I booked a hotel a yesterday though Booking.com for a special occasion in Barcelona (I'm traveling from another European country). The booking isn't for another few months.
The booking includes:
Free Cancellation
Pay at the hotel
Confirm booking with Credit Card
The hotel confirmed the booking this morning, and then a few hours later submitted this message though the booking.com website to raise the rate by around €40/night (If I try to book it again from Booking.com the price is around 265€/night and they are now offering the hotel at 165€/night)
Message:
Dear XXXXXXX,
We contact you in reference to your reservation, made in the last few hours, at the Hotel XXXXXXXXX. Unfortunately we have to inform you that there has been a serious human error and therefore the rate of your reservation does not match to this hotel category. Due to this situation, we would like to offer you the possibility to cancel your reservation, obviously without any cost, or to reconfirm your reservation at the special rate of EUR 165 per night / room VAT included. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation in these circumstances and we ask you to accept our sincere apologies, hoping not to cause any inconvenience. We are waiting for you to indicate which of the two alternatives offered is of your greatest convenience.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXXX
Do I need to accept their new terms of the booking, accepting their new price/cancel or am I entitled to keep the original price?
I wouldn't want to arrive there with a sour taste in my mouth, or for them to cancel the booking last minute with no recourse, while I had originally budgeted €140/night, we want the trip to be special with no issues.
Thanks for the feedback everyone, just to keep you updated:
I've received the following mail from Booking.com (Previously the same details from the hotel itself)
Message from Booking.com:
Dear XXXXXXXX,
My name is XXXXXXXX from Booking.com and I had the pleasure of working on your reservation today. I attempted to reach out via phone but unfortunately we were unable to connect.
I tried calling you to discuss an error in the rates for your booking with XXXXXXXX(Hotel), but was unable to reach you.
Booking.com sent an email a couple days ago regarding your reservation. Since there has been no reply, I just wanted to follow up again and see if you had received our email. If not, the information from the original email is below:
The actual rate for XXXXXXXX(Hotel) is 660 EUR VAT included, and not 495.84 EUR as mentioned in your booking confirmation.
I am sorry for any inconvenience this situation may cause however, the property would like to offer you a free upgrade to a better room category, if available at check in, and they will offer a discount of 50% for breakfast.
Please reply to this email and let us know as soon as possible if you accept this offer or want to cancel your booking free of charge. If you have any questions or concerns, just let us know.
We look forward to hearing from you.
-- XXXXXXXX XXXXX Booking.com Customer Service Team