I had a bad experience with a hotel in Nottingham a couple of weeks ago. I’m posting this here simply as an artifact for Google to find, for reasons that I hope will become clear.
City Pads cancelled my booking the day before I was due to arrive. I made the booking 2 months in advance because I knew it was a busy period (major sporting event in Nottingham).
City Pads said that the travel agent had cancelled the booking. I have an email from the agent 3 days after this supposed cancellation to confirm the booking. I asked City Pads for evidence that the agent had cancelled the booking. They were not able to supply any.
I do not believe the booking was cancelled by the agent. My personal opinion is that City Pads cancelled the booking themselves because they were able to let the room at a higher rate. I would have been angry enough if this had been the case, but for them to also pretend it wasn’t their fault is quite despicable.
I will not be using accommodation provided by this company ever again. Please do not regard any booking you make with them to be a guarantee that you will get accommodation when you need it.
I can support all my assertions in this review with documentary evidence.
I have also posted this on every hotel review website I can find. Not sure if it will have any effect but it made me feel better.
Dominic Sayers 
Final chapter: tripadvisor.com have now published my review. Thanks to them.
Next installment: tripadvisor.com have refused to include my review on the basis that I did not stay at the hotel and therefore my review is not “first-hand”. I have told them that my review is of the hotel operating company’s service and it is very much first-hand and directly relevant to travellers’ expectations when they book at this hotel.
Sorry if this is getting boring.
Thanks, Aurelius. It’s not much of a stick to beat them with but apart from this minor act of independence, the consumer is totally powerless in these situations.
Eventually, companies will work out that bad service will end up getting them Googled and affect their viability.
It’s the best way to ensure quality.
– Aurelius
Also turns out they had debited my credit card when I made the booking and not refunded it.