Guest travelling from Cambridge for Christmas makes complaint after Hartlepool hotel cancels booking

Robert Durrant, who lives in Cambridge, booked a room with a sea view online for himself, his husband and dog for two nights to visit family in the area.

But after confirming the booking with the Seaton Carew hotel over the phone, he was shocked when two weeks before Christmas he received a notification cancelling it.

The online booking website said the hotel could not accommodate him stating it was closed due to the holidays.

But on speaking to hotel staff, Mr Durrant said he was informed it was because the cost of the room was higher than that advertised.

He has now said his experience left him “deeply dissatisfied and concerned”.

Mr Durrant said: “I said I had already paid a deposit and was pretty sure they had to honour the booking.

"If I hadn’t seen that email and turned up expecting the booking to be there, we would have been 250 miles from home with nowhere to stay.

"I just want an apology.”

Mr Durrant refused to pay the higher rate and found somewhere else to stay.

Staincliffe operator Darab Rezai said there had been an “administrative error” with the cost for the room shown on the booking website and that Mr Durrant had got his deposit back.

He admitted they had thought about closing the hotel rooms around that time due to complaints from other guests.

But he confirmed it would remain open over the Christmas period when room prices are higher than other times of the year.