A hotel chain has denied cancelling existing bookings during the newly announced Oasis tour in the hope of 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 headlined: “Cancellation requested due to system error.” It read: “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 hotel, which opened only this summer, 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 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….
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