In what can only be described as a malicious way of getting out of a low room rate, the Le Meridien Maldives Resort & Spa is attempting to cancel reservations via an arbitrary loophole.
Le Meridien Maldives Attempts to Weasel Out of Mistake Rates
Earlier this year, the Le Meridien Maldives Resort & Spa accidentally released rooms at an extremely low rate, roughly $150 per night excluding taxes, fees, and resort transfers. This was ultimately a mistake but the hotel elected to honor these rates.
Fellow travel writer JT Genter and his wife Katie took advantage of the rates and have a stay at the property in the coming months. Unfortunately, based on an email he received and posted to X today, it appears that the property is looking to get guests to inadvertently cancel their reservation via a call to action (or lack thereof) in the email.
The hotel has requested that guests provide the names of their travel companions (fair) and full international flight arrival and departure details (odd) months in advance. I know many of us who follow points and miles are constantly updating, changing, and, in some instances, still booking travel right up until departure.
The hotel has stated that if these details are not provided within 24 hours of receipt of the email, the reservation will be cancelled and can not be reinstated at the low rate.
If you booked one of these mistake rates check your inbox ASAP. It’s unclear to me at this point whether this email has gone out to all guests who booked on the mistake rate of if it is triggering at a certain point before check in.
My Thoughts
This story is absolutely wild to me. We’ve seen some hotels charge crazy resort fees that include oddball amenities but this is taking things to a whole new level. If the hotel didn’t want to honor these rates they could have easily done so at the time the mistake rate was identified. Instead, they decided to honor them and are now trying to backtrack.
One has to wonder where this direction is coming from. Is someone in revenue management getting some heat regarding average rates and bookings? Are the General Manager and Owner aware?
This seems like a PR nightmare for the property and hopefully they will backtrack on this absurd policy. Could you imagine an airline cancelling your reservation if you didn’t select your seat by some arbitrary deadline?
I can see why the hotel would be frustrated with having these rates on the books due to the fact that rooms typically sell for much higher, regularly going for $800 or more, but they were the ones that chose to honor the rate.
Mrs. ATX and I spent part of our honeymoon in the Maldives in a room booked on points and still managed to run up a $2500 bill on food, drinks, excursions, and transfers for our three night stay. With all of the extras and the prices they charge on property, it’s not like they won’t have the chance to make some money off of these guests.
Hopefully they make this situation right for any guests that do have reservations cancelled but, for now, we’ll have to wait and see. If any readers have a booking at the property I’d love to hear your experience.
Summary
The Le Meridien Maldives Resort & Spa appears to be trying to get out of mistake rate bookings by demanding information within 24 hours or risk having the booking cancelled. Hopefully the hotel comes to its senses but, if you have a stay booked, be sure to check your email ASAP.