private albergues cancelling reservations

[mochilaverde]

Has anyone had experiences with private accommodations canceling reservations?

I'm fresh off the Camino Ingles. I stayed at public albergues the whole trip, except for the last two nights in Bruma and Siguero, where I booked a bed in a private albergue about a month before I started walking. The day before I walked to Siguero, I got an email from the staff at the albergue I'd booked (O Segue do Camino) saying that they didn't have any space for me and that they were canceling my reservation. At the time the email was sent, I was walking and had put my phone on airplane mode. 40 minutes later I got another email saying that they had booked me a bed in Albergue Miras.

It was nice that the staff at O Segue do Camino didn't abandon me completely, but the situation still seemed like a "bait and switch". It was also weird that I ended up being the only woman at Albergue Miras. When I arrived at Miras, I got the impression that the staff weren't expecting a woman traveling alone and they ended up putting me in a room by myself. The whole situation felt kind of dodgy and I was kind of upset at feeling abandoned. Happily, other pilgrims started showing up whom I'd met previous nights and I felt a bit safer. I ended up having a wonderful dinner with Takashi from Japan and Jose from Argentina. Albergue Miras is perfectly adequate, but on a noisy road - the choice is either to have the window open for fresh air and traffic noise, or to close the window and have the room quiet but hot and stuffy.

I spoke to another couple from Australia who'd had accomodations near Betanzos canceled - and the host there hadn't gone to the trouble of booking them somewhere else to stay! Perhaps private accomodations have developed a policy of overbooking and then hoping that there are enough cancelations that they end up with enough beds. I also wondered if booking 5 weeks in advance over the O Segue do Camino website meant that my reservation got "lost" in a system where humans take reservations over the phone without checking the online bookings. Of course, I also wondered if O Segue do Camino was "referring" pilgrims to Albergue Miras for some fee....

edit to add:

Thanks everyone for your comments, I'm now more optimistic that the albergue that canceled my reservation made a genuine error and did their best to make sure that I had a place to sleep. In any case, my suspicions about a "bait and switch" are now well-documented here in case anyone has this experience in the future. I'm in awe of the hospitaliero whose daughter had died and who still managed to find new accommodations for a group of 14!

For clarity, my booking was done directly on the albergue website, not through a third party like booking.com.

One of the things I've enjoyed about being a pilgrim is that people are very generous with their hospitality. However, I don't think appreciation of this goodwill should stop people from questioning behaviour that might indicate corruption, even if it is benign as sending business to another albergue. I've stayed in a dozen public albergues in Galicia and several of them had so few beds occupied that I wondered why the albergue was even there! (That, and the presence of a beautiful kitchen with no cookware, so that pilgrims are obliged to eat hot meals in a nearby restaurant....) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galician_Mafia

 

[Vacajoe]

Or they had a family emergency? Sewer/water/power issues? Focus? Bedbugs to treat? Instead of thinking the worst (“bait and switch”), be grateful that they went through the trouble of finding you another accommodation. You had a place to sleep as you requested. Now give them the grace of accepting that they had a need to move you.

 

[Grousedoctor]

The only other thing that I would add to @Vacajoe excellent post is that possibly a very honest mistake in booking was made.

I primarily stay in private albergues. I generally, but not always, have reservations with some of them being made months in advance. To date, after six Caminos, I have been very fortunate to have my beds or rooms awaiting me in every albergue that I booked in advance.

So, for whatever reason your reservation was changed, I do believe that the good people at the albergue had your interests in mind and were considerate enough to take care of you and locate a bed for you for the night. In the spirit of the Camino, I wouldn’t read anything sinister into this occurrence.

 

[jsalt]

Has anyone had experiences with private accommodations canceling reservations?

Hi, yes, I was leading a group of 14 people when I got a whatsapp one morning, from our next overnight accommodation . . . his young daughter had been killed in a car accident after school the previous evening, and he couldn’t accommodate us that night. Horrified at the news, and trying to think of Plan B at the same time, he then sent another whatsapp to say the resort nearby will put us up for the same price. I was gobsmacked. What a community. His neighbours had rallied around to do what they could in this tragedy.

 

[Marbe2]

If I make a reservation directly with a private albergue way in advance and not with a 3rd party like booking.com, I always reconfirm the booking at least a day or two before arrival. Some places, like Casa Barbadelo on CF require reconfirmation shortly before the day arrival. I have never had a booking canceled upon arrival. I wouldn’t be shocked, however, if it occurred because life happens.

 

[davejsy]

It does make you wonder though, in todays booking.con age where you can reserve as many rooms as you wish and cancel at 24/12/X amount of hours before free of charge how places manage this, especially ones on the Camino who will only have someone there for one night. I do wonder if they end up accepting over-bookings on the likelihood that X% get cancelled.

Not suggesting that is what's happened here.

It's always best to book direct and reconfirm beforehand as many have said - on or off Camino.

 

[Marbe2]

It does make you wonder though, in todays booking.con age where you can reserve as many rooms as you wish and cancel at 24/12/X amount of hours before free of charge how places manage this, especially ones on the Camino who will only have someone there for one night. I do wonder if they end up accepting over-bookings on the likelihood that X% get cancelled.

Not suggesting that is what's happened here.

It's always best to book direct and reconfirm beforehand as many have said - on or off Camino.

Booking allows free cancellations according to the stipulations set by the specific albergues as far as I can determine. Some accommodations I have used have stipulated free cancellations as far out as two weeks before arrival and others…up to 6pm on the day of arrival….and the penalty could be all or part of the stay cost. It has been my sense that newer accommodations seeking pilgrims are more flexible. Once they are more established/busy the amount of time they allow before cancellation shortens. Also, I have found that if one books off season, when the establishments do not have as many patrons, time to cancel without penalty may increase. This is based upon my observations, and not based on statistical data.

IMO, in high season or holidays, it doesn’t hurt to reconfirm reservations and assure the accommodation that you will be there that day, especially if your getting there later.

I once made a direct booking via telephone, having changed plans midday, (decided to go further) and was told by the owner that if I arrived before 5pm, the room was ours, if not they couldn’t say if it would be available.

 

[Kirkie]

Has anyone had experiences with private accommodations canceling reservations?

I'm fresh off the Camino Ingles. I stayed at public albergues the whole trip, except for the last two nights in Bruma and Siguero, where I booked a bed in a private albergue about a month before I started walking. The day before I walked to Siguero, I got an email from the staff at the albergue I'd booked (O Segue do Camino) saying that they didn't have any space for me and that they were canceling my reservation. At the time the email was sent, I was walking and had put my phone on airplane mode. 40 minutes later I got another email saying that they had booked me a bed in Albergue Miras.

It was nice that the staff at O Segue do Camino didn't abandon me completely, but the situation still seemed like a "bait and switch". It was also weird that I ended up being the only woman at Albergue Miras. When I arrived at Miras, I got the impression that the staff weren't expecting a woman traveling alone and they ended up putting me in a room by myself. The whole situation felt kind of dodgy and I was kind of upset at feeling abandoned. Happily, other pilgrims started showing up whom I'd met previous nights and I felt a bit safer. I ended up having a wonderful dinner with Takashi from Japan and Jose from Argentina. Albergue Miras is perfectly adequate, but on a noisy road - the choice is either to have the window open for fresh air and traffic noise, or to close the window and have the room quiet but hot and stuffy.

I spoke to another couple from Australia who'd had accomodations near Betanzos canceled - and the host there hadn't gone to the trouble of booking them somewhere else to stay! Perhaps private accomodations have developed a policy of overbooking and then hoping that there are enough cancelations that they end up with enough beds. I also wondered if booking 5 weeks in advance over the O Segue do Camino website meant that my reservation got "lost" in a system where humans take reservations over the phone without checking the online bookings. Of course, I also wondered if O Segue do Camino was "referring" pilgrims to Albergue Miras for some fee....

You ask a simple question. My answer, no.
My experience on the Ingles was exclusively with private albergues, a first experience.
Previously, very rarely, in fact usually only in Santiago, did we reserve.
I dealt directly with each albergue/hostal. No intermediary agencies.
I have a simple question for you: did you try to deal with the albergue that cancelled your booking, at the time of cancellation?
Not that in the wider scale of things it makes a whit of difference.
It upset you, naturally. You will have learned, for the next time!

 

[Simperegrina]

Booking allows free cancellations according to the stipulations set by the specific albergues as far as I can determine. Some accommodations I have used have stipulated free cancellations as far out as two weeks before arrival and others…up to 6pm on the day of arrival….and the penalty could be all or part of the stay cost. It has been my sense that newer accommodations seeking pilgrims are more flexible. Once they are more established/busy the amount of time they allow before cancellation shortens. Also, I have found that if one books off season, when the establishments do not have as many patrons, time to cancel without penalty may increase. This is based upon my observations, and not based on statistical data.

IMO, in high season or holidays, it doesn’t hurt to reconfirm reservations and assure the accommodation that you will be there that day, especially if your getting there later.

I once made a direct booking via telephone, having changed plans midday, (decided to go further) and was told by the owner that if I arrived before 5pm, the room was ours, if not they couldn’t say if it would be available.

Re your last sentence, that’s not too unusual, I suspect especially on the Frances, given the practice of some people of reserving a bed (phone, WhatsApp) and then changing their minds without having the courtesy of notifying the albergue. I recall this when I reserved a bed at Casa de La Abuela in Los Arcos - I had to be there by 1600

 

[bullingtonce]

Has anyone had experiences with private accommodations canceling reservations?

I'm fresh off the Camino Ingles. I stayed at public albergues the whole trip, except for the last two nights in Bruma and Siguero, where I booked a bed in a private albergue about a month before I started walking. The day before I walked to Siguero, I got an email from the staff at the albergue I'd booked (O Segue do Camino) saying that they didn't have any space for me and that they were canceling my reservation. At the time the email was sent, I was walking and had put my phone on airplane mode. 40 minutes later I got another email saying that they had booked me a bed in Albergue Miras.

It was nice that the staff at O Segue do Camino didn't abandon me completely, but the situation still seemed like a "bait and switch". It was also weird that I ended up being the only woman at Albergue Miras. When I arrived at Miras, I got the impression that the staff weren't expecting a woman traveling alone and they ended up putting me in a room by myself. The whole situation felt kind of dodgy and I was kind of upset at feeling abandoned. Happily, other pilgrims started showing up whom I'd met previous nights and I felt a bit safer. I ended up having a wonderful dinner with Takashi from Japan and Jose from Argentina. Albergue Miras is perfectly adequate, but on a noisy road - the choice is either to have the window open for fresh air and traffic noise, or to close the window and have the room quiet but hot and stuffy.

I spoke to another couple from Australia who'd had accomodations near Betanzos canceled - and the host there hadn't gone to the trouble of booking them somewhere else to stay! Perhaps private accomodations have developed a policy of overbooking and then hoping that there are enough cancelations that they end up with enough beds. I also wondered if booking 5 weeks in advance over the O Segue do Camino website meant that my reservation got "lost" in a system where humans take reservations over the phone without checking the online bookings. Of course, I also wondered if O Segue do Camino was "referring" pilgrims to Albergue Miras for some fee....

They booked you at another location. This is called 'taking care of you.' Listen to the One who said, "Judge not lest you . . . " Good advice. Chuck

 

[Nanners]

I've had albergue/hostel cancel on us a few weeks before arrival. I suspect it was a bed bug infestation based on what I'd been hearing through the grapevine. Alternative places were suggested in the cancellation message and it worked out fine.

 

[mochilaverde]

Thanks everyone for your comments, I'm now more optimistic that the albergue that canceled my reservation made a genuine error and did their best to make sure that I had a place to sleep. In any case, my suspicions about a "bait and switch" are now well-documented here in case anyone has this experience in the future. I'm in awe of the hospitaliero whose daughter had died and who still managed to find new accommodations for a group of 14!

The booking was done directly on the albergue website, not through a third party like booking.com.

One of the things I've enjoyed about being a pilgrim is that people are very generous with their hospitality. However, I don't think appreciation of this goodwill should stop people from questioning behaviour that might indicate corruption, even if it is benign as sending business to another albergue. I've stayed in a dozen public albergues in Galicia and several of them had so few beds occupied that I wondered why the albergue was even there! (That, and the presence of a beautiful kitchen with no cookware, so that pilgrims are obliged to eat hot meals in a nearby restaurant.)

 

[Simperegrina]

Thanks everyone for your comments, I'm now more optimistic that the albergue that canceled my reservation made a genuine error and did their best to make sure that I had a place to sleep. In any case, my suspicions about a "bait and switch" are now well-documented here in case anyone has this experience in the future. I'm in awe of the hospitaliero whose daughter had died and who still managed to find new accommodations for a group of 14!

The booking was done directly on the albergue website, not through a third party like booking.com.

One of the things I've enjoyed about being a pilgrim is that people are very generous with their hospitality. However, I don't think appreciation of this goodwill should stop people from questioning behaviour that might indicate corruption, even if it is benign as sending business to another albergue. I've stayed in a dozen public albergues in Galicia and several of them had so few beds occupied that I wondered why the albergue was even there! (That, and the presence of a beautiful kitchen with no cookware, so that pilgrims are obliged to eat hot meals in a nearby restaurant.)

I do wonder what, if anything, you have discovered about yourself from walking a Camino?

 

[C clearly]

I don't think appreciation of this goodwill should stop people from questioning behaviour that might indicate corruption, even if it is benign as sending business to another albergue. I've stayed in a dozen public albergues in Galicia and several of them had so few beds occupied that I wondered why the albergue was even there!

Two points:

1. There cannot be enough profit from any albergue that would allow for a profitable bait and switch commission/fee. To jump to this suspicion seems very unkind. Albergues must deal with a clientele that almost always stays just one night. Further, many people make reservations and then abandon them. It must be difficult for operators to operate this way, especially when they have good intentions, which most of them do!
2. The only reason those public albergues exist in Galicia is to provide beds for pilgrims who need/want a very low cost place to sleep while they are walking on the Camino de Santiago. They clearly do not exist to make a profit. The pilgrim community is very lucky to have them available!

It was also weird that I ended up being the only woman at Albergue Miras. When I arrived at Miras, I got the impression that the staff weren't expecting a woman traveling alone and they ended up putting me in a room by myself. The whole situation felt kind of dodgy and I was kind of upset at feeling abandoned.

I do not see anything dodgy about this at all. Many many women walk alone, and they were trying to be nice by putting you in your own room.

 

[trecile]

It was also weird that I ended up being the only woman at Albergue Miras. When I arrived at Miras, I got the impression that the staff weren't expecting a woman traveling alone and they ended up putting me in a room by myself.

This happened to me several times on the Camino this year. Once I was the only woman out of about 12 pilgrims, the other time there were four men and me in the room. I wasn't lucky enough to be put in a room by myself because there wasn't an extra room. And twice, despite the fact that there were two rooms in the albergue, and only two pilgrims - me and a male pilgrim, we were both put in the same room.
@C clearly is right - there are many women traveling alone on the Camino and not surprising at all to hospitaleros/as.

 

[lt56ny]

As others have said, there was no bait and switch and I do not see how you even thought that. You had an albergue owner who you questioned and was doing the best he could to remedy your issue. The new albergue you went to not only gave you a bed at the same price but gave you a private room!!!!!!! I would love to have the bait and switch that happened to you. I am sorry but I had to shake my head reading your message.

 

[C clearly]

pilgrims are obliged to eat hot meals in a nearby restaurant

No one obliges them to eat anywhere.

 

[mochilaverde]

Two points:

1. There cannot be enough profit from any albergue that would allow for a profitable bait and switch commission/fee. To jump to this suspicion seems very unkind. Albergues must deal with a clientele that almost always stays just one night. Further, many people make reservations and then abandon them. It must be difficult for operators to operate this way, especially when they have good intentions, which most of them do!
2. The only reason those public albergues exist in Galicia is to provide beds for pilgrims who need/want a very low cost place to sleep while they are walking on the Camino de Santiago. They clearly do not exist to make a profit. The pilgrim community is very lucky to have them available!

I do not see anything dodgy about this at all. Many many women walk alone, and they were trying to be nice by putting you in your own room.

I agree that the vast majority of albergue operators are not making massive sums of money and are running albergues not just to making a living, but also because they believe in the experience that people have on the Camino.

1. In this particular case, one of the dodgy aspects of the Miras albergue was that it was located above a restaurant next to a busy road with a lot of traffic noise. I expect that the owners of the property took into consideration that the noisy location meant that the upstairs space would have been hard to rent out to long-term tenants or as a private hotel. In this case, an albergue, where guests are only staying one night and are happy just to have a bed, becomes a financially compelling use for the space.
   
   I agree that an arrangement with another albergue to send "overflow" pilgrims is probably not going to be very lucrative - but having a few extra people is still an amount of money that would pay for something like a renovation.
   
   
2. Miras albergue is a private albergue, not a public albergue.
   
   
   

 

[mochilaverde]

there was no bait and switch and I do not see how you even thought that.

The original albergue was very highly rated, while the albergue I ended up in was on a noisy road and had no ventilation or AC.

Maybe it's OK to accept a different accommodation in Spain, but in other places a hotel trying to encourage you to take a different location is probably not really offering you an "upgrade" or is otherwise doing some creative accounting.

 

[Simperegrina]

The original albergue was very highly rated, while the albergue I ended up in was on a noisy road and had no ventilation or AC.

Maybe it's OK to accept a different accommodation in Spain, but in other places a hotel trying to encourage you to take a different location is probably not really offering you an "upgrade" or is otherwise doing some creative accounting.

Absolute scenes

 

[mochilaverde]

I do wonder what, if anything, you have discovered about yourself from walking a Camino?

Perhaps one day we will walk together.

 

[Simperegrina]

Perhaps one day we will walk together.

Tempting thought. One that will keep me going through those dark nights as I look forward to my next Camino

 

[lt56ny]

The original albergue was very highly rated, while the albergue I ended up in was on a noisy road and had no ventilation or AC.

Maybe it's OK to accept a different accommodation in Spain, but in other places a hotel trying to encourage you to take a different location is probably not really offering you an "upgrade" or is otherwise doing some creative accounting.

With all do respect I think you need to walk more caminos. It seems like you will not let your experience go. One of the great lessons we all need to learn. Finally, based on Gronze.com your opinion of the Albergue Miras is not held by many others, in fact it has 12 ratings all good.

Albergue Mirás | Albergue de Peregrinos en Sigüeiro | Gronze.com

Información del albergue de peregrinos Albergue Mirás, en Sigüeiro: Precio, plazas, características, etc...

www.gronze.com

It also received a rating of 8.2 out of 10 on Bookings. That ain't too shabby either.

1. In this particular case, one of the dodgy aspects of the Miras albergue was that it was located above a restaurant next to a busy road with a lot of traffic noise. I expect that the owners of the property took into consideration that the noisy location meant that the upstairs space would have been hard to rent out to long-term tenants or as a private hotel. In this case, an albergue, where guests are only staying one night and are happy just to have a bed, becomes a financially compelling use for the space.
   
   I agree that an arrangement with another albergue to send "overflow" pilgrims is probably not going to be very lucrative - but having a few extra people is still an amount of money that would pay for something like a renovation.
   
   
2. Miras albergue is a private albergue, not a public albergue.

Once again the two points you make are not too relevant at all. Caminos are NOT easy. Nor should they be. Yes there are albergues over bars or on roads where there is traffic. You have no idea the ease or difficulty in renting a space in a village, nor do you know the circumstances of the owners who own the building. There is a very simple solution to a noisy albergue. Go to a Ferreteria and buy some earplugs or get them before you go. I think the best solution for you that you may want to consider is go with a tour company and not have a problem. Also how can you possibly know the financial situation of the family of the albergue owners. How much they earn, what debts or family obligations or any number of things that could affect their spending habits. Did you ask them why they were not renovating? Of course not, it is none of our business. I think you would benefit walking far less traveled caminos where you will find many albergues that are privately owned with little more than a bed a bath and warm and wonderful, and of course sometimes not, hosts. There are so many albergues that sit on roads, and are above restaurants and bars that are the lifeblood of these small villages and hamlets. You should be thankful you have an opportunity that the Camino allowed you to walk on it. The old saying to remember, Tourists demand, pilgrims are thankful. You had a bed, be thankful. That was all the camino was giving you that day.

 

[ShoshTrvls]

For the 2 caminos I’ve done, and what I plan to do next month for my Ingles, is email/whatsapp my booked accommodations (a) when I start my Camino to let them know that I *am* on the Way (pun intended); and (b) 2-3 days ahead* of my stay to confirm that I’m still on track to be there the night I’ve reserved. Given how early many people (myself included) book to make sure they get the accommodations they want, I think this is not only prudent but common courtesy for the owner so they aren’t left waiting and wondering if they’ve held a bed or private room unnecessarily and potentially without compensation.

*For my first 2 nights I will contact them about a week before I start.