(MONEY Magazine) – How to Fix a Hotel Room Nightmare

Q The airline canceled our flight to Hawaii, then rebooked us to fly the next day. We had a prepaid hotel room, so we called Travelocity for advice. No problem, the rep said--we'd have a room. But when we arrived, our oceanfront room had been given away and we had to pay for a non-beach room downtown. Help! --Christina Chang, Bellevue, Wash.

ANSWER When you and your husband (with two kids in tow) learned that your flight was canceled, your first instinct was to call your travel agent, Travelocity, for help. It has a well-advertised satisfaction guarantee, after all, and its reps had booked the room. You were right to be concerned, since most hotels won't hold rooms if you don't show. The new flight meant you would miss one night--for which you had paid $205.26--of a two-night stay.

When you called Travelocity, however, the rep said he couldn't reach the hotel to confirm (what, the hotel had no phones?) but that he expected it would hold the room for you. This seemed odd, but hey, your agent said you had a room, so you figured you had a room.

Alas, when you arrived late, the resort directed you to a downtown Honolulu hotel where you had to pay $162.55 for a room with one bed (talk about quality family time), on top of the cost of the room you didn't even sleep in.

According to the terms of your reservation, there are no refunds for unused nights; but you were expecting to at least have a room. When we spoke with Travelocity, the agent apologized and offered to negotiate with the resort (which they should have done the first time). The hotel, ResortQuest, reimbursed you for the prepaid night you lost, and Travelocity reimbursed you for the additional room--a total of $367.81. Travelocity agreed that it had dropped the ball.

That's true, but the real secret is that even when you use a travel agent (virtual or otherwise), you should make the extra call to the hotel yourself. Booking is largely done online these days, but don't assume that the middleman is a surrogate for the hotel, airline or car company. Like most things in life, untangling a messy itinerary is done best when you do it yourself.

TIP No matter how you book it, don't forget that the reservation is in your name. Get the direct number (not the national reservations line) to the hotel and touch base when plans change, even if your travel agent tells you everything's skippy.

Having a financial nightmare? Need an advocate or some good advice? E-mail Ellen McGirt at money_helps@moneymail.com.

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Kate Ashford contributed to this article.