Several fans who planned to attend the upcoming Dreamville Festival in Raleigh were taken aback when their hotel reservations were unexpectedly cancelled. Despite securing their accommodations in advance, numerous individuals reported that their hotel and Airbnb bookings were cancelled in the weeks leading up to the music festival.
One attendee, Ariel Harper, shared that she received a phone call from the Holiday Inn on New Bern Avenue in Raleigh informing her of the cancellation of her reservation due to overbooking. The front desk manager at the hotel attributed the issue to ongoing renovations, stating that they were only operating on two floors.
The Dreamville Festival, scheduled for this weekend at Dix Park, is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of attendees from around the world. Last year, the event was sold out and hotel reservations were scarce. This year, only a few tickets are left.
After seeing other attendees facing similar issues on a Dreamville Facebook group, Tiara Jackson decided to verify her reservation at the Holiday Inn on Hillsborough Street. Jackson, who is traveling from the Washington, D.C. metro area, found that her hotel reservation had been cancelled. She was informed that the hotel was sold out and overbooked. She also noted that almost every hotel nearby was booked and the ones available charged around $500 per night.
The general manager at the Holiday Inn confirmed that they had overbooked by approximately eight rooms but claimed that they had given customers ample time to rebook at another location. Jackson has since arranged to stay with a local acquaintance for the weekend.
Both Jackson and Harper had made their bookings at hotels owned by IHG Hotels and Resorts. According to IHG’s official website, all reservations require credit cards as it provides a “reservations guarantee”, which should apply if a reservation cannot be honored. This policy states that if a reservation cannot be honored, the host hotel should provide a room at another comparable hotel, cover transportation costs to the new location, pay the full cost of the first night’s lodging rate plus tax, and refund any advance deposit. Harper claimed that she was promised this policy but has faced difficulties getting the new hotel to honor it, resulting in an additional $400 expense. IHG has not yet responded to WRAL’s inquiries.
Source: wral.com