We booked our stay at this property many months in advance at a rate of approximately USD285 for a standard room.
Once we had checked in I did an internet search on the InterContinental hotels website and noticed that the same room was available at USD150 for each of the 2 nights we were due to stay. I queried this with the reception but due to language barriers we were unable to agree on me checking out after one night and booking the second night at the lower rate even though I had booked on a fully flexible rate which would have allowed a penalty-free early departure. I was given a breakfast coupon (free breakfast for one person) even though the lower advance purchase rates for the nights in question now included the breakfast.
On our return I contacted InterContinental customer services and after a couple of months' delay got a reply from the general manager of the property explaining this is standard procedure for hotels to manage their room occupancy and with an offer of an upgrade to superior room on our next stay. I found this quite insulting as I could have reduced the cost of the stay quite easily by cancelling the flexible and full price rate for at least one of the nights we stayed there. It may be the norm for hotel groups to operate this way and it is my responsibility that I failed to check if there had been a change in the flexible rate before our arrival.
However, I felt the hotel could have done more both locally and after the event to compensate for the fact that we were paying twice as much as the best available rate and getting less service (no breakfast) for the deal. The standard offer for Priority Club gold cardholders of a buy one-get-one-free breakfast just added insult to injury when the latest available rate included this service.
I would avoid booking hotels in Japan more than a couple of months in advance of travel as the best rates only seem to get loaded close to the time of stay.
The hotel is a decent choice in a good location and I would like to recommend it but it represents incredibly poor value if you fail to keep a close eye out for changes in the rates before you actually stay.
A valuable lesson learned - if you rate is flexible keep checking until the day of arrival for a better deal, in this case as much as 100% improvement!
- Crowne Plaza Okinawa Harborview
- Crowne Plaza Naha
