Cancun Hotel Enforces a Silent Retreat for Guests – The Mercury News

DEAR TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER: I have made a booking with a hotel in Cancun, Mexico, through Booking.com. As it is during peak season, I was apprehensive that the hotel might be fully booked and that my reservation could be compromised.

Consequently, I reached out to both Booking.com and the hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel has not replied to my messages, emails, or phone inquiries. I contacted Booking.com, and they promised to make further attempts to communicate via email and phone but carefully sidestepped discussing any potential actions if the hotel does not respond.

Booking.com has asserted that the reservation is legitimate, yet I must wait until I arrive at the hotel to find out if my booking will be honored. If the hotel refuses to comply with the reservation, Booking.com suggests that I call them for assistance.

I worry that if I need to contact Booking.com, it will incur high international calling charges. Should another hotel be available during this busy season, it would undoubtedly entail considerable extra expenses. If there are no available rooms, am I expected to sleep outside?

Booking.com insists I must tolerate this uncertainty. I wish to cancel my booking, but it is stated as nonrefundable. My impression of their customer service is that they prioritize procedures over the concerns of their guests. Could you please provide assistance?

— David Marsh, West Midlands, England

ANSWER: Clearly, your Booking.com reservation is nonrefundable, thus the platform has the right to retain your payment. However, it should also be responsive to your communications, and lack of response is a troubling indication.

There is no formal requirement for a hotel to be responsive after a reservation is confirmed. Yet, common sense dictates that if a hotel accepts your booking, it should be prepared to answer some inquiries about the room and also independently validate your reservation.

To be fair, Booking.com did send you a confirmation, and in a subsequent email, it reaffirmed that the reservation constituted a contract. However, reading between the lines of your correspondence, it appears even Booking.com was beginning to feel uneasy. What if the hotel did not intend to honor your booking? Would you have to sleep on the street?

You followed the necessary steps to seek resolution. You contacted the hotel via email, phone, and text message. Afterward, you reached out to Booking.com. (You could have escalated your issue to one of Booking.com’s customer service managers. I share their names, phone numbers, and email addresses on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.)

It is entirely reasonable to anticipate that a hotel should respond to your inquiries once you have made a reservation, especially if it is entirely nonrefundable. The hotel should have provided you documented reassurance that a room was secured for you.

Understanding the underlying concerns, I can see why you felt anxious. You discovered a fantastic room rate on Booking.com — nearly too good to be true. When I contacted Booking.com on your behalf, a representative substantiated your account. She stated that Booking.com had validated your reservation and had reached out to the property for you. Booking.com also guaranteed to cancel your nonrefundable booking for free if there was no response. And after receiving no reply from the hotel, Booking.com fulfilled its promise.

“We can confirm the reservation has been canceled, and our team is in the process of issuing a refund,” the Booking.com representative informed me. You checked your credit card statements and found that the hotel had yet to charge you, so you were in the clear.

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Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting consumers with their issues. Email him at chris@elliott.org or seek assistance by reaching out to him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.
(c) 2025 Christopher Elliott
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