Hotels accused of cashing in on Oasis reunion gigs as guests have bookings cancelled

A hotel chain has been accused of cancelling existing bookings during the newly announced Oasis tour – and re-selling the rooms at a premium.

Angela Smith, 51, was booked at the Maldron Hotel in Manchester’s Cathedral Quarter for two nights from 19 Saturday July.

She had reserved four rooms for her family on Booking.com for a total of £1,820 for the two nights, and was told by the online agent: “You’ve guaranteed your booking by credit card.” Ms Smith did not pre-pay for the rooms.

After she had made the reservation, Oasis announced that they would be playing on both the Saturday and Sunday nights at Manchester’s Heaton Park.

She then received a message from “The Reservations Team” at the hotel reading: “Important notice about your stay at Maldron Hotel Manchester Cathedral Quarter.”

It was headlined: “Cancellation requested due to system error.”

The message read: “Good evening Angela. We are writing to inform you of an issue with your booking at Maldron Hotel Manchester Cathedral Quarter.

“Due to a technical error, you have received a confirmation for a booking that was not successfully made. Unfortunately, we are unable to accommodate your booking at this time.”

The newly opened hotel is now showing as “Fully Booked” from 14 July to 10 August 2025.

Ms Smith, from Tyne and Wear, then contacted The Independent, saying: “I have now had a message from the hotel to say there was a technical error and booking will be cancelled.

“I know for a fact that I got it relatively cheap for what some are offering now and no chance of getting anything booked again. Can the hotel do this?”

A spokesperson for Maldron Hotels said: “Due to a technical error with our booking system on 26 and 27 August 2024, substantially more rooms were booked than were available for the nights of the Oasis concerts on 11/12/19/20 July 2025 at Maldron Hotel Manchester City and Maldron Hotel Cathedral Quarter.

“As a result, we are unable to honour all bookings made on these dates, and we are actively engaging with customers regarding their bookings.

“The hotels are currently not taking any bookings while we investigate the issue. This is not an attempt to resell rooms at inflated prices, rather an overbooking issue due to a technical error with our booking systems.

“Additionally, due to the same technical error, a small number of customers were able to book the rooms at a higher price later that evening. We will also be unable to accommodate these bookings.

“We will be honouring all bookings made prior to 26 August. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.

According to Booking.com rules for hoteliers: “All bookings are confirmed immediately and have to be honoured.”

The online intermediary says that in the case of overbooking “it’s your responsibility to relocate your guest in case of overbooking and find them accommodation of the same or higher standard”.

“Suspicion of fraud – if you think a booking might be fraudulent, you can report it to us and we will guide you through the next steps.

Ms Smith had been expecting to pay £227 per room per night. A hotel of similar standard, the Mercure Manchester Piccadilly, is now selling at £903 on the Saturday night.

Another disappointed guest, Lily Stroud, wrote on X: “Booked The Maldron Hotel Manchester yesterday for 11-13th & 18-20th before gigs were announced.

“Conveniently they have cancelled our bookings ‘due to a technical error’.”

While consumer rights for cancelled or overbooked flights are perfectly clear, when hoteliers cancel bookings made in good faith the rules are opaque.

A hotel booking constitutes a contract. But generally a hotel can cancel citing, as Maldron Hotels says, a rate “posted on the website incorrectly due to a technical or human error”.

Other properties include terms such as: “The hotel reserves the right to alter prices for any reason up to the date of booking or up to 12 weeks prior to arrival, whichever is the later.”

During Eurovision in Liverpool in 2022, fans accused property owners of “gouging” with rooms surging to £5,500 per night.