Getting a Hotel Refund from Booking.Com - An Important Reminder for North American Travelers to Berlin, Germany in Summer Months

Our first hotel was in an excellent location but without air con.

We have booked our first three days staying at the MEININGER Hotel  Berlin Hauptbahnhof. However,  the weather was unprecedentedly hot at the time.  Without air conditioning in the hotel, the rooms, the hotel lobby and eating area were very hot.  Due to the high temperatures, even the ice machine and the pop machine in the hotel were not able to function.  

I went to ask the front desk for a fan for our room but they had no fans to loan out to hotel guests and told us there was nothing they could do.  It was a hot hot evening in Berlin and difficult for us to fall asleep . We were surprised  that the hotel which did not have air conditioning also seemed to be totally unprepared to provide their guests with any fans to cool the air in their rooms.

The room was hot;  we could not sleep another night at the hotel. Since the hotel required us to pay in full up front upon checking in, we needed our refund for the remaining two nights. In the middle of the night and unable to sleep, I sent an email to Booking.com informing them of the problem, asking them to cancel the other two nights and refunding us the rest of the amount.

Early next morning, I received Booking.com's reply agreeing to refund us if the hotel was OK with it. I appreciated their speedy response and understanding. We went down to the front desk and  talked to the front desk receptionist who initially told me this could not be done as our stay was non refundable.  I asked to speak to the manager who was polite and agreed to a refund.

Our hotel was a stone throw away from the train station in Berlin

Leaving our hotel earlier was unfortunate as the hotel is in an excellent location and would have been extremely convenient for us.










 But we simply could not sleep another night. Having a good night of sleep was important to us during our vacation.

We have learned the following when traveling in Germany and other European countries during the summer months:

-  Read the hotel descriptions carefully to ensure that the ones we are booking have air-conditioning.  
   This is important for American and Canadian tourists as we take air conditioning for granted since it is a standard feature in our hotels / motels on our side of the continent.

Thank you to Booking.com and the MEININGER Hotel  Berlin Hauptbahnhof for giving  us a refund without too many red tapes. We appreciated it and definitely would use your service again when booking in cooler months! 

R.T.
Berlin, Germany
Traveling during the week of July 31, 2018