In August, 2023, I started planning a trip to the UK for September, 2024 to coincide with a cruise we will be taking that ends in Southampton, England. We decided to spend an 10 additional days staying in country house hotels around England. I did extensive research and chose several hotels to book. I had wanted to END our trip at Cliveden House as I had read about it many times and thought it would be a special way to conclude our trip. After trying to book online for a reservation there for September, 2024, there were no rooms available. As this was 13 months in advance I was surprised that there was no availability so I contacted the hotel reservations department and was told there was going to be an "exclusive private event" for that time period. I had no problem with this as there was plenty of time to make other plans. I then decided to START our tour of England at Cliveden House instead and even didn't mind rebooking the other 3 hotels as we were now going in reverse order from our original plans. I had no problem booking the available dates at Cliveden House, so I made a reservation and paid a one night's deposit. Fast forward to this April, 2024 (now only 5 months before our confirmed reservation at Cliveden House), I received an email that there was going to be an "exclusive private event" during the time of our stay so therefore they were going to have to cancel our reservation! They asked if I could perhaps come on a different date, listing what was available. I couldn't believe that one of the dates they were now offering were dates I had originally wanted to book back in August (so I could have ended my trip at Cliveden House!). Of course I was not about to try to (again) rebook the other 3 hotels, knowing that at any time Cliveden could once again have an "exclusive private event" cancelling another reservation of ours. I wish I were writing to share about what a wonderful experience we had at the hotel, but as they cancelled us (and with short notice), I am writing to alert other potential guests that they too could have their reservation cancelled at ANY time if someone comes along and books an "exclusive private event"-Thirteen months ahead is completely understandable, but cancelling FIVE months in advance of our visit not only frustrated and greatly disappointed us, but it put us in a situation where I had to spend considerable time to find a comparable and available replacement hotel.
แปล