Two brides-to-be outside of Boston say a Taylor Swift concert next spring makes them feel anything but “Love Story” with their respective hotels.
Instead, it’s more like a case of hoteliers trying to leave the bride on the altar in pursuit of much higher room rates.
This all started when Taylor Swift Announces “The Eras Tour” last week. The tour runs from March to early August and stops for two nights in May at Gillette Stadium outside of Boston. Hotels near the stadium seem to have calculated how much they can charge concertgoers instead of the existing business on the books.
Christina Leonard, a bride-to-be in a motel suite at the Home2 Suites by Hilton two minutes from the stadium, told Boston’s WBZ-TV The hotel had originally canceled her reservation. Leonard booked 10 rooms for $169 a night before Swift announced the concert but received an email with cancellation notices after the tour was revealed.
A manager later told her over the phone that the hotel could charge up to $1,000 a night for a Swift concert across the street, Leonard said.
Many hotels no responsibility like airlines for canceled bookings, and there is a general rule about hotel bookings that tends to protect assets in the event of a cancellation by a guest and not the other way around. What protections do exist for guests usually only begin if the hotel denies you entry at check-in – no cancellations months in advance.
A Hilton spokesperson told TPG “Home2 Suites by Hilton Walpole Foxboro is an independently owned and operated property and I cannot speak on behalf of the hotel” before referring TPG directly to the hotel’s general manager. hotel. He did not respond during publication.
It should be noted that, while hotels are often owned and operated independently of major brands, companies like Hilton issue brand standards that dictate what owners can and cannot do. can do when operating a hotel under different brands such as Home2 Suites.
But Leonard’s story has a happy ending: Home2 Suites offered to reinstate her suites following news of the cancellation and even offered the bride and groom a free stay at the end. their wedding week.
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But that’s not the only case of a hotel in the area looking to cash in on Swiftie’s frenzy.
Another bride-to-be said the Renaissance Boston Patriot Place hotel, located in a shopping and entertainment complex next to the stadium, wanted to raise the price of her hotel after the concert.
Arianna Stevenson is scheduled to have her wedding at the Renaissance next May on one of Swift’s nights performing at the stadium next door. She signed a deal for $250 a night, but there was a clause in the contract that stipulates a special event that could drive up the price of the ticket. That certainly happened, as the hotel now wants to charge $750 a night – a figure Stevenson said could cost her her wedding if she can’t find affordable options. than nearby.
Given what the manager at Home2 Suites – often a more affordable brand than Renaissance – thinks he can charge, it’s hard to understand how so many hotel rooms in the area come easy at night. Stevenson’s wedding.
A lawyer tell WBZ there is a consumer protection law in Massachusetts that allows a person to have their finances ready for a reasonable amount of time to pay the new cost, but there doesn’t seem to be anything stopping the Renaissance owner from raising the price three times the original rate.
Marriott did not respond to TPG’s request for comment.
Maybe it decided to “Shake It Off” and just liked being able to sell off its hotel at a much higher cost.
