Louisiana Hotel Cancellation Policy During a Hurricane?

Question

I made reservations at a hotel in North Louisiana this morning for two rooms, in case Gustav decides to grace us with his presence. When i asked about their cancellation policy, I was told as long as it was before 6 p.m. on the scheduled arrival date.

My aunt called a little while later, and when she asked about their policy she was told that in Louisiana hotel policies change during a time of evacuation due to a hurricane. If she canceled she would be charged for the first night. Has anyone else encountered this? Is it legal? Any input would be great!

Answer 1

Technically it's legal; but it's unethical for them to change the rules without notice.  The hotel should honor what they told her at the time reservations were made.

Answer 2

Charging for a cancelled room sounds like something you >>> might <<<  be able to successfuly challenge via your credit card issuer.

During Katrina, hotels began renting out rooms at 6:00pm if they were unoccupied, even when the room had been assigned to someone with a "guaranteed reservation".  The hotels' position was they were faced with a lobby full of people who needed a place to stay and rooms being held for people who had made a "guaranteed reservation" but who may or may not actually appear.

I don't know if the hotels were charging credit cards for "guaranteed" rooms they rented to someone else after the cut-off time (usually 4:00pm or 6:00pm) - that sounds a lot like fraud.

Answer 3

Call the hotel back and ask specifically if they have a hurricane cancellation policy and what it says.

I'm sure they can have something in fine print regarding this. That doesn't make it right, but you know how businesses are. They protect the bottom line. Hotels were booked in North La for a solid year after Katrina.

I am from Louisiana originally and hope the storm weakens. Stay safe.