Beware the online travel bookings deluge

I have a cautionary traveller's tale to tell - about the pitfalls of online booking and a woman called Pooneh Maghrebian who saved the day.

Once upon a time it would have been a seasoned travel agent who would have found us this fabulous hotel looking across the sparkling harbour waters to the prettiest, prettiest vista of pastel coloured night lights from the city of Vancouver, Canada.

These days, it is DIY travel.

Sitting up late into the night in my Adelaide bedroom, I surfed through the hotels of this city and honed in on this one.

It really captured my imagination and my fancy.

It was away from the centre of the city and had car parking and views. I have not been to Vancouver so I was operating on logic, economy and the online reviews left by other travellers.

I booked a harbour view room.

Or, I thought I did.

Now, there are a lot of travel booking sites vying for one’s attention. They seem to be multiplying.

I’m a long-time Expedia user but I also like booking.com, TripAdvisor and Travelocity.

Sometimes, I use the club membership of hotel chains I particularly like.

As one who wrote that long-running Internet column, Net Adventures, in The Advertiser, I am habituated to comparison shopping and reviewing. I may dare to say I have some expertise in it. So it is not like me to cock up.

Then again, we all can do it.

We must watch warily the pop-ups and challenges of new sites these days. It’s a rapacious market out there. And I, clearly, had taken my eye off the ball.

So, I made my booking for this Pinnacle on the Pier Hotel in Vancouver.

The confirmation pinged into my email. Ta da.

Done deal.

I cleared the screen and began a new search to book for the next city.

We are on a 6-month road trip around north America. There are a lot of places to book.

Months later, on arrival at the hotel, I was assigned a room at the back of the property. A room without a view.

I reeled in shock.

That can’t be right. I had specifically sought a room with a harbour view.

Views are my thing. I am writing a travel blog. I have come to see Vancouver. Why on earth would I choose not to?

This was the preference which came through to the hotel, the receptionist, Poonah, explained.

This is what I had booked.

No, no, no. Impossible. I clearly recall looking through the hotel images, comparing the prices on offer and booking “harbour view”.

I have had that “harbour view” in mind’s eye throughout my travels and had been anticipating it eagerly.

And here I was with a backstreets view.

Well, they call it a “mountain view” and there is a glorious tree-flanked green mountain backdrop out there. Mainly, however, the rear rooms look upon the facade of the neighbouring high rise. Lovely rooms, I hasten to say. Impeccable. Spacious. Beautifully equipped. The Pinnacle on the Pier is a classy hotel.

And its location is even better than my anticipations - on the north shore of the harbour looking back towards Vancouver city across an endlessly changing vista of busy shipping activity.

Why was my booking not the booking I had made?

Well, my booking records which I wanted to show to Reception were, of course, in the computer which was still in the luggage in the car.

Receptionist, Poonah, had a printout, however.

And there it was. “Standard room”.

It had come to the hotel through a UK web agency, she explained.

UK?

Yes, UK, as in England.

We won’t get into Brexit.

To cut a long story short, somewhere in the depths of the night in Adelaide, I had veered from my usual online booking pattern. I thought the booking confirmations had come via hotel chain.

I did not double check.

I was very lucky. Pooneh, assistant guest services manager, was on the reception desk at the Pinnacle when I responded in dismay. I had, interestingly, made another booking to extend our stay here. I had made it through the hotel chain itself, assuming I was continuing on the same transaction. It was specific - “Harbour View”.

Poonah was here to see these two bookings, to spot the confusions and to make things right.

She saw that we were moved to a room with a view. It is the most wonderful room in the hotel.

She solved the problems and made a very happy customer. She ensured praise and five star reviews for her employer.

And her intelligence, friendliness, willingness to solve a problem and go the extra mile, has enhanced the way this travel blogger sees and depicts the city of Vancouver .

She’s a credit to Canada, as well as to the Pinnacle.

Lessons from this tale:

Do not hurry your online bookings.

Double check the confirmations.