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Claim: Customers whose guaranteed hotel reservations were not honored protest by preparing humorous PowerPoint presentation.
Origins: In the early morning hours (about 
from Seattle arrived at a To express their displeasure with this disappointing experience in customer service, the two men used Microsoft's PowerPoint software to prepare a cutting, humorous "graphic complaint" entitled "Yours is a Very Bad Hotel" for the management of the Houston Doubletree. Like so many other communications involving customer-business disputes these days, this one has been set loose on the Internet for millions of people all over the world to receive and read via The practice of "guaranteed reservations" is understood to mean that if guest cannot be certain he will arrive at a hotel by a reasonable hour (such as Here are some stated policies on guaranteed reservations gathered from various hotel web sites:
Please note that non-guaranteed reservations are subject to automatic
These two are potential trouble. In the first case, how long is "all night"? Until midnight? Until the sun rises? Until the hotel's day shift comes on duty? In the second case, who decides what is "necessary" — can a guest show up a half hour before the following day's check-out time and still expect to claim a room because some "necessity" made him late?
With a guaranteed reservation, we will hold your room as late as necessary. Much better is a specific policy such as the following:
Guaranteed reservations are held until at least
Some hotels even detail exactly what they will do for guests when, for whatever reason, guaranteed reservations cannot be fulfilled:
If the Hotel cannot honor a guaranteed reservation for an attendee on the date specified, the Hotel will secure comparable or better accommodations at the nearest hotel possible. The Hotel will secure and assume the financial responsibility for that part of the room rate at the alternate hotel which exceeds the group room rate, ground transportation and one brief long distance phone call. Ground transportation to and from the alternate accommodations shall be provided at the Hotel's expense for as many days as the Hotel is unable to accommodate the attendee.
Many hotels will assume (even though their policy may state otherwise) that if a guest with a guaranteed reservation hasn't arrived by some reasonable hour (midnight, say) and hasn't phoned in, he probably won't be coming; if the hotel is solidly booked, they may go ahead and let the room to someone else. Hotels engage in this practice because they have little to lose in a financial sense: they get paid for the room no matter who occupies it, and if the person who made the guaranteed reservation doesn't show, they get paid twice for the same room. (In fact, many hotels book more "guaranteed reservations" than they can possibly accommodate on the assumption that a certain percentage of the guests will never show up, although not all of these hotels actually charge the guests who don't arrive.) The potential downside comes in the loss of goodwill when a guest with a guaranteed reservation shows up and finds out that his hotel violated its "guaranteed reservation" policy (or didn't have a set policy, or didn't fully explain its policy to the guest). In most cases, well-run hotels will always display an apologetic attitude, make diligent efforts to secure close, comparable lodging (at their own expense) for their customer, and perhaps even offer to comp the guest with a free stay on a future visit — even if the As always, caveat emptor — it's best to assume nothing when making a hotel reservation and to find out exactly what your "guaranteed reservation" guarantees you. Otherwise you may find yourself spending an evening in a smoking room at Shoney's with nothing but PowerPoint for entertainment. As for the two Seattle men in our story, here is the information they provided to those who inquired:
Q: Is this for real?
Last updated: 26 December 2006
Yup. Although "Night Clerk Mike's" real first name is a slight variation on "Mike" — also with four letters, also starting with "M" — this was an absolutely authentic response to a real service incident. To people who call, the hotel in question is saying nobody named "Mike" works there. But what kinds of nuts would invent a complaint filled with so many specifics — and put their real names on it? Q: Who are you guys? We are two directors of a web design/information consultancy in the Pacific Northwest. We've left our firm's name out of this. Q: Why did you spread it all over the Internet? In truth, we sent it initially to the hotel; two clients/friends in downtown Houston, and Shane's mother-in-law. That was it. Yes, the last screen says: "And we hope they send it to THEIR friends!" Call us naïve, but we figured that meant perhaps twenty or thirty people. We never dreamed it would get passed around like this. Trust us. We had NO IDEA. The website postings, including the one at urban legend clearinghouse snopes.com, was done by others without our permission or approval. Q: Can I have a copy of the presentation? Uh, no. Given how far it's gone, we've decided not to facilitate any further distribution of the show, in hard copies or electronically. We think we've made our point. Q: Can I use the presentation in training classes? We've had numerous requests to save and show the presentation to business school students, hotel and airline trainees, etc. as an example of customer relations gone horribly wrong. OK, but we have two requirements: please go into the file and alter, "X" out, or delete the names of the Doubletree Club managers that appear on the first page... and our Q: How far has it gone? Well, we've heard from five continents. Most hospitality professionals seem amused and sympathetic (though one former hotel manager suggested we get psychological counseling). We have had a couple of stern lectures from fellow road warriors/"civilians", though, who explain how out of line we were to expect our "guaranteed" rooms held for us. About Q: What has the hotel done? Both a Hilton brand manager and the GM of the Doubletree Club Houston have called to apologize. They are very aware, at both levels, that the PowerPoint has by now been seen by thousands. The Doubletree Club apparently is receiving enough phone inquiries to interfere with business (so don't call). They are saying there's no "Mike," but confirming that the incident occurred and that they're changing training policies. Doubletree's brand director has sent us a list of actions taken at both the hotel and corporate levels to improve employee training and overbooking policies. Q: Are you seeking publicity? Quite the opposite. We've turned down interview requests from Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ ran a short blurb Q: Or goodies? No. A couple of competing chains have offered us gift certificates, which is nice of them, but we've politely refused. Without our asking, Hilton's Director of Guest Assistance sent us each certificates for two free room nights at any Doubletree. Given that we did not set out to pry free stuff out of the company, we're sending 'em back. Earlier, when the Doubletree Club GM asked what we wanted in the way of compensation for our negative experience, we agreed that a donation to Houston's Toys for Tots campaign in the hotel's name would be nice instead. The hotel, Doubletree corporate HQ and Hilton Guest Services are each making sizable contributions. With so many people now apparently getting copies of the show, I'd like to try to extend that impulse. If you got a laugh out of it, perhaps you could kick the price of a Doubletree Hotel club sandwich toward the holiday charity of your choice in the name of Night Clerk Mike. Maybe even notify the Doubletree Club in Houston that you've done so. Their address is Q: So... what's it all mean? Hopefully, that while $#!@& happens, service matters — and hand-to-hand email has power. We'd urge you not to draw conclusions about the whole Doubletree brand on the basis of our little complaint. Every hospitality brand has good properties and awful ones. (Thanks for so many great personal horror stories, by the way.) But we do urge travelers to be bold when they get the short end of the stick. Perhaps, now that "Yours Is a Very Bad Hotel" has attracted attention in corporate offices of many hospitality providers, managers and customers alike will be a little more aware of the power customers wield. Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2009 by snopes.com. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
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