Crowne Plaza – Manchester Airport not available

[DJ]

Hi,

I have been trying to book the Crowne Plaza, but it didn’t show up on any dates I have tried.

Is it no longer part of IHG?

Thanks

[NorthernLass]

It seems to be closed until early 2023, possibly housing refugees. It’s definitely showing as available next year though, and hopefully reopening as I have an Easter booking which would cost a fortune to re-book now!

*Just looking again, availability seems to have disappeared for my dates – think I’d better get on to them. I’ll be expecting IHG to provide an alternatove to one night stay plus 15 days parking if they are not going to honour this booking and not even bother to tell me!

[DJ]

@NorthernLass I already have a booking with them for next year, and I can see that is still there.

Just had a look on the TripAdvisor website, it appears that they have been cancelling bookings with very short notice, something that IC O2 has done to me in the past, without providing any support on finding the alternative.

I think I will book the Radisson with a refundable rate as a back up …

[NorthernLass]

I’ve just emailed them (and will follow up with an email to IHG). My rate at the CP is £120, the same deal at the HI is now £370! I know @meta has had success in getting them to provide alternative accommodation following cancellations so I intend to press them on this.

*Yikes – just seen the recent TA reviews! I’m not inclined to wait until 2 weeks before our check in for the notification.

[NorthernLass]

So I’ve had a surprisingly fast response from the CP:

“Good morning and thank you for your email.

You are correct that we are not taking any booking for next year at the moment and we do apologize for that. Our hotel originally planning to reopen in 1 Jan 2023 however the date has been extended and as a result your booking are affected.

What should happen next is our IHG head office will contact you and inform you about the situation and help you with finding alternative IHG hotels. Or if you like to speak to them now, you may contact them at 020 3349 9179. For your information, there is a new Holiday Inn in Manchester Airport near terminal 2 and that should be the closest IHG hotel apart from us.

And of cause, we have noted a range of hotels below, which surround the Airport, we hope this is helpful.”

Not helpful at all really, as I suspect I am going to have a fight on my hands to get the original price honoured!

[DJ]

@NorthernLass It is frustrating, I am keeping the reservation for April 2023 with them for now, and have booked the HI as a backup just in case!

[NorthernLass]

Was the HI not loads more expensive? I’m going to try and make a case that my contract with them is for hotel and parking and I expect that to be honoured. I hope @meta sees this!

[JDB]

NorthernLass wrote:

Was the HI not loads more expensive? I’m going to try and make a case that my contract with them is for hotel and parking and I expect that to be honoured. I hope @meta sees this!

You have some contractual rights, albeit slightly complicated ones but, as ever, it’s enforcing them that is the tricky bit.

[NorthernLass]

Thanks, @JDB, and it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me if not for @meta’s experience in (I think) Amsterdam where IHG eventually agreed to move a cancelled booking to another hotel. I wouldn’t bother if other hotel prices were similar but it would cost 2 – 3 times as much now for an equivalent booking.

[JDB]

NorthernLass wrote:

Thanks, @JDB, and it probably wouldn’t have occurred to me if not for @meta’s experience in (I think) Amsterdam where IHG eventually agreed to move a cancelled booking to another hotel. I wouldn’t bother if other hotel prices were similar but it would cost 2 – 3 times as much now for an equivalent booking.

If you don’t get IHG’s cooperation by asking nicely, it’s worth ascertaining if the alternative hotel has the same ownership – if you don’t know or can’t find out, I will try to find out. The reason is that, to an extent, IHG is operating as an agent as they are a marketing system so they can’t impose their will on a hotel by telling them to take on your booking at the rate including parking previously offered by another property but if it’s the same owner, it’s a bit different. IHG will be reluctant to pick up all of the tab for its owner’s failure to honour the booking.

Of course it’s possible they will ‘play nice’ and let’s hope for that, but otherwise it will be a matter of pushing IHG and the owner for the best possible compromise as litigating probably isn’t worth it for the aggro and the money at stake, even if you need to threaten to do so if there is no compromise.

[NorthernLass]

Thanks again – the other IHG options at MAN are HI and HIE, I have no idea who owns or operates them! Prices are utterly ludicrous just now, I assume due to lack of supply – a few of the airport hotels have been hosting refugees which has reduced the available inventory for travellers. The rest have bumped up their prices accordingly and started charging for previously included extras like parking and shuttles. It’s genuinely cheaper to stay at the T5 Sofitel at the moment, which I never thought I would say!

[JDB]

NorthernLass wrote:

Thanks again – the other IHG options at MAN are HI and HIE, I have no idea who owns or operates them! Prices are utterly ludicrous just now, I assume due to lack of supply – a few of the airport hotels have been hosting refugees which has reduced the available inventory for travellers. The rest have bumped up their prices accordingly and started charging for previously included extras like parking and shuttles. It’s genuinely cheaper to stay at the T5 Sofitel at the moment, which I never thought I would say!

The Crowne Plaza belongs to LGH Hotel Management a Jersey based company, but unfortunately it is the only IHG hotel they own at the airport, although they also own a Best Western, the Manchester Airport Stanley Hotel. This means the solution lies with IHG picking up the tab with another owner…

[Bill]

My favourite hotel is the Premier Inn Heald Green. Next to the railway station.

Don’t know about parking though but it’s next to the station

[Scottpat78]

From reading the other thread on the forum (think it was in the Hilton section), I went ahead and booked the Hilton Doubletree as a backup for the night I need in April 2023.

Really frustrating as I’ve paid almost the same for the Hilton at room only (but flexible) as I did for the CP with parking for 15 days!

I’ll wait to see how this pans out and if needed, can book parking nearer the time I hope.

[gtellez]

The same happened to my last year, the max I could get from IHG was 10k points. I had to book the doubletree that was significantly more expensive.

[NorthernLass]

Apologies, I did post on the chat thread the other day. After a couple of emails to IHG Ambassador, they have agreed that they will pay the difference between the CP and the HI, though I am going to need to speak to them about this on the phone. So persevere.

[Michael C]

NorthernLass wrote:

Apologies, I did post on the chat thread the other day. After a couple of emails to IHG Ambassador, they have agreed that they will pay the difference between the CP and the HI, though I am going to need to speak to them about this on the phone. So persevere.

Make sure you put on your stern Miss Jean Brodie voice with them, Anna!!

[Bill]

I’ve had a similar email from IHG in relation to forthcoming reservations next April. “The hotel has closed unexpectedly”. Complete balderdash. The CP Lpl airport has been closed for a year or so.

What’s the best email to complain to in order to get the reservation moved to an alternative location in the city centre?

[tw33ty]

The cp lpl airport was a rundown wreak of a place last time I stayed, air con hadn’t worked for a couple of years and the whole place was tatty with furniture fit for the skip, with zero money getting spent on upkeep.

Not surprising when you realise it’s a kewgreen ran hotel, they have a few other terrible hotels like hi Runcorn, hi East Kilbride, hi York, hi Darlington.

The cp in the centre is a completely different ball game, it’s really really good hotel and it ran by a completely different company.

[Scottpat78]

I’ve received nothing from CP at MAN and have a booking for 2 rooms on 31st March. Have others now received emails advising the hotel is closed for after these dates?

[Peter K]

tw33ty wrote:

The cp lpl airport was a rundown wreak of a place last time I stayed, air con hadn’t worked for a couple of years and the whole place was tatty with furniture fit for the skip, with zero money getting spent on upkeep.

Not surprising when you realise it’s a kewgreen ran hotel, they have a few other terrible hotels like hi Runcorn, hi East Kilbride, hi York, hi Darlington.

The cp in the centre is a completely different ball game, it’s really really good hotel and it ran by a completely different company.

Having stayed at CP LPL airport, HI York and HI Runcorn, I concur with this.

[Scottpat78]

Just tried a dummy booking for my already booked dates. The CP doesn’t show and a room with 15 nights parking at the HI is £350!

Still received nothing from CP / IHG re my current booking at end of March 2023.

[NorthernLass]

As I posted earlier the CP is closed for the foreseeable, my booking was April 1st and they said they would have cancelled that nearer the time had I not contacted them. After many emails to IHG they eventually offered to move my booking to the HI, but said that I would need to call them to do this. By that point I’d lost the will, frankly, and rebooked an alternative via Holiday Extras!

*HE have been outstanding since the pandemic. They often offer the MAN HIE plus parking for less than IHG, and if you need to cancel any booking you get a voucher for the full amount to use on a future trip.

[NorthernLass]

15 days’ parking was £75 via HE (don’t book straight away after searching, they will send you a code for 10% or 20% off if you are registered with them already). The new HI was 35k points, so I’ve done that instead, want to see how it compares to the Doubletree.

[Scottpat78]

Thanks Anna. I have booked the DB and also parking with HE with a discount code. I’ll wait to see what CP send me nearer the time.