Is the Travel Agent Responsible for my Booking?
Q.
Should a travel agent know if the hotel they booked you into is also used as a homeless shelter? They told me that it's not their job to know this, is this right?
I am going to New York in 2 weeks with a 9 year old and dreading it. I paid £1600!
A.
As an agent acting on behalf of someone else – such as tour operators, airlines, cruise lines or hotels – the travel agent is not actually liable for the misleading hotel information provided by their clients – they are essentially a go-between. Nevertheless it is their job to inform you who to contact in the event of query or complaint. In fact a good travel agent should follow up any queries on your behalf.
As it is likely too late to try to alter your travel arrangements, I would advise proceeding with the trip as planned but making sure you retain any evidence that relates to the holiday, such as booking documents and advertising information. It is also recommended that you have a camera (or video camera) to hand to record any evidence of the hotel’s intrusive secondary usage as a homeless shelter.
If the homeless shelter was not referred to in the brochure or elsewhere prior to your booking, and your stay in the hotel is adversely affected in some way as a result of its presence, then the hotel or tour operator responsible may be committing an offence. If they mislead you about the holiday then it is within your rights as a consumer to complain and demand compensation.
If your stay is affected and it is the hotel’s fault for providing misleading information then it is well worth raising the issue with the hotel staff whilst you are staying there as they may be able to offer alternative accommodation. Alternatively, once you have returned from your trip, you should contact the tour operator or hotel in writing and explain the problem and tell them what you expect to receive in compensation.
Nevertheless, rather than allow the situation upset preparations for the trip, it is worth considering the possibilities that either the shelter is not what you think it is or that its presence is completely removed from the hotel to not be invasive in any way.
Do bear in mind that any holidaymaker would balk at the idea of sharing an expensive hotel with New York’s homeless community, and so it does seem unlikely that such a situation would come to pass. If it was a disagreeable experience in any way then people would either refuse to stay there or demand their money back, and the hotel would promptly close down.
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