Non-refundable Hotel in Porto - RS Hotel

From the comments of many on this forum, it seems that many travel-related companies, and in my own case, a theater in London, don't even refund payments that were supposed to be refundable. Just because an organization is no longer offering the service you paid for does not mean that they feel any obligation or even have the financial ability, to refund your money. This hotel at least said it was nonfundable up front. That being said, I was the surprised recipient of a refund for a nonrefundable payment to the Best Western in Wells, England.

Did you have a choice of booking a refundable vs. non refundable rate?

No -- no choice given. Policy is deposit required / no refund period. The only reason I opted for this hotel it was the one we stayed at on the last night of the tour. They responded - --"We thank you for the email and understand your situation, however in the reservation conditions that we sent you before your confirmation, we mention that the deposit of the first night, in NON REFUNDABLE in case of cancellation or “No Show”. Given the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic, we can just keep that deposit as a credit that you can use until the 31st December, 2021. Seriously doubt that there was any mention of Covid 19 when I made my reservations in January. So "policy" is fluid. While the credit for future travel is better than a stick in the eye, I have serious doubts if I will use it. TAP Air Portugal -- also has a very convoluted refund / credit policy for air flights. That is if even you can even make contact. The country seems tempting -- but there lots of places to see. And lots of businesses more accommodating.

You had a choice. You booked there. No one forced you. You chose convenience but with the assumption of risk- nonrefundable. You lost the bet and the risk was yours.

How is it the fault if anyone but yourself? It is not the fault of Rick Steve’s and Company, it is not the fault of a great hotel. The hotel was very open and direct. How can a hotel be more clear and direct? Right there- upfront; nonrefundable.

Nonrefundable means exactly that; Nonrefundable. Heck they are even going above and have offered a voucher for future use. This hotel needs to be commended, not attacked. The hotel did nothing wrong in either a factual, legal, or moral sense.

onefastbob -- You seem considerably more stressed than I. I merely stated their business practice, and how it differs from many others. All of course are free to use any that they care to. I recognize who made the reservation, there was no attempt to blame RS, or others. "Be aware," is not really a harsh critical comment in my estimation.

I agree, people deserve a warning...If a hotel states one night deposit, non-refundable, what that means is if you cannot stay there, you lose the deposit, you do not get it back. So all you people, when you see "One night Deposit required, Non-Refundable" if you can not stay there due to change of plans, virus, etc. it means you will not get your deposit back. You can certainly book at other hotels that may or may not have that policy, but if you book at a place that says "one night deposit required, non-refundable" then you will not get it back. We all good now? There, everyone has been warned.

My husband needed unexpected surgery before one trip, so I was unable to keep my reservations (paid upfront) at hotels in both Barcelona and Venice. I've never canceled hotels before and maybe I should have known better, but this truly was unexpected. I wrote to both hotels and explained the situation (they had adequate time to re-book our rooms). The one in Barcelona was lovely, the one in Venice was legalistic. Of course they didn't need to honor my request. but I've returned to Barcelona several times, Venice never. I just couldn't get rid of the bad taste it left in my mouth.

I recall reading an article several years ago written by an attorney who had been practicing law as a prosecutor, a defense attorney, or corporate law for over thirty years. He decided he wanted to make a change, and ease into what he thought would be semi-retirement. He received invitations at Ivy league law schools to teach a seminar titled "Ethics in Law." He found (to his surprise) not only new law students could not differentiate between laws and ethics, many who had been working the legal profession could not either. He was amazed that many could not understand the idea that "laws" are the bare minimum required by statues. Ethics are doing the morally correct. Who would you rather associate with -- one that does right because it is required, or one that does right, because it is right? Be smart, be safe -- avoid the spay.

Dorothy, I'm sad that you are missing out on seeing a great place in Europe because one single hotel refused to be flexible in its booking policy. All of Venice is not like that one hotel. But, you are of course free to choose your destinations using whatever criteria you want.

We stayed at that hotel on our Portugal tour in 2016. It is a bizarre hotel. The first floor including the dining room is very elegant. The breakfast was very good. The floors with the rooms look more like a dormitory. Comfortable but very basic. Location is very good and easy walking distance to the subway/metro to the Porto airport. We departed on the last day of the tour so we did not make our own reservation at this hotel.

You had a choice and booked it. If we make any non refundable hotel reservations we add the costs to our trip insurance policy.