Best Western Chelsea Inn, Monticello

My son is playing traveling basketball this year and tournaments are played on the weekends. Most of the games have been relatively close to home but the last couple of weekends required us to stay in a hotel. The first weekend we stayed at the Best Western Kelly Inn in St Cloud. That was a positive experience. Essentially, the staff was friendly, rooms were clean, etc. etc. It was such a positive experience that I decided to stay at another Best Western the following weekend rather than some other less expensive no-name hotel. I had reservations for Sat the 7th checking out on the 8th. Unfortunately, for me, my son came down with the flu at 3 o’clock Saturday morning. I called the hotel at 10am telling them that I needed to cancel our reservation because my son was too ill to travel. They replied that they would cancel the reservation but they were still going to bill me for the room. Their reasoning was because I gave them less than a 24 hour notice. I’m a single mom with 3 kids so I begged and pleaded with them, but they wouldn't budge. I was really disappointed that I was going to have to eat $120, but …… rules are rules :) This situation really bothered me. I had never come across such a rigid hotel so I called back an hour later with …… what I thought was a happy medium. Knowing that my kid’s Spring Break was around the corner I asked them if they would consider changing the dates so we could at least utilize the room and pool. And guess what??? No deal!! I even told them they could guarantee a “no refund” if we canceled again. Now, I was irked!!! I was so frustrated that I decided to call Best Western’s Customer Relations Dept. directly. I explained to them the entire chain of events and asked them if their rules were really that "black and white" or if I was unreasonable in asking them to change the dates. They listened to what I had to say, filed a report, and sent it to the hotel manager to see if they would reconsider their decision. Long story short, a week later I get a call from Best Western’s Customer Relations Dept telling me that the hotel manager stands by his decision and that there’s nothing they can do since the hotel is independently owned. Wow!! Nice Customer Service!! What’s the point of that dept????? So….. now I’m done with Best Western Hotels altogether!! Good luck!!!