What to do when snowed in a hotel?

I made a bit of a gamble and I lost. Doing a one night review of a luxury hotel here in New York City, I knew it was going to start snowing on Friday but I guessed that it would start earlier, end earlier and overall be less strong than it ended up being. What was supposed to be a romantic evening has turned into a headache; public transportation across the city is shutting down and I just recieved an alert ordering non-emergency vehicles off the road soon!

I got the hotel to agree to a late check out time, but I am afraid I won't be able to go home (I live in New York, but not exactly the city center- it's not a hop, skip and a jump from where this hotel is, I'm afraid). I emailed my MSC but, of course, office is closed on weekends.

Is it considered gauche to ask for them to pay for me to stay an extra night at the hotel? I'm trying to make alternate lodging arrangements but I'm at my wit's end.

And here I am, packing extra bags to give the doormen an excuse to carry them.

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Oh no! Maybe the hotel will give you a break on the second night's stay? It's not like people are going to be coming to check in if they can't use the roads or Public Transit to get there, so the Hotel knows you're kinda stuck and the rooms will sit empty otherwise.
Good luck, let us know how it turns out. Maybe you can try to relax for the second night and have that romantic night you wanted since you won't have as many observations to make. Either way, stay safe!

Shopper in California's Bay Area

Maybe check into a nearby (hopefully cheaper) hotel.

Not gauche, just don't hope for a "yes". I would ask the hotel if they have a "stranded traveler" rate.

@LindaM wrote:

Maybe check into a nearby (hopefully cheaper) hotel.

Agreed. I think that there is zero chance that you will get a free night out of this.

Check Hotel Tonight and see if the hotel you're in is on there. It should be heavily discounted if it is. If it's not, maybe a nearby hotel will be.

______________________________________________________________________
Seriously, nobody cares that you're offended.

Check the subways. They are reportedly still running. Maybe you can get home.

@LIJake wrote:

Check the subways. They are reportedly still running. Maybe you can get home.

Unfortunately no subways go to my neighborhood, and the busses aren't running.

Made an imposition and crashed on a friend's couch. Not my proudest moment but c'est la vie.

Upon checking out, did the staff anticipate your needs??

@Misanthrope wrote:

@LIJake wrote:

Check the subways. They are reportedly still running. Maybe you can get home.
Unfortunately no subways go to my neighborhood, and the busses aren't running.

Made an imposition and crashed on a friend's couch. Not my proudest moment but c'est la vie.

This storm had been forecast for the better part of a week, and the severity of it was also forecast. Knowing that, the wiser course of action would have been to contact the scheduler (by phone if necessary, with a follow up email), and request a reschedule because of the storm. Ditto the same with the hotel. Having worked in the hotel industry for several years, acts of God (blizzards, hurricanes, earthquakes) are generally exempt from non-refundable reservations.

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful." Edward R. Murrow

Thou shalt not steal. I mean defensively. On offense, indeed thou shall steal and thou must.--Branch Rickey

I hope you are able to get home or are already home. How did your date get home?

@Madetoshop wrote:

I hope you are able to get home or are already home. How did your date get home?

I just got in maybe an hour ago. Luckily my date lived in Manhattan and was able to take one of the few subways in the city that still worked.

I'm glad you found a place to stay for free and got home okay! It does seem like the hotel chain might have refunded your second night eventually, if the MSC was willing to go to bat for you as a shopper? But definitely not a position you want to be in. I hope you were able to do the evaluation.

We are all here on earth to help others....What on earth the others are here for I don't know.

--W. H. Auden

If you stayed the night with her why couldn't you crash at her place for a night or so?

@luckygirl0100 wrote:

If you stayed the night with her why couldn't you crash at her place for a night or so?

Not that you're entitled to the sordid details of my life, but we don't like bothering her roommates when I'm over, hence why I try to mystery shop a few hotels every month to have a place to get away.

With a title like "What to do when snowed in a hotel?" we want all the details.

Yes, I read that subject line to my husband and he said he had some ideas.

This happened to me once, too. It is a pain. The hotel I was in luckily was not one of the expensive ones so I just paid for the additional night.

"Evolve thyself and lose all hate...." Orphaned Land

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