Hotel UMass

While planning a visit for my college reunion in Northampton, I booked this hotel for a total price of $302.09 for three days. Each night was about $98. I figured that the price was very low because it's a modest hotel in an inconvenient location, so I didn't question it. You need to walk through a campus center at a public university to check in and out, and it feels very much like a hostel. Upon arriving, I was told that the price that I was sent on my receipt was an error. They said that their website hadn't been working properly, and that they would only be able to charge me the $98 for night one. They said that I would need to pay over $500 for nights 2 and 3 - a 5x increase. I asked how that was possible, since it didn't match the receipt and reservation confirmation that I was given. The front desk worker stated that their manager, Anna Bernstei, had emailed me and one other person that this error affected twice to try to correct the issue. I searched my email inbox for her email address; the employees typed it in for me. I had received no emails from her. They asked me to check my spam folder; there were also no results. I gave my phone to the employees so that they could check for themselves. They took photos of the screen showing that there were no results, and said that she must have typed my email address in wrong. They stated that their prices were still the lowest in the region. It's true that many rooms were going for $500 or more due to graduation weekend, but I was able to use the Hotel Tonight app to find one last minute room nearby in Springfield for $145, and then I called that hotel to extend my stay. The next two nights were about $300. However, the hotel I booked as a replacement was very modest and would normally cost about $100 a night or less. My new hotel also said that their prices were a bit higher due to graduation, but the main factor was that a large wedding party had also reserved a lot of rooms. I think if I had advanced notice that the prices here would have been so high, I would have booked a modest hotel or motel in Springfield in the first place, saving me about $500. I was systematically checking hotels farther and father away from Northampton, and only settled on this one because it was such a bargain, but Springfield is almost an equal distance from Northampton. The employees at my replacement hotel informed me that this is a common trick employed in the hotel industry. They said that hotels will realize that it's a busy weekend and attempt to retroactively raise prices on people who have already booked. They specifically mentioned that Hotel UMass does this all the time, and that they also intentionally overbook for busy weekends. I would avoid booking here altogether. The fact that they only use their own website for bookings gives them the power/excuse to claim a price change at any time. If you book a hotel through a third party website, there is at least an official process that the hotel would ne