No show fee?

Hi,
I made a big mistake when booking on Rakuten travel.

I mistakingly choose the wrong month as the search dates were reset when looking at specific hotels, so May was choosen instead of June.

Now the reservation have passed and I read something about a No Show fee, 100 % of room rate.

Does this mean I will have to pay for the entire stay (7 nights) or just for 1 night?

No-show or cancellation policy varies by the hotel and booking agency. Read the fine prints.

The cancellation policy would be on the email you were sent when booking the hotel.

No show means you don't show up. As mentioned above - read the fine print. I find that often it's free cancellation if it's a few months out or just one night.

Mango,

The fee should be specifically mentioned to you when it is charged, but 100% usually means the whole thing which in your case is 7 nights.

I reckon you failed to notice the wrong date when your confirmation slip was sent to you (typically by email). A similar thing has happened to me, and I sympathize.

If I were you, I'd contact the hotel ASAP and try to negotiate by clarifying that you are indeed staying in June. Then you'd feel that at least you tried, and maybe you'll turn out to be lucky.

I did send an email to the hotel directly yesterday but no reply yet. This is what says in the japanese confirmation of the reservation.


連絡なしの不泊/不着: 宿泊料金の１００％

When using Google translate it says :

No notice / No arrival: 100% of room rate


I am not sure what exactly room rate refers to. It seems to appear in most reservation mails from different hotels on Rakuten...

I found a hotel webpage mentioning "all nights" in the policy but this is a bit vague...

Automatic translation does not always work correctly in context. 宿泊料金 does not mean "room rate" here. A more direct translation would be "accomodation fee". "Room rate" in this context would be 部屋代. Or more clearly, it would mention 1泊分のお部屋代 (room rate for 1 night). I'm afraid that in your case it means the fee for all nights and rooms you had booked for, unless mentioned otherwise. But I hope the hotel would give you a good answer after checking with its manager.

Ah well that's what I expected but hoped it was faulty...

How and when does Rakuten claim the no show fee? I have not yet noticed any payment being made yet. The reservation is until tomorrow (check out on friday).

I made some past reservations on Toyoko Inn.

In the Japanese page it mentions the fee for late cancel or no show:

宿泊代金

Not sure what difference it is to

宿泊料金

Rakuten travel mention the following information

予約のキャンセルにつきまして
予約情報欄に表示されます【キャンセル】ボタンからキャンセル処理が行えます。
インターネットでの受付時間が終了するなど、この画面からキャンセルできない場合、宿泊施設や各サービスが示す【連絡先】へ直接ご連絡ください。

宿泊予約につきまして
予約時に指定したチェックイン時間に遅れる場合は、宿泊施設が示す【連絡先】へ直接ご連絡ください。
予約時に指定したチェックイン時刻を過ぎるとキャンセルとして取り扱われる場合がございますのでご注意ください。
日程短縮以外の予約変更は、予約の取り直し（キャンセル後に再度ご予約）をお願いします。

https://travel.rakuten.com/info/legal/Standard_Terms_and_Conditions_of...

It is better to contact the hotel.
Explain the situation and see what they reply.

If you have used your credit card for details than hotel can issue payment for the period you have reserved.

In the terms (PDF link) it is also explained.

宿泊代金 and 宿泊料金 means the same thing. It's more like "fee" and "price" being the same.

And as Justmyday's post implies, you should cancel on-line your May reservation now if you haven't yet.

Guess I'll have to cut down on the budget somewhere along the way then.

I never tried capsule hotels before. I have no idea where to put my suitcase though...

@Uco

Seems the option of cancelling the hotel reservation is blocked. Not sure if it is due to the check in date have already passed or due to No show.

Have not recieved any note from the hotel yet. It is a small B&B place in Hokkaido. They only mentioned you have to pay by cash at check in. Not sure how quick they are with charging me for No show and how much that would be.

I think the room rate was around 3000 JPY a night excl taxes, so that would come to a total of 25000 JPY total.

Not sure if I would dare show up there in the end concering I have made such a serious faux pas as seen in Japanese standards...

How did you try to contact the hotel?
Through the official mail form?

The sender address of your hotel's confirmation e-mail
may be set for sending one way,
in which case you basically cannot contact your hotel by that sender address.

This is what says in the japanese confirmation of the reservation.

連絡なしの means: without notice.
連絡なしの不泊/不着 means: no lodgment/arrival without notice.

When you successfully notify the hotel of your wrong date reservation
by the time limit (specified by the hotel) in the check-in night,
logically that prevents a penalty fee from occurring.

I contacted the hotel through their webpage, not through Rakuten confirmation mail adress. I have yet to recieve a reply though...

It all depends on the hotel. On a recent trip, I was bumped off the morning flight to Narita and put on the afternoon flight to Haneda. This made me lose my connection at Haneda for Naha. I would not arrive there until early the next morning. That meant I'd lose my first of three nights at the Toyoko Inn at Naha. So before I potentially lost all three due to a no-show, I had ANA call the hotel from Chicago to inform them that ANA bumped me and to hold my reservation. I had no problem paying for the first night I wasn't there, just as a show of good faith that I'd be there for the next two. I could have had ANA pay for it, but they were already remunerating me quite well for my decision to forego the first flight that I went ahead and paid it myself, after all, what's $50 when the airline is rewarding you with $1350 cash for giving up your seat. The good thing was that when I arrived, tired from a bad night at Haneda and with torrential rains, I was able to walk into my room at 10am and go to sleep without having to wait until "check-in" time.

Since the OP says he meant to book it for June and he accidentally booked it for May, and May is almost coming to an end, the question comes up – when is it that you noticed you made that mistake? Did you inform them before your (wrong) check-in date? That makes a difference. Of course by now since your check-in date is long past, you cannot cancel it now. It was a no-show. Next question is, if it was supposed to be cash payment at the inn, when you made the booking, did Rakuten ask for any payment via credit card, or to register your credit card on your website just in case of cancellation?

If you are going to go there in June to stay, I would (even now), if I were you I would e-mail or send a fax (be careful about the time difference) to the inn directly to explain and apologize. They might be wondering or worried, or thinking oh this booking site is not reliable… so it would be best to “correct” that. Also going by the rule they can charge you 100% for all nights, but an apology might help.

Well yes, Rakuten took my C.C. details as to be able to make this reservation.

Like mentioned earlier, I have sent an e-mail. explaining the situation that I made a mistake.

I contacted the hotel yesterday as I did not notice the mistake until too late. I was supposed to check in 23rd of May. So yes, I understand it cannot be cancelled all nigths, I hoped to cancel the final night but no reply from the hotel yet.

I have no fax machine available unfortunately.

Not sure if I would dare show up there in the end concering I have made such a serious faux pas as seen in Japanese standards...

Well, by Japanese standards, you are expected to explain and apologize, and if you had meant to stay with them in June to begin with, then it would be a nice gesture to do so. It would also be a good opportunity to show that you are respectful as most foreign tourists are, instead of diminishing their reputation.

Like I said, I've made the same mistake myself (although in my case it was a flight, and airlines never compromise). So, that happens. And hotels need to charge fees, because otherwise they would have to give up accepting reservations for nothing. Fees don't reflect emotion. It's just something practical that they need to have paid in order to maintain their business. Like the other poster said, I'm sure the B&B was concerned, and it was a good thing that at least you wrote to them. Replies take time (3 business dates are the norm). Take it easy.

I'm a Japanese traveler who used to work in the travel industry, if that helps.

I got a reply from them finally.

I was a bit stressed they ignored my email or so. But they seem to understand my concern and said I could ignore the issue and was welcome to come there in July as I planned from beginning.

Thank you for all your replies also. It was the first time I made this mistake and I will be much more cautious in the future. I learn I am not alone having made such a mistake, at least that eased my worries a bit.

I understand not all accommodations are that understanding. I suppose bigger chains or duing high season, maybe people would not be as understanding.

It was fortunate they had an e-mail to write to as well, as calling might have put an issue on making myself understood.