Two-Room Overbooking on a Wedding Night
A 44-room hotel in Chandigarh has 41 sellable rooms because three rooms are out of order after a water tank leak. Tonight’s reservations total 43: a wedding block of 16 rooms under a signed contract with a guaranteed minimum of 15; 8 corporate rooms, including one prepaid VIP who arrives at 22:30; 12 prepaid OTA rooms on non-refundable rates; and 7 direct bookings, of which one is a same-day telephone booking with no deposit, one is a family with a wheelchair user, one is a repeat guest on a flexible rate, and four are standard flexible bookings. The wedding is in the hotel’s banquet hall at 19:00. At 16:00 the front office learns that two more rooms will not be ready by 18:00. The hotel has an agreement with a partner hotel 1.8 km away that charges ₹2,200 per night; the hotel’s average room rate is ₹3,400. The front office manager is on leave and the shift supervisor must decide.
1. Which two reservations would you walk, and why? Name the reservations you would not walk and the risk each carries.
Read the worked answer
Walk the same-day telephone booking with no deposit first. It has no guaranteed payment, the guest has not committed money, and the hotel can offer a partner room plus transport. The second should be one of the four standard flexible direct bookings - preferably a single-night, late-arrival booking at rack rate, not the repeat guest and not the family with a wheelchair user. Do not walk the wedding block: 16 rooms under a signed contract with a guaranteed minimum, and the wedding is in the hotel at 19:00; walking them risks breach, event disruption and reputational damage. Do not walk the prepaid VIP corporate guest: prepaid, high-value account, arriving 22:30, and a walk would damage the corporate relationship. Do not walk the prepaid OTA rooms: they are non-refundable, the OTA will charge back and penalise the hotel, and the guest has already paid. Avoid the family with a wheelchair user because the partner hotel may not have an accessible room and the walk would create a safety and dignity issue. The repeat guest has loyalty value; keep the room unless no other option exists.
2. Outline the walk procedure and compensation, including who communicates what and when.
Read the worked answer
At 16:00, block the two rooms and stop selling. Call the partner hotel to confirm two rooms with breakfast and late check-in. Prepare a walk letter with the hotel's name, address, phone, booking reference, prepaid room and transport. The supervisor speaks to each guest personally before 17:30, not at the desk on arrival. Script: 'We have a confirmed room for you, but due to a maintenance issue we cannot provide it here tonight. We have arranged a room at Partner Hotel, 1.8 km away, at our cost, with free transport both ways and complimentary breakfast.' Offer a free return stay or loyalty points and waive the room charge for the night. Pay the partner hotel's ₹2,200 rate; if the guest had paid ₹3,400, do not charge the difference. Arrange a taxi and escort if needed. Inform the wedding host only if a wedding room is affected - in this plan it is not. Log times, names, amounts and the guest's response. Send the partner hotel a written confirmation and give the guest a copy of the walk letter.
3. What policy changes would reduce recurrence?
Read the worked answer
Set a daily overbooking limit based on historical no-shows, not on hope: for this hotel, no more than 2–3 rooms over sellable inventory, and zero when large events or out-of-order rooms exist. Conduct a 14:00 inventory and arrivals check, with housekeeping confirming out-of-order rooms. Hold back two rooms for same-day direct and VIP arrivals during wedding weekends. Load the partner hotel agreement with rates, accessible rooms and a 24-hour contact. Train front office on walk authority and compensation limits. Track walk costs and no-show rates monthly. Use a guaranteed reservation policy for same-day phone bookings, and require a deposit or card guarantee. Finally, create a written contingency plan that names the decision-maker when the front office manager is on leave.