[reviews] the chelsea in atlantic city

12.29.2008 | Several weeks ago I booked New Year's Eve and the following night at The Chelsea in Atlantic City. I'd bought tickets to see Craig Ferguson, who's appearing at The Borgata on New Year's Eve, but The Borgata was booked, so I thought The Chelsea, Atlantic City's first non-casino hotel since Atlantic City went casino, was the next obvious choice. The woman who took my reservation explained there was a 48-hour cancellation policy. She sent an email confirming my room (Luxe King), rates ($391.20 for New Year's Eve, $175.20 for the next evening, plus $81.30 in taxes, for a total of $674.70).

The email also detailed the hotel's policies as follows:

Hotel Policies
- Our check-in time is 4pm and check-out is 12pm.
- The Chelsea is a smoke free environment. A penalty will be applied to the guest's folio if this policy is violated.
- We gladly accommodate service animals, however we do not allow pets.
- Valet Parking fees: $15.00 Friday & Saturday, $10.00 Sunday through Thursday.
Cancellation Policy
We understand that plans change and you may need to cancel or modify your reservation, so please review the following policies.
All deposits are fully refundable and transferable 48 hours prior to arrival.

I called the hotel at about 2:45 P.M. to cancel. I thought I was within the 48-hour cancellation policy with a 4 o'clock check-in. It took me 29 minutes and 3 seconds to get the hotel to see things my way, even with my confirmation email. And thank goodness for my confirmation email. As it turned out, the reservationist should have applied a seven-day cancellation policy to my reservation, and a group with a seven-day cancellation policy was trying to cancel, and they thought I was part of that group. I'm happy with the outcome but think this should have been resolved without the folderol.

This is my cancellation number: 9008845. I note it here just in case. In any event, I'll get to Atlantic City one of these days. And I might just stay at The Chelsea.

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