A new reservation system, reduced lodging space, and incredible demand combined to overwhelm Forever Resorts' reservation system for Grand Canyon Lodge on the North Rim of the national park.
The problems, some related to the battle against Covid-19, have left company officials and visitors alike frustrated as there were double bookings and assumed reservations that inexplicably vanished.
"From a business standpoint, it's humiliating, embarassing, it's ridiculous what's happened," Bill Butts, Forever Resorts' senior VP of resort operations, said Saturday. "We're trying the best we can to get through it."
The company had set up a system of staged reservations for the popular lodge, with this summer's bookings released on a staggered basis. But problems immediately appeared, according to Traveler readers.
"January 15th - reservation day was an absolute debacle!" wrote DK. "I was able to reserve a cabin and the system debited my credit card only to find that a week later all reservations are hereby canceled. The reservation window has been pushed back 3 times in the past 6 months and now has been pushed back again to 3 future dates."
"My January 15th experience with Forever Resorts was by far my worst reservation experience with any national park," added Lewislj55. "I did receive a confirmation several hours after multiple attempts when the payment did not process. Later found 4 pending charges. When I called on Jan. 18th for verbal confirmation I was told that I really didn't have the cabin requested. The person I spoke with was pleasant and the dining room/saloon employees have always been great. But management and visible cabin maintenance have both deteriorated significantly over the last few years."
Forever Resorts normally starts taking reservations 13 months in advance, so this summer's reservation window would have opened back in April 2020. However, the company hired a new vendor to set up the reservations system, and also had to take 40 rooms out of circulation at the lodge due to Covid, explained Butts.
"It was one of those perfect storms," he said. "But more than anything it was kind of a factor that we had even more demand because now instead of being 13 months in advance, now we're booking literally four months away. What is happening with the demand for our parks and getting out of doors with this whole Covid thing, I was stunned. We're also in Grand Teton National Park (at Signal Mountain Lodge), and Grand Teton National Park in the month of September had the record month of visitation ever for the month of September.
"Kind of the last domino was the fact that we've got 40 less rooms. We're not going to have our motel units in service this year (due to Covid)," continued Butts.
Reservations currently are not being taking for the lodge while Forever Resorts sorts out the billing issues that cropped up. The system is scheduled to resume February 12.
"We really had some real issues that we absolutely want to get cleared up as it relates to multiple credit-card charges that happened," said Butts. "Both either systemically or people were coming back in again and again and were not sure if they booked it. We just need to be absolutely certain that we get all that factored out before we open this thing up again."
The reservation vendor is working with Forever Resorts to get the system running properly.
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Comments
This is the worst reservations failure of thirty year's traveling, and this occured in the USA - which makes it so much worse. The level of incompetency at the executive level is jaw dropping - have they not heard of planning and back up plans? The new RMS system should have been thoroughly tested prior to going live. So much time wasted to make and confirm ONE reservation ... the NPS needs to seriously award this contract to another concessioner when the current contract comes up for renewal. I am going to contact the NPS and my federal-level representative to express my utter shock and dismay at the waste of tax payer money on the ‘management' of this process. This makes the NPS (ultimately the responsible organization), I am sorry to write, look foolish and incompetent.
I was subject to this debacle in January, and I was able to get a confirmation later by calling. Hoping its still in place! Tried to call for a dining room reservations and had a message "due to demand, try emailing us at [email protected] bye >click<" So who knows if that will work. Meanwhile, I got reservations at Bryce Lodge on same trip, and they sent an email a few months later cancelling, saying they didnt have staff for housekeeping. Calling to confirm that, they suggested staying outside the park, so I got a reservation there instead. Then I call today, and turns out the Lodge Motel rooms WERE open! They didnt even suggest to move my reservations to one of those instead of outside the park! Needless to say I reserved that...amazingly, only a few days from my planned stay. At least I will be in the park. Forever Resorts has obviously been overwhelmed by Covid, but still, it just feels like they were way too overwhlemed or short staffed to start back reservations this year.