€0.01 rooms' blunder costs Venice hotel £90k

(17 August 2009)

A 4-star hotel near Venice is counting the cost after mistakenly offering rooms for just one euro cent - less than a penny.

More than 5,000 bookings were made within hours of the €0.01 promotional rate appearing on the Crown Plaza Venice East Quarto D'Altino's website on Sunday night, filling the hotel until 2010.

The discount rate was originally thought to be the work of a hacker, but it has been discovered that human error at the Atlanta head office of the Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) - the hotel's mother company - was to blame.

"Although a pricing error, IHG is committed to honouring the 1-cent rate for guests who have a valid confirmation," a spokesperson said.

The offer was supposed to be for a two-night stay at half price. A night at the 152-room hotel typically costs between €90 (£78) and €150 (£129). 

The error will cost the hotel an estimated £90,000.