UPDATE: On Thursday, June 27, the company that owns Holiday Inn Express, IHG, explained the pricing and reverted to the original rate.
A family from Cold Lake is questioning Calgary’s “western hospitality” after their hotel booking was unexpectedly and suddenly changed to a much higher rate.
Leanne Varughese booked a room at the Holiday Inn Express Calgary South on April 25. She told Global News her family had never been to the Calgary Stampede and were meeting up with some friends from Eastern Canada.
“I got the confirmation email that my reservation had been confirmed,” she said. “I was set for two nights.”
Two nights — at a government rate — of about $140 a night. She thought she was all set, until June 20 when she received a voicemail from someone stating they were the manager of the hotel.
“Last week, Thursday, I got a voicemail stating that rate was no longer valid,” she recounted.
“That it didn’t apply for the time that I was going to be in Calgary.
“My options were to either cancel or I can accept the Stampede rate — which was $300 more a night than I had originally booked for!”
The voicemail went on to state that the “government rate” which Varughese had booked under was not what the hotel charged during the big event.
Instead, she would be charged $430 a night.
“Calling me two weeks beforehand and telling me that I can either cancel or accept the new rate — I just thought that was unacceptable,” Varughese added. “I feel it’s deceptive… It’s just misrepresentation. They knew the dates (of the Stampede) ahead of time.”
Global News went to the Holiday Inn Express location in question and spoke to the manager, but we were told any public statement would have to come from parent company IHG.
In an email Thursday, a spokesperson for IHG Hotels and Resorts said the mix-up happened when the customer used a government employee rate intended for business use for leisure travel.
“It was certainly not the intention to cause this guest frustration,” Michelle Dias said.
“The initial confusion happened when the hotel staff realized the booking was made using a government employee rate used for business travel, and this guest was traveling for leisure. Because the government rate carries a specific policy that it is only to be used for official government business, it prompted the hotel to make a rate correction.
“However, as a gesture of goodwill, the property has honored the original booking rate and apologized for the inconvenience and unintentional frustration this has caused this guest,” Dias said.
Stampede surge in hotel prices
The Calgary Stampede draws hundreds of thousands of visitors a year and hotel prices surge along with demand.
The Hotel Association didn’t want to comment on this case, adding the hotel chain isn’t part of the association, but did say what happened to the Varughese family was unusual.
Varughese feels it is much more than that and is asking the hotel to reconsider.
“They should be honouring the rate or the price that they have provided their customers,” she said.
“It just feels wrong. Very wrong.”
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