A hotel chain is accused of cancelling bookings for Manchester that coincided with Oasis concerts and reselling the rooms at three times the price.
Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester County Council’s night-time economy adviser, called on Maldron Hotels to “do the right thing” after receiving numerous complaints.
In a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), he wrote: “Hey @MaldronHotels. Several people who booked your hotel for the Oasis concert are contacting me to tell me their rooms have just been cancelled and are now available again at three times the price.”
“I’m sure this is a ‘computer glitch’… easily fixed. Do the right thing.”
Hey @MaldronHotels.
Several people who booked your hotel for the Oasis concert contact me and tell me that their rooms have just been cancelled and are now available again at three times the price.
I’m sure this is a “computer glitch” that can be easily fixed.
Do the right thing.
— Sacha Lord (@Sacha_Lord) 27 August 2024
Several angry customers posted screenshots on X of an email seemingly from Maldron Hotels that read: “Due to a technical error, you have received a confirmation for a booking that could not be completed successfully.”
Recipients were informed that they would be sent a “cancellation request” and asked to “accept it immediately.”
The company operates two hotels in Manchester.
As of Wednesday morning, there were no rooms available for either of them starting in early July next year.
Oasis will play at Heaton Park in Manchester on July 11, 12, 19 and 20.
Maldron Hotels said in a statement: “Due to a technical error in our booking system on 26 and 27 August, significantly more rooms were booked than were available for the nights of the Oasis concerts on 11, 12, 19 and 20 July 2025 at Maldron Hotel Manchester City and Maldron Hotel Cathedral Quarter.
“For this reason, we are unable to accommodate all bookings made for these dates and are actively contacting customers regarding their bookings.
“Hotels are currently not accepting bookings while we investigate the issue.
“This is not an attempt to resell rooms at inflated prices, but rather an overbooking issue due to a technical error in our booking systems.
“In addition, due to the same technical error, a small number of customers were able to book rooms later in the evening at a higher price.
“We cannot take these bookings into account either.
“We will honour all bookings made before August 26th.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.”
Premier Inn, Britain’s largest hotel brand, only has rooms available at Manchester Airport on the nights of the Oasis concerts.
Another major hotel chain, Travelodge, is offering rooms from £190 for these dates at its Oldham Chadderton location – five miles from Heaton Park.
Rooms at the same hotel will be available on July 26 – a week after the performances – for almost half the price, at £97.
