So Now You Have A Hotel Reservation.

[Dave Hounddriver]

So now you have a hotel reservation. What does that mean in the Philippines?I was at a nice hotel in Tacloban, Leyte at 2:40 yesterday afternoon to inquire if they had a room for the night. Ahead of me was a filipina customer talking to the filipina desk clerk, There were other foreigners in the lobby and the filipina customer was talking in loud English to be sure everyone heard her. It went something like this:Customer: What do you mean you do not have a room for me? I have a reservation.Clerk: Yes m'um. I can confirm that you have a reservation but we have no room for you.Customer: You can confirm I have a reservation but you say you have no room for me? What does it mean to you to have a reservation.Clerk: I can only tell you that we have no room.Customer: But that is the purpose for a reservation, so you will have a room for me.This was repeated many times with different English words that all meant the same thing. I decided they had no room for me either and did not wait on the conclusion. But I want to know. What does a reservation mean here?

[Mr Lee]

So now you have a hotel reservation. What does that mean in the Philippines?I was at a nice hotel in Tacloban, Leyte at 2:40 yesterday afternoon to inquire if they had a room for the night. Ahead of me was a filipina customer talking to the filipina desk clerk, There were other foreigners in the lobby and the filipina customer was talking in loud English to be sure everyone heard her. It went something like this:Customer: What do you mean you do not have a room for me? I have a reservation.Clerk: Yes m'um. I can confirm that you have a reservation but we have no room for you.Customer: You can confirm I have a reservation but you say you have no room for me? What does it mean to you to have a reservation.Clerk: I can only tell you that we have no room.Customer: But that is the purpose for a reservation, so you will have a room for me.This was repeated many times with different English words that all meant the same thing. I decided they had no room for me either and did not wait on the conclusion. But I want to know. What does a reservation mean here?

Without a deposit it means nothing in the Philippines unless the hotel knows you fairly well, because you are a regular customer. My friend Frank even booked a room with a deposit via one of those online booking sites and when he got to the Maxwell Hotel in Cebu they told him that they did not have the inexpensive room he booked and he would have to pay more for the better room, and because he is not the arguing type, he agreed, but I would have insisted on the upgraded room at the same price or there would have been a heck of an argument. While in Cebu earlier this year I made a phone call for a member for a room at a new hotel and they said it was now reserved and to come and put a deposit the next day or so but not to worry, well something did not feel right to me so I walked over to the hotel to put down my deposit for him that night and when they looked in the book, no reservation was written but the clerk who was not at the desk at the time told me the room was reserved, so my guess is that had I not walked down there and put a deposit, then it would not have actually been reserved because once I handed them the cash, they wrote it in the book, in ink no less. Now we have a pension house that we regularly stay in Cagayan de Oro and all we have to do is call and they hold a room for us. My wife has also booked a room for us in Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati over the phone and they did hold the reservation without a deposit, so real hotels and those that know you, do stand by their word, but most of these little hotels and pension houses all over the Philippines are first come first serve, and the reservation is just for their sake so they know they have a customer in case one does not walk through the door first. IMHO it is hit and miss with phone reservations at most of these places unless you put down a cash deposit and even then they might not hold the room. Welcome to the Philippines. Anyone else have some stories of their own???

[Jake]

It is information like this that we all appreciate "boots on the ground" reports dealing with common issues in the Philippines. Thank you Dave and Kuya Lee for bringing this revelation to the forum. It could ruin your whole experience travelling in the hot and humid environment, anxious to take a nice shower at the end of the day but refused accommodations because of --- "sorry sir, out of stock" mentality.Respectfully -- Jake

[Jollygoodfellow]

I haven't had any problems with reservations but most are paid prior to arrival. Once I made a reservation for Eddies Hotel now called Beverly Business Boutique,this was made online without paying,anyway changed my mind and stayed somewhere else but Eddies Emailed me a few weeks before just to check if my reservation still stood.Another time I asked a member to check out the Montebello Apartelles for me which he did,he then made the reservation and a later I phoned the hotel to check,reservation was there and all was fine but when I arrived the apartelle was not available until the next day,they put me in a high class room until the next day but still they should have the room available as it was a one month stay but to be reasonable I guess it was just timing of the date for the previous guest departure.I find the best way to get a feel for a hotel is to read the reviews on sites like Trip Adviser but then again one guest will say the hotel was bad,breakfast was bad or had bad service and another has the complete opposite experience.

[Call me bubba]

So now you have a hotel reservation. What does that mean in the Philippines? Ahead of me was a filipina customer talking to the filipina desk clerk, There were other foreigners in the lobby and the filipina customer was talking in loud English to be sure everyone heard her. This was repeated many times with different English words that all meant the same thing. I decided they had no room for me either and did not wait on the conclusion. But I want to know. What does a reservation mean here?(EDITED)

This lady was Extremely upset/pissed off.and she was a native.she even tried to REWORD<REPHRASE,RESPEAK the same sentence yet the "clerk" didnt understand .what should we as "guests" do ?had we "behaved " like this. what would others think?in 1 posting a forum member would have even stood up for the employee.as that man was really rude, even would have sign the "brgy/police report"So what do we do? 1.use a online booking to "make "certain that we really did/do have a reservation?2, call at least a few times to check,double check /confirm our reservation?3,Use "TRIP ADVISER" to post our compliments and criticisms4. just allow these businesses to SxxT ON US and try to find another room, 5.complain to the DOT(listed is the web site)http://www.tourism.g...Complaints.aspxbelow is a "sample" formplease feel free to use the website to complain, who knows, it may work.listed is the link to the DOT officeshttp://www.tourism.gov.ph/SitePages/regoffices.aspx REGIONAL OFFICE VII MS. ROWENA LU Y. MONTECILLO, Regional Director G/F LDM Bldg., corner Legaspi aand MJ Cuenco Sts., 6000 Cebu City Tel.: (6332) 254 2811 / 254 6077 Fax: (6332) 254 2711 Airport Office Tel.: (6332) 340 8229 E-Mails: dotr7@cvis.net.ph dotregion7@gmail.com Website: www.visitmyphilippines.com

Complaints.aspx.html

Edited July 4, 2011 by ed villas