Saturday, August 15, 2009

Venice - One Cent A Room

People don't stop to pick up one-sen coins anymore. Before the round-off was introduced, one-sen coins were still in circulation and seen in tip-boxes at restaurant and supermarket checkout counters. These days, they are a rare sight. Ten sen won't get you much, let alone one sen. But recently, a hotel room in Venice went for one cent - err...due to an error.

Venice for one cent a room error

A hotel near Venice has accepted that its rooms were mistakenly advertised online at a mere one-hundredth of a euro instead of up to 150 euros (£129).

Nearly 230 people took advantage of the offer, booking on average more than six nights per person at the Crowne Plaza.

It is 20km from central Venice, one of Italy's main tourist destinations.

The hotel is run by the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) which says it will honour bookings made while the mistake was online.

The company say the mistake was made at the offices of IHG in Atlanta, Georgia in the United States.

"Although a pricing error, IHG is committed to honouring the 1-cent rate for guests who have a valid confirmation," the hotel group's Monica Smith said.

The wrong pricing for 1,400 room nights could cost the company up to 90,000 euros (£77,800).

Venice depends on tourism, attracting 15 million visitors a year.



Source: BBC

9 comments:

  1. There is going to be someone looking for a new job in Atlanta. No doubt it will entail a career change.

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  2. Venice is a really lovely place, though I got lost within the city when I was there for Honeymoon. =p

    Anyway, great that the hotel honour its own mistakes. Its good publicity actually.

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  3. hmmm, those who have booked for 1-cent are really lucky.. hope i were one of them.. haha :)

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  4. PandaB, you said it!

    Shingo, yes, very professional of the hotel.

    You got lost? Hope it wasn't too unpleasant for you and your wife.

    SK, reminds me of the RM1 room at Gentings or was it another hotel?

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  5. Wow! 1 cent? I wanna go there and stay for...a few months too. It was so damn cheap. LOL :D

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  6. Error happens right? But when it happens it could cost somebody a bomb. :P

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  7. One cent a night? I'll take it!

    Yes, Genting offered RM1 per room per night. But it's really lousy room - small and no view. Just perfect for those gamblers who gamble most of the time and go back to their room to sleep and then wake up and gamble again! LOL!

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  8. Tekkaus, so true. Some errors can be costly. You wanna go there for the 1-cent room? Too late. They'll tell you those rooms are fully-booked. haha..

    Foong, you have taken up that RM1 offer before? Can't really complain for that rate, can you? Those rooms must be at One World? I haven't stayed there but was told that the rooms are smaller than the ones in other Genting hotels. Still, they are good enough for those who just need a bath and a bed, eh?

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  9. No, not me, but my brother. Yes, it's good enough for tbhose who just need the room to sleep and nothing else : )

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