Travelodge U-turns after axing Black Sabbath fan's room booking and offering it at nearly £200 more
A Black Sabbath fan was left fuming after a hotel chain axed his Birmingham booking and readvertised the room for nearly £200 more.
Matthew Turner paid £247 for two nights at what was the Campanile Hotel in Chester Street, Aston, before he had even secured tickets for the Birmingham band's last-ever gig at Villa Park on July 5.
But then Travelodge took over the hotel and said it did not work with booking.com, which the 31-year-old used to secure his room.
READ MORE: Hotels hike prices by up to 725 per cent as Black Sabbath fans make travel plans
An equivalent room at the same hotel on the dates Matthew booked was being advertised by Travelodge this week for £439.98.
He said he was furious, having booked the room the day after the gig was announced on Wednesday, February 5, and faced a scramble to find a hotel, with the prospect of paying more than he expected to.
He said: 'I and many others have had bookings cancelled without notice for Campanile in Aston ahead of the Black Sabbath show.
'I paid £247 for a stay from July 4 to 6. According to the hotel, it has been taken over by Travelodge which is charging double the price, for the same hotel, same room and same dates, just because it has slapped their branding on it.
'It is disgusting. I contacted them but I had a reply explaining why rooms went up in price and saying they could offer no gesture of goodwill or any discount to the original price I and other guests had paid.'
READ MORE: 'I had to be there' says Canadian who spends £22k to visit Birmingham
He said Travelodge had acted "disgracefully" in not honouring his booking.
The marketing manager said: 'I booked the room within five minutes of the gig being announced and later managed to get a golden circle ticket for the gig .
'But I received an email on April 2 from booking.com to say the booking had been cancelled by Travelodge as it had taken over the Campanile.
'I've searched and there are four or five other people this has happened to who posted on Google reviews.
'Travelodge wants £439 for the same room for two nights on the same dates.
'I asked the Campanile directly and they were forthcoming with their reply.
'Anyone who booked with booking.com or third party sites seems to have had their booking cancelled. Anyone who booked direct, it seemed like they were honouring the bookings.'
Matthew said he was a big Black Sabbath fan' and went to their last show in Birmingham in 2017.
He said: 'I'd pay anything to see them but then make the saving on the hotel. I have never had a hotel cancel on me and point-blank refuse to honour the booking.
'Campanile just referred me to Travelodge to book.
'I'm very reluctant to rebook in terms of the experience I have had with customer service.
'They have not offered an apology. I have asked for this to be escalated to a senior manager.'
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Matthew said some prices in Birmingham had now reached £800 for two nights around the Sabbath gig date.
He said: 'Everywhere else is pretty much sold out.
'I think the hotel should honour its bookings. It's a kick in the teeth. I booked this way ahead of time to get this deal.'
Travelodge said it 'acquired Campanile Hotel in late March'.
It initially said, as part of that process, all booking.com reservations were cancelled as 'we don't work with booking.com'.
A spokeswoman for Travelodge originally said: 'We apologise for any inconvenience. All Booking.com customers were advised by Booking.com to rebook their stay with Travelodge directly.
'We always aim to remain as competitive as possible but prices may have changed due to demand, timing and availability.'
But at the 11th hour and more than two weeks after saying the bookings were cancelled, the hotel giant has now had a change of heart and has said it will now honour those booking.com reservations 'subject to availability'.
A spokesperson for the firm has now said: 'All customers who made third party bookings were advised to rebook their stay with Travelodge directly.
'Travelodge will honour the original price of these bookings, subject to availability. Affected customers should contact Travelodge Customer Support.
'We apologise for any inconvenience that has been caused.'
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