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Computer Problem a Hotel Headache

About 60 rooms overbooked at Boulder hotel over Memorial Day weekend.

By Pippa Jack Camera Staff Writer

A computer glitch has left many people who thought they had rooms booked at the Regal Harvest House hotel this weekend scrambling to find a place to stay.

And they are finding that rooms are scarce in town over the Memorial Day weekend, when Boulder plays host to the annual Bolder Boulder race and Boulder Creek Festival.

The Bolder Boulder alone is expected to draw as many as 47,000 participants from all over the world, and more will be headed for the sidelines to cheer on friends and family.

Like other hotels, the Regal Harvest House, a sponsor of the Bolder Boulder, saw visitors begin booking their rooms months ago for this weekend.

Earlier this week, however, hotel staff realized they didn't have enough rooms for all the reservations made.

"We had a computer problem," said Regal Harvest General Manager Bill Zollars. "The memory went down, and as a result we have overbookings."

About 60 rooms were overbooked, Zollars said. He noted that none of the international runners were affected.

Hotel staff started calling people Tuesday to warn them they will not have a room reserved this weekend.

"We're letting the customers know and trying to find them alternative accommodations," Zollars said.

It's a tough market in which to get last-minute bookings. "It's filling up," said Shelly Helmerick, executive director of the Boulder Convention and Visitor's Bureau. "There are still a few rooms here and there due to cancellations."

An quick check of availability on Tuesday showed that many hotels in Boulder are fully booked for Sunday night. While a few remaining rooms were priced at under $100, most were more expensive.

That's not unusual for this time of year. Bob Denton, cosponsor of the Rocking Mountain Lodging Report, said almost 73 percent of the 1,670 rooms in Boulder were full during May last year. That compares with just under 58 percent statewide. Rooms had an average price tag of $107.

Although Zollars said the Regal Harvest House's overbooking was accidental, industry experts said it's not uncommon for hotels to accept more reservations than they have beds. Like airlines, they routinely find some customers do not show up, so they overbook by a small percentage to make sure their rooms will be full, said Ilene Kamsler, executive vice president of the Colorado Hotel and Lodging Association.

"They do it based on historical data," Kamsler said. "It's a way to manage your inventory to get the best yield."

If a hotel finds there is a problem on the same day as the reservation, they usually "walk" the guest. "That means they find a room in another hotel, transport the customer and pick up the tab for the first night, because of the inconvenience," Kamsler said. "That's fairly typical, but not an industry standard."

But if hotels give advance notice that there is a problem, as the Regal Harvest House has, Kamsler said they are not usually considered liable for their would-be guest's accommodation. They may put clients in touch with another hotel, but that's it.

"They're really not bound or obliged to pay for a room or pay the difference,' Kamsler said.

http://www.bouldernews.com/news/local/25lharv.html

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-- (Dee360Degree@aol.com), May 25, 2000