This is a tale of possible stupidity on our part, but we were giddy with the preparations for our recent Scandanavian cruise. We planned to spend several days in Copenhagen before our embarkation on the Disney Magic. We used the RS guide to Scandanavian ports--the most recent edition--and selected the Hotel Jorgensen as our home base in the city. My husband emailed the hotel to check availability for our dates, and when we received a positive answer we proceeded to Booking.com to make our reservation. The hotel was still listed under 'hotels in Copenhagen.' We were a little puzzled by the address of the hotel as listed, since it was different from the one in the guidebook. After a particularly difficult travel day, we arrived in Copenhagen and proceeded to the hotel to find it boarded up. We found out from locals that it had closed. After sitting on the curb with my head in my hands for a few minutes, I suggested that we walk down to the Hotel Ibsen to see if they had any rooms available. They did not, BUT, Casper, the manager said he thought he could help us. He was able to direct us and to escort us around the corner to the Kon Arthur, a sister hotel, where there were rooms available. Rasmus, the desk clerk was extremely helpful to us in our traumatized state, and the hotel itself was spectacular, although considerably more expensive than our original reservation at the Jorgensen, which we also had to pay since we missed the 24-hour cancellation deadline.
We had previously learned the lesson to book directly through the airline website, and now we have learned to also be suspicious of booking hotels through outside agencies.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8363 posts
That must have been very discouraging to discover your error and have no place to stay. I am glad you were able to find accommodation.
However, I am a bit baffled about what you think Booking.com did wrong here? The mistakes ( which happen to us all) were all yours. I appreciate your sharing this experience so that we can all learn from it. To me, the take away is to check details carefully when making reservations and then double check them again prior to the trip.
I hope your time in Copenhagen was all you had hoped for in spite of this mix up,
Posted by
2299 posts
My husband emailed the hotel to check availability for our dates, and when we received a positive answer we proceeded to Booking.com to make our reservation.
Did you mention in your email, to the Hotel Jorgensen, that you would be purchasing the reservation through Booking.com ?
Posted by
Sweden
6360 posts
Another lesson to learn is to take guide books with a pinch of salt. Things change, and once a guidebook is printed it can't be updated.
Posted by
ATL, USA
417 posts
This is a head-scratcher. I just returned from Copenhagen so I googled "Hotel Jorgensen Copenhagen", the main result on the right side of the search results page is for the Hotel Jorgensen at Rømersgade 11, 1362 København, Denmark. That matches the address in my copy of "Copenhagen and Best of Denmark" that I bought earlier this year. If you click on the "website" link, it takes you to a website with multiple "check availability" links, all of which now lead you to the main Booking.com page for hotels in Copenhagen, NOT to a listing for Hotel Jorgensen. I couldn't even get it to come up on a search. The "hotel Jorgensen" website certainly gives the impression that the hotel is still open, though the most recent Google reviews would definitely give me pause and even if the hotel was recommended by Rick, I wouldn't have taken a chance on it. One from a year ago says it was like being back in Afghanistan, another says it was closed. Others say they never received a refund from bookings cancelled during the pandemic. I also would not take a chance on a hotel that only allowed online bookings via Booking.com, either. I avoid third parties like the plague.
So it sounds like Hotel Jorgensen may have not been on the up-and-up with the poster when they made their reservations, but it appears that in the interim the ability to make reservations on booking.com has been removed. I hope that the OP documented the fact that the hotel they had to pay for was actually closed and did an immediate chargeback on their credit card. If I were the OP I would hit some hotel review pages and post in no uncertain terms that the hotel is closed and boarded up so no other unsuspecting travelers are somehow duped by this hotel. To have discovered that they booked a room at a closed hotel sounds incredibly stressful and I'm glad it worked out.
Posted by
Virginia, USA
5513 posts
our original reservation at the Jorgensen, which we also had to pay since we missed the 24-hour cancellation deadline.
This money should be returned to you as the hotel did not deliver the service you paid for.
Contact booking.com to tell them the hotel was closed. File a dispute with your credit card company requesting that they refund you.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8363 posts
When I read the post, I took it to mean that because the hotel they booked at had a different address, they had a valid booking at a hotel, just not the one they thought they were going to. Perhaps OP can clarify.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16221 posts
Carol, that was my impression as well. They made a reservation through booking.com at a different Hotel Jorgensen than the one they intended; one that does exist and was available for their stay. If that is the case, then unfortunately the mistake was theirs and they cannot claim a chargeback on their credit card.
I hope they will clarify the situation.
Posted by
OP
Indianapolis
201 posts
We admit our mistake. To be clear we made the reservation months ago, and the details of our process may be foggy, but I am certain that at the time we made the reservation the hotel was listed as being in Copenhagen. We are not intending to request a refund of the hotel booking, chalking the experience up to a lesson learned. I posted our story hoping that others might not make the same mistake. Many first-time international travelers might be more careful after reading it. I know that we will not be making the same mistake again.
Posted by
Southeast US
3843 posts
Susan,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16221 posts
Thank you for clarifying, and your warning to others about careful booking is important these days. Many small hotels and restaurants unfortunately did not make it through covid, but still have websites up and ratings and listings on other websites (Yelp, TripAdvisor, etc) so it is not always obvious. We spent 15 minutes trying to find Google map directions to a restaurant in the Navigli district of Milan and finally had to conclude it no longer exists.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
13925 posts
What a traumatic thing to have happen and wowser to the very nice Ibsen staffer and to the awesome Kon Arthur staffer. So nice to find helpful people when you are in a pickle!
Hope the rest of your trip went off without a hitch!
Posted by
4518 posts
Just so it's clear: The Jorgensen Hotel in Booking.com is on the European mainland in a city called Horsens, some distance from Copenhagen (although I would have made it to Horsens myself to not waste the reservation). Horsens is about 3 hours away by an hourly train. Note that the Kong Arthur is a 4 star hotel so yes that will be pricy.
So a careless mistake. Jorgensen is a common Danish and Norwegian name. There's nothing wrong with Booking.com, I use it all the time. The Jorgensen in Copenhagen was a hostel so not really a surprise it went under during covid.
Edit: This is a confused issue. Even on TripAdvisor when one clicks on “hotel website” on the Copenhagen hotel, it rolls to the one by the same name in Horsens.