Is Hotel Berna telling me they won’t honor my reservation?

Can you book directly with them? Maybe the third party booking site is the issue? But yes, I would not feel confident that I had a room with that statement.

That may be the most bizarre confirmation I've ever read. It doesn't inspire confidence.

We stayed there a few years back, and found the location, staff, breakfast, and service to be excellent. I would suggest trying to book directly with the hotel. Safe travels!

We are at the Berna right now! I always book direct. They have a decent cancellation policy and no prepayment required. We have only been disappointed once when I booked the smallest, least expensive room and you practically had to go in the hallway to change your mind! I now book up a level even for only one night so we are not tripping over one another.

I have never seen a reservation reply like that. They may be getting such a bad deal with Agoda that they don't want to honor the reservation if they can get someone else to take the room at a better price.

As others have said, try booking direct. You may pay more but you will know you have a reservation.

I've never seen a confirmation like that anywhere, I have always booked direct with the Berna and have never been disappointed.

I'm wondering if the reply is actually from the Berna or from the middle-man. How much did you have to pay in advance? Is it refundable?

Sounds like lawyers drafted the site's confirmation email. There's plenty of hotels in that area if you need to book something else. I agree with the posters who urge you to book directly and to upgrade your room selection. We didn't stay at Hotel Berna but the whole area has a lot of transit hotels with small, cheap rooms. A little better room, especially for multiple nights works better for us. Sometimes, the difference is minimal.

Hmm, I might guess that it means that because of a late check-out that your room might not be cleaned and available yet at normal check-in time. Unexpected maintenance issues (such as a burst pipe) might necessitate a move to a different but available type of room than you had booked. "Unexpected stay extensions" might mean that they might not be able to accommodate you in the same sort of room or a room at all if you decided to stay longer than originally booked. Just a guess.

But yes, if you can cancel and book directly with the hotel without penalty, I'd try and do so, IF they still have openings. I wouldn't cancel before knowing if they still have rooms available for your dates next month.

Thanks for all the good replies. Normally I would try booking direct. But the rate quoted on the hotel website was double the rate not only on Agoda, but also Priceline and TripAdvisor. I replied to the hotel’s email, asking for clarification at the same time that I posted on this forum. Waiting to hear what they have to say. I do have free cancellation, and will try another hotel if their reply isn’t acceptable. We get into Linate airport at 6:40 pm after a 16 hour trip from Seattle. So I really don’t want to deal with hotel issues at that point.

First, if you ask politely and diplomatically by e-mail or phone, you might get the hotel to match the rate you are being quoted by Agoda. That might take a manager to get involved, not just whoever answers the phone or e-mail. Or, you might find that Agoda had access to the smallest or least desirable room, so a lower price.
Also, while this experience occurred in Spain a few years ago, I was by the front desk of a lovely small hotel, when the desk manager was dealing with a phone call about a reservations problem. When she finished, I asked her if she had a lot of problems or misunderstandings related to reservations. Her reply was that they dealt with many different booking services, and that they never had problems with Booking.com reservations, but had numerous problems with all the others. Interesting comment.
I have almost always booked through Booking.com, although sometimes directly with the lodging. Always been happy with Booking.com. Solid reviews by past guests, descriptions which generally include square footage, frequent traveler discount, and great customer service when needed.
PS: I must admit I have never heard of Agoda.

We also had trouble with Agoda and Hotel Berna. I ended up making reservation with hotel directly but we could find no record of our Agoda reservation. We corresponded then with Berna who said they would try to cancel the Agoda reservation. Not sure if it happened or not! Lesson learned? Do nothing with Agoda!!!

The part that concerns me the most is the phrase "unexpected stay extensions." It sounds as though they will give away your room if a current guest wants to stay longer than their current booking. This actually IS a condition the hotel can control, as well as " late check outs." It sounds like they aren't begging for your business.

https://www.agoda.com/?cid=1844104

Interesting that Agoda is a corporate cousin with Kayak, booking.com and Priceline, among others.

I think that “an unexpected stay extension “. Is more likely be someone isolating due to Covid…..

Was thinking the same thing Carol. We looked at an apartment in Venice and the point blank said in their Fine Print - no extensions due to Covid. I have also noticed on booking.com this trip that a LOT of places are moving their free cancellation date way up. Before it was usually up to five days or so. We don't leave until mid-October and we have some cancel by dates as early as mid September. Also we booked a guest house in Cortona and it said free cancellation until September 26. My card was charged in full for the stay. Thinking things are changing with the travel influx.

Recieved a reply from Hotel Berna last night:

“it seems you misunderpreted our message relating yor request
Of course we do have your room (or better we had since you cancelled your booking): the aim of our communication was to let you know that although the definitive assignment (in your case a room with 2 separate beds rathern than 1 queen) can be confirmed only at check-in, we took good note about your preference and unless unforeseen issues before your arrival… it would have been confimed.
Kind regards
Sharon”

Unfortunately I went ahead and cancelled earlier. Will try re-booking. And I see that there are many similar hotels in that area. But I will try to book directly.

Thanks to all of you who replied to my post. The different takes and viewpoints are very helpful.