Milton Keynes hotel apologises after cancelling bookings from hundreds of Formula 1 fans for Grand Prix weekend 2022

A 'technical fault' meant they overbooked - by 1,500 customers
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Around 1,500 Grand Prix fans who booked accommodation in advance for next year's Silverstone Grand Prix have slammed an MK hotel for letting them down.

The Mercure hotel at Two Mile Ash, part of the massive Accor group, was a popular choice for fans, particularly when they discovered its prices had not been raised for the crowd-pulling event next July.

"The rates secured (via Expedia) were way below what hotels would normally charge for this particular race weekend," claimed one man.

The Mercure hotel at Two Mile AshThe Mercure hotel at Two Mile Ash
The Mercure hotel at Two Mile Ash

But this week hundreds of fans were told the advance bookings they'd successfully made and paid for days previously could not be honoured after all.

"We were told our bookings had been cancelled due an an undisclosed 'technical fault," said one.

Another said: "I am one of those F1 race fans affected by this appalling decision and when I called to complain I was basically told by their reservations team there’s absolutely nothing you can do and 'there are hundreds of other people affected'... As a company, Mercure has not done Milton Keynes any favours."

A spokesman for Mercure denied the price rise allegation and said a technical fault on the Accor system was to blame.

She said: "We have been facing an Accor IT booking system error which we have been working hard with Accor to resolve. On the weekend in question the error resulted in 1,500 plus bookings over our availability.

"We are a boutique hotel with limited capacity, whilst we hate to turn away guests, without the additional rooms to accommodate this large surplus, we have been left with no option but to cancel these bookings. "

She added: "As soon as we were aware of the issue the team made contact with the affected guests to apologise unreservedly for not being able to fulfil their stay request on this occasion.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience the system error has caused, and a gesture of goodwill, we are happy to offer a 10% off a future stay at our hotel for any guest affected by this situation”

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