100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Don't you get excited when you check into a hotel room and find that little table tent proclaiming the hotel's "100% Satisfaction Guarantee" policy? It truly is an effort on the part of the hotel to make sure that you are completely satisfied with your stay, but so many people fail to read the rest of that little table tent. Yes, there is fine print, but it's not so fine that you'd be unable to see it. Depending on the brand, the guarantee means that the hotel will--if given the opportunity--"make right" whatever isn't going right for you during your stay, but in order for them to do that, you need to let them know about the problem before you check out of the hotel.

A good example of a well-written guarantee can be found at Choice Hotels International.

In most cases, if there's a problem with your stay, the hotel will make every effort to correct the situation or you will receive some sort of credit or refund, usually "up to" the maximum of one night's stay. This does not mean that you get your money back because you were in a bad mood, or because of an unreported maintenance issue, or because a light bulb was burned out. You need to report these issues as soon as possible so the hotel can either arrange to have you moved into another room, correct the issue in the room you're in, or take even further actions to make it right.