Customer service is alive and well in Napa at the Chelsea Garden Inn

Most travel agents hate bed-and-breakfasts. Okay, maybe we don’t hate them on principle. We personally don’t hate the idea of relaxing in one for a weekend. But, from a travel agent point of view, they are usually amongst the most difficult requests to deal with from a client.

To begin with, most “B&Bs” are small and don’t tend to have much of an advertising presence, so it’s hard to know details about them. In addition, because they are small most of them are not bookable through an agency GDS computer. Finally, most of them also don’t pay commission.

Add things like two-night minimums on weekends, which is completely understandable from a small business point of view, together with tight cancellation-deposit deadlines, and it’s almost easier to tell a client, “No, we don’t book them.”

Of course, agents can charge a fee for their time, but when you are potentially looking at an hour or more of research and phone calls for a one-night stay, well, it’s hard to tell someone that the fee could be a significant percentage of their stay. Ditto, when you decide to do a good client a favor, it can be an exercise in futility.

In this case, a regular client from a local university wanted to bring his wife up to the Napa Valley later this month, where he had an Sunday speaking engagement in Calistoga. He wanted to stay on Saturday night only at a “small inn.” I told his assistant it would likely be impossible during October (harvest time), but I would look around a bit on the computer.

Lo and behold, along with a few mostly expensive rooms, generally at larger hotels some distance away, there was availability at a place called the Chelsea Garden Inn. And it looked great. It was in downtown Calistoga, all suites, breakfast, afternoon beverages and snacks, along with modern amenities like cable television and wi-fi. Room charges started at $250 a night, which for Napa in the fall is actually reasonable. Plus, they allowed one-night bookings with a 14-day advance cancellation policy.

The client was happy with the option. So I booked the suite, and thought I had done a relatively simple good deed. That feeling lasted for about 24 hours.

The following morning it turns out my client’s wife, who was excited about the stay, had a couple questions about the suite. So she called the Chelsea Garden Inn directly. They answered her questions, but said they had no reservation for her and her husband. And that they did indeed have a two-night minimum. At this point, the client’s assistant called me, and I called the reservation company’s help line.

A pleasant man told me they would contact the hotel, and get back to me. During this time a hotel employee called me confirming what they had told the client — no room, and no Saturday one-night stays. He said the owner was aware of the problem and someone would get back to us.

The stay in question is about 3 1/2 weeks away, so I fully expected a nice apology and an explanation of how they couldn’t afford to keep the booking, as the Chelsea Garden Inn has only five rooms.

This afternoon, Susan, the owner, called. She explained that it had been a computer error, that they never sell Saturday by itself. So while I was thinking once again, “No good deed goes unpunished,” she added, “But we’ve decided to honor it.”

So, the client gets his suite for Saturday only. His wife is happy. I am hoping, in a tough year, that the Inn can fill the room for the other night or nights. And while I haven’t seen the Chelsea Garden Inn myself, I am rooting for them to love it, and refer their friends.

Because in a time when mega-airlines and hotel chains routinely refuse to rectify errors for relatively small amounts of money, it’s a pleasant shock to see a small business, no doubt on a tight budget themselves, decide to absorb a potential financial hit, to make things right for the client.

Photo: Palm Suite bedroom, courtesy the Chelsea Garden Inn.