Confirmed Valentine’s booking cancelled due to hotel’s internal process failure

I am lodging this complaint due to the unacceptable handling of my Valentine’s Day reservation at Lacuna Bistro, Maslow Hotel.

Two weeks ago, I made a booking for six people via the hotel’s official website for Saturday, 14 February. At no stage during the booking process was it indicated that Valentine’s Day would be a ticketed event requiring separate payment through Quicket.

On 9 February, I received a call from a staff member who stated that she had only just seen my booking because she had been on leave. She informed me about the Valentine’s event and asked me to book through Quicket, but specifically reassured me that my table would remain while I completed the “formalities.”

When I went onto Quicket, the event was already sold out. On that same day, my booking was cancelled.

When I contacted the hotel to query this, I was told that I should have phoned instead of booking through the website because online bookings take five days to reflect on their system. This explanation is unacceptable. I used the hotel’s official booking channel, and any delays or internal process issues are the hotel’s responsibility—not the customer’s.

If Valentine’s Day was a ticketed event, the website should have blocked standard reservations for that date, or clearly communicated the ticket requirement at the time of booking. Instead, my reservation was accepted, left unattended due to staff availability, and only addressed once the event was already sold out. I was then penalised for a situation entirely outside of my control.

This reflects a serious breakdown in systems, communication, and customer care. It is unreasonable for a confirmed reservation to be cancelled less than a week before Valentine’s Day due to internal administrative failures.

I expect a formal explanation of: 1. Why the website allowed standard bookings for a ticketed event. 2. Why my booking was not actioned in time. 3. What steps will be taken to rectify this situation.

At present, I am left without a Valentine’s booking for six people because of the hotel’s internal errors - this is totally unacceptable