Please avoid Hotel Wilden Mann in Luzern Switzerland

...most hotels are already fully booked.

After two days of waiting I accepted their offer.

Sorry for your disappointment. If hotels in Luzern are in high demand for your dates, it's entirely possible that any open rooms at Hotel Wilden Mann filled during the 2 days you waited to book. I wouldn't imagine they would hold a room you were undecided about taking if they had other potential customers willing to book on the spot, cancellation policy or not? It would be different if you'd committed at the time the offer was made, and then they turned around and cancelled your booking.

I guess I don't personally see this as a reason to avoid this property.

I agree with Kate’s reply. And when a location is in high demand, I look on Booking.com and secure a room ASAP.

Hope you enjoy gorgeous Switzerland!

You can view their cancellation policy on their website:

Free cancellation up to 2 days before arrival.

https://www.wilden-mann.ch/hotel#Preise

Thank you all for your comments.

I guess I didn’t make it clear that my main frustration was with their lack of responsiveness to my emails.
If they had replied within 24 hours to my first email about their cancellation policy, I would have booked immediately.

Ken

Why should I avoid the hotel because you couldn’t get a reservation?

And I think your expectation of responses to your emails is probably unrealistic for small family owned hotels that can be overwhelmed by tourists with multiple questions. This is just kind of what you have to expect with this kind of hotel

Carol,

There were many hotels at which I could not get a reservation , but they told me so upfront in a timely manner, so I have no problem with them.
This hotel told me they had availability, then ignored my multiple requests for information for two days .
When they did reply it was to tell me the room was not available.

This is tells me the hotel does not care about customer service.

Very kindly but the cancellation policy was clearly noted on the website so if they had customers who would commit at the get-go, then those customers took priority. By waiting, you lost your place in line, sort of speak. Thus by the time you got around to pulling the trigger - and it doesn't sound like you absolutely required a reply about the policy or you wouldn't have pulled that trigger - rooms were fully booked. Honestly, I don't see that the property is at fault here.

sorry, I do not see fault on the part of the hotel here.

Rooms are rare

One makes an offer

You do not take them up on their offer

The room goes to somebody who wants it more than you.

You decide to take the room which is now gone.

You're angry with them.

Sometimes when you point at somebody, one finger points at them and 3 fingers point back.

Welcome to the Forums.

If you had waited to get a plane ticket and when you got around to they were gone, would you blame the airline?

In this day and age, when so much info is available online, including prices, cancellation policy, room availability, etc, I don’t think it’s bad customer service not to respond to such requests. The website clearly states the cancellation policy for each booking option. Hotels make this info readily available to avoid wasting staff time to answer similar requests.

I must be missing something, but I don’t understand why you would need to mail the hotel to make you an offer. Or why you would need to contact them via mail about their cancellation policy. You can make a booking directly via their website. You plug in your dates and they’ll show you which rooms are available, at what rate and whether or not this is the non-refundable rate or the rate that allows cancellation up to 48 hours in advance.
See here; https://www.wilden-mann.ch/en/hotel

"This is tells me the hotel does not care about customer service"

I agree it would have been nice if they had replied. But it also could mean they are a small hotel that was busy serving guests who had confirmed reservations (including those who had booked online and read the cancellation policy posted there).

Why you would except Rick to remove it from his list of recommendations escapes me.

I think the OP could have done a few things differently, and his experience certainly doesn't warrant removal from the RS guide. However, I really do think a business should strive to return emails within 24 hours. I have become frustrated when I have a couple questions I'd like answered before booking, and the hotel doesn't respond back and I do agree, it COULD be an indicator of their customer service.

I also tend to book smaller, family owned properties, and I do take their size into account when dealing with them.

I would also like to point out that there have been times that I have tried to book thru a hotel website and the link doesn't work or doesn't take my credit card.

small hotels may not have all their reception staff trained in answering emails in English, and they would want the emails to be accurate so it may take quite a long time to reply.

Did the OP try WhatsApp where many hotels now communicate? Or telephone?

This is may not be the OP's fault in their approach. The recent RS guidebooks still say that the best way to book small family run hotels is by email or phone.

I'm not sure I'd say the RS guide is dated in terms of how to book a hotel. With a smaller, local property, which is what I tend to book, I always try to book direct, vs. using a third party, like booking.com. When booking direct, I either use the property's website, or I do email, especially if the property gives a RS discount, which many do.

For me, if I'm dealing with a country that speaks a different language, I'm hesitant to make a phone call. In this case, I believe the local language is German though many speak English. When I email, I always type the email, being as concise, yet friendly as possible. I then run the text thru google translate and put the translation first. Then after the translation, in all caps, AUF ENGLISCH:

If I was a hotelier in the U.S., and I received an email in a different language, I would certainly answer, but because I might need to run it thru a translator or have another staff member respond, it might take longer to respond.

If it's a fairly simple query, and I need to make a decision before booking, I would always call. I can't think of any hotels I've stayed at where you don't have at least one English speaking staff member (especially Switzerland).

But the main point here is the OP seems to feel the hotel should have held a room for them while they made up their mind...

You can always book a cancelable room and cancel it if you no longer need it.