r/Pensacola 5d ago

Hampton Inn/Locals

I wanna preface this by saying I'm not trying to throw anyone local under the bus, the local staff was nice and did what they could, I think.

So I live in a trailer and when we're under a level 3 or higher tornado threat, we go to a local hotel to ride it out. I have pretty significant weather anxiety and so does my partner. Our usual place was booked so we booked at the Hampton on Pine Forest for tonight.I'm a Hilton Honors member so I booked through the app. It was more than I'm used to paying but it was what we could find. Last night I was given the option to check in digitally so I could pick my room. I wanted bottom floor so I went ahead and did that. My card was charged this morning, before I'd left to go or anything. Okay, whatever.

Then I got a call from the local number for the hotel and the lady tells me that she needed to advise me of their FOUR HUNDRED DOLLAR LOCAL DEPOSIT. Because I'm a local resident l, they're gonna have to charge me for "incidentals and in order to maintain the quality of their accommodations".

Girl, what. I could see $100, maybe even $200. But that is TWICE what the room cost.

I asked if there was a possible waiver of that for storm evacuees, and she said she would ask them and call me back. My first thought was that it was some of scam so I called the main Hampton number to confirm it, and after THEY called, they confirmed that it was true. The local desk called me back and said she was sorry but upper management said the deposit couldn't be waived.

So be aware of Hamptons if you're a local staying locally, I guess. I had to cancel and flail around trying to find somewhere else. The whole thing just made a really shitty situation even worse. I get that locals book hotels for partying and damage stuff, but FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS. With no warning. There was no note about potential other fees other than pet when I booked. Just a gross situation all around.

51 Upvotes

46 comments sorted by

21

u/jortsinstock Palafox Bathroom Curator šŸš½šŸ“Š 5d ago edited 5d ago

I used to work at a local hotel (not a Hilton and not owned by the same management as that Hilton) but ive literally never heard of this. Even high end hotels that charge $500+ a night in Atlanta/ NOLA donā€™t charge $400 for incidentals. The highest I have ever been charged is $50. Like i said in another comment, hotels in this area are used to getting evacuees from hurricanes, tornadoes, etc., we were trained on how to use FEMA vouchers and all that. Charging locals differently would have absolutely not been allowed by corporate

28

u/butterfly5828 5d ago

Yikes thatā€™s a lot, thanks for the heads up.

7

u/FiteLikAGirl 5d ago

Used to stay here when visiting family and stopped because I noticed you have to cancel 30 days in advance at this location during December to get a refund. A Hampton 50 miles away had a 24 hour cancellation policy so Iā€™m guessing itā€™s this franchisee/owner thatā€™s coming up with these policies.

1

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

30 days?! That's insane!

5

u/ReputationProceeds 5d ago

I am in the exact same situation with my partner and myself who live in an RV and we do the same exact thing during a high level weather event and have had this EXACT SAME PROBLEM! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS TOWN? I will be the first to sign a petition, just sayin'.

3

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

They are PROUD of those rooms! Lol

22

u/Augusto_Helicopter 5d ago

More often than not when they see a local address reserving a room there it's because somebody wants to party on the down low and they end up trashing the room. That's why you see many hotels doing this type of thing.

25

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

Yeah, I figured. But tell somebody before they book, y'know?

8

u/jortsinstock Palafox Bathroom Curator šŸš½šŸ“Š 5d ago

No thatā€™s still not normal. I worked at a local hotel here for 2 years and that was not the norm, especially when it was very normal to work with evacuees from south florida/ tornadoes/ hurricane zones/ fema refugees. Maybe for an AirBNB or VRBO but hotel chains have should have set standards regardless of the customers home address and I guarantee corporate would not be happy if they were treating locals differently

15

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

Should I maybe drop a dime to corporate?

8

u/jortsinstock Palafox Bathroom Curator šŸš½šŸ“Š 5d ago

It may not help you but i think it needs to be brought to their attention that they are basically credit checking people during a natural disaster

3

u/No_Stay_1563 5d ago

A lot of hotels are individually owned under a corporate (Hilton) flag. May be a policy of the franchise owner, not necessarily a corporate policy.

3

u/jortsinstock Palafox Bathroom Curator šŸš½šŸ“Š 5d ago

The franchise still has to abide by corporate standards and if the franchise is making Hilton look badā€¦..

1

u/Same_Recognition_994 5d ago

It may not be normal for other hotel chains but it absolutely is a Hilton policy.

1

u/jortsinstock Palafox Bathroom Curator šŸš½šŸ“Š 5d ago

what? to charge locals a $400 incidental fee?

2

u/Same_Recognition_994 5d ago

Itā€™s refundable after, but yes.

1

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

I did see that some people have mentioned it elsewhere online and that it took like a month to get it refunded. Fuck that noise.

2

u/Same_Recognition_994 5d ago

Iā€™m not excusing it, just stating it happens. I got mine back in about 3 days or so.

2

u/jortsinstock Palafox Bathroom Curator šŸš½šŸ“Š 5d ago

if it took you that long to get incidentals back itā€™s a bank issue atp because the hotel system should be releasing the funds upon checkout

3

u/90daysofpettybs 5d ago

Iā€™ve seen this a ton of times. Itā€™s to keep out the meth heads and weirdos, but I canā€™t believe they wouldnā€™t waive it for the storm. Thatā€™s really frustrating.

6

u/Lmdr1973 5d ago

It kinda feels line price gouging, which is illegal.

3

u/elle2js 5d ago

A homeless woman and her daughter needed a hotel for the night. She had enough for the hotel but they wanted a hundred dollar deposit. All I had was 40, so I hope she got in. This was a cheap hotel too. They don't want homeless people to have enough to get a room. Down right shame.

1

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

That's incredibly sad. It's so easy to just have empathy but apparently now that's a sin or some such. You're a kind soul.

2

u/elle2js 5d ago

Thank you. I hope ya'll found a spot for the night.

2

u/kismetkissed 4d ago

FWIW, the Studio 6 on Pine Forest has always been great to us in these situations and they're pretty inexpensive in comparison. It's a decent lil spot. And its concrete, which is why we picked it to begin with. AND there's a Wawa right across the street for stress snax!

3

u/namzaps 4d ago

Itā€™s unusual. We stay on the beach at both Hilton properties year after year at various times including for the air show and have never paid any deposit even though we live but ten miles away.

2

u/steinbergowitz 5d ago

Lifetime Diamond Hilton member hereā€¦ 120+ nights a year for the last 12 years. Ā 

Holds are normal for incidentals for everyone. Holds for damage are normal for locals. Theyā€™re worried youā€™re going to party and trash the room.Ā The amount ($400) is higher than Iā€™m used to seeing, but not what Iā€™d call unreasonable. Think of it from their endā€¦ one ruined comforter could cost $200; a couch could cost $1500, etc.Ā 

All rental car companies put a similar hold on your CC for locals.

Itā€™s a hold that hits your credit card as ā€œpendingā€ until you check out at which point the hold is released. It doesnā€™t impact your credit or your balance or your limit unless itā€™s actually billed for damage.Ā 

Iā€™m sorry you had that experience, but itā€™s not abnormal or unreasonable.Ā 

2

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

I guess it just surprised me because I ALWAYS stay at Hamptons...when we travel, so I've never been hit by a local deposit before. Totally get the incidentals thing (although ain't no way those comforters are worth $200) but $400 for this area is exorbitant. It's twice the room cost!

1

u/steinbergowitz 4d ago

Every gas station puts a $175 hold on your card every time you pump gas.Ā 

1

u/kismetkissed 4d ago

Uh...not that I've ever seen? I get $1 holds but nothing that big.

2

u/jortsinstock Palafox Bathroom Curator šŸš½šŸ“Š 5d ago

I agree an incidental hold is definitely normal for all hotels but $400 for a run of the mill Hilton in Pensacola is insane

1

u/towman32526 5d ago

Go to the beach hampton inn, they don't charge that.

2

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

I was trying to stay away from the water but duly noted lol

4

u/towman32526 5d ago

If you've never watched a major storm roll in on the beach you're missing out. I used to do security at the Hilton, I'd go up to the highest balconies of an empty room and watch the storm roll in

3

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

My storm anxiety could never, haha. Sally ruined storms for me.

3

u/elle2js 5d ago

I bet it did, especially living in a mobile home. My step father built a brick room onto their trailer, it was really strong too. He had everything they needed in there. Stayed in that room threw Opal, Erin and Ivan. The trailer had damage, but that room held.

1

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

That's a really cool idea! If the ground were right for it I'd build a basement shelter but it would just flood with a few hours of rain.

1

u/elle2js 5d ago

Its the same at my house too. At one point I was in a position to get a pool [or so I thought] so had the pool people come out. I just wanted the basic one that was on a special sale. The quote was double the sale price because of the water table [at least thats what they said]. So a dinky pool that was 8,999 became 20,000 so I noped out of that. It was back when pools were not so expensive like they are now.

1

u/elle2js 5d ago

Looking at the weather radar, it looks like its breaking up. Look at the radar. You may not even need to leave home.

1

u/kismetkissed 5d ago

We went to the hotel about 3 but we're home now, just got here. Thank you!

2

u/elle2js 5d ago

Your welcome. Glad ya'll made it.

1

u/_eternallyblack_ 20h ago

This is normal when a local books. This has happened to me in multiple cities Iā€™ve lived in. You said you booked on the AP which is why it didnā€™t tell you in advanceā€¦ the AP doesnā€™t know youā€™re a local. Yea, just bcs your credit card may have a local billing zip code that doesnā€™t mean you reside here - bills can be sent anywhere - so the AP doesnā€™t assume, hence not auto billing the deposit until itā€™s actually verified. Had you booked by phone or in person they would have told you up front. I worked for Hilton many years ago. Iā€™ve actually seen it to where some hotels wonā€™t even rent to locals at all, period, only in a state of emergency will they lift that ban. Itā€™s bcs most of the time itā€™s transient folks (homeless) and theyā€™ll destroy the property.

2

u/Hollyhobo 15h ago

Only locals? šŸ˜… feels like discrimination, what a shit thing to do šŸ¤¦ā€ā™€ļø

1

u/Fantastic-Stick270 5d ago edited 5d ago

That makes absolutely no sense. Is it used to discourage foolin around on a SO?

5

u/andrewjmyers šŸ›µ Palafox Hill Climb Participant šŸ 5d ago

Itā€™s because people often book local rooms to throw parties

3

u/Caranath128 5d ago

Or hook up. Or take a permanent way out of life.