I'm used to traveling across Europe for work. I have been booking my hotel rooms through common online websites like hotels.com or booking.com.
However, I find that I have been frustrated many times when entering my room at the hotel and finding out that the room doesn't have "the view on the sea" as written on the booking site.
The most common excuse that I get from the receptionist is: "We are full and that's the only room left" which is (sometimes) one close to the elevator with a view on the indoor court.
I got an explanation one time from a receptionist who said that it depends on the "face" of the customer. She said that a customer basically tossing down a credit card at check in will be close to the elevator, but one coming in with a smile might have the great view.
I have a budget of 200€ per night (which I assume is quite good) and I usually try to book a superior room.
So my questions are:
- How are the rooms assigned at a hotel? (first arrived have the best room?)
and
- How can I be assured to get a superior room?
For an example: Recently, I booked a hotel room via hotels.com and there were two kind of rooms: partial view on the sea and full view on the sea. I paid for full view. When I arrived at the hotel, there were no more full view rooms because the hotel was full. From the receptionist, I was told I had been upgraded to another class of room (which really looked like the one without the view). There was another room with view but I'd have to pay extra...