"I was 10 minutes away from the hotel when a staff member called me to say that you were overbooked, so the room I had booked more than 3 weeks previously, was no longer available. I was offered a room in a manor house nearby. But that had no reception, and no restaurant. Without any hotel staff at that property, it did not feel safe for a lone traveller.
When I arrived at the hotel, and spoke to the staff, the lady I dealt with said that a hotel in the city centre had a room available. This was not ideal, as the event I was attending was cross the road from the hotel I had booked, which is why I booked it. The city centre hotel was a 15 minute drive away.
I was told that the overbooking was due to a system error. I can't help thinking it was to cover the possibility that bookings might be cancelled, but none were. When I booked there was good availability, and I know that this only changed late in the week preceding my weekend booking, because I checked on the Friday to see if the room price had dropped - it was showing as sold out.
If I had known I would not be able to stay at the hotel, I would not have booked a hotel at all, and would have travelled up for the event on the day. Booking the hotel was meant to provide a relaxing evening and morning before the afternoon event. It was quite the opposite with having to find my way to the city centre hotel, and back again.
The only reason I ended up accepting the city centre htoel was because the staff member at the Orchard"
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