Can This Trip Be Saved? The Difference Between "Guaranteed" and "Confirmed"
by John Hawks

Question: I have brand-new clients who've approached me with a problem about a trip they'd already planned before they met me. They made hotel reservations for their summer vacation back in January. Last week, they received a call from the front desk supervisor at this hotel with the news that their confirmed reservations had been canceled. Why? The hotel manager had agreed to give all of the property's rooms to the organizers of a sporting event that's coming to town the same week as my clients' summer vacation. In other words, the hotel said, "Sorry, but we're taking back the reservation!" Can the hotel do that legally?

Answer: Hotel reservations are simple contracts, in which the hotel promises to hold a room for your clients' arrival, and in turn they agree to pay the room charges. Your clients' disappointment with the hotel revolves around the very common misunderstanding of the difference between a "guaranteed" reservation and a "confirmed" reservation.

read more