additional expenses related to fuel and getting up substantially earlier in order to make it to totality in time.

I’ve complained about this on TripAdvisor in order warn other travelers about the shittiness of the Radisson Hotel Cheyenne and its propensity to cancel reservations – and the manager responded,

I am sorry for these circumstances. Your reservation wasn’t actually cancelled. Unfortunately, your reservation did not properly transfer into our system. There is an active investigation occurring between the booking channel and our brand to determine exactly what happened. The situation is beyond our control and as soon as we realized there was an issue, we reached out to all entities to try to resolve it as quickly as possible. I realize this doesn’t help you because there are no rooms available in the area but please know that we don’t cancel reservations based on rate and if I could accommodate your reservation, I absolutely would.

Yours in Hospitality,

Jennifer Walker
General Manager

So… short summary: never reserve a room at a Radisson – whether in Cheyenne or elsewhere – and never use Booking.com.

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