Hotel chain in Manchester denies reselling rooms booked by Oasis fans

A hotel chain is accused of trying to profit from next year's Oasis concerts by cancelling customers' bookings made before the reunion tour was announced.

Lily Stroud, from Newcastle, said she had “taken a risk” by booking rooms at a Maldron Hotel in Manchester for two weekends in July 2025 following speculation about the band's return.

But the hotel chain cancelled their bookings after the tour announcement due to a “technical error” and the same rooms are now listed as unavailable.

A spokesman for Maldron Hotels said there was “an overbooking problem” at two locations and that it was not an attempt to “resell rooms at inflated prices”.

Sacha Lord, Greater Manchester's nightlife consultant, confirmed that several people had contacted him to complain about the chain.

The chain, which owns two hotels in Manchester – the Maldron Hotel Manchester City and the Maldron Hotel Cathedral Quarter – said all reservations made before August 26 would be honoured.

Oasis announced on Tuesday that They would reunite for a tour in 2025The Gallagher brothers confirmed dates in London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Dublin.

Rumors had already spread the day before after the band posted a picture on their social media platforms with the date “27.08.24”.

Oasis will play at Heaton Park in Manchester on July 11th, 12th, 19th and 20th.

The hotel said that a technical error in bookings for Monday and Tuesday had resulted in “significantly more rooms being booked” than were available on the concert dates.

The same problem resulted in “a small number of customers” being able to book rooms at a higher price later on Tuesday, he said, adding that those bookings would also be cancelled.

The hotel has apologized and is not accepting new reservations while they investigate the issue.

Mr Lord had previously urged the hotel to “do the right thing” after receiving numerous complaints.

Mr Lord said he had been contacted by several disgruntled customers about X, some of whom said their bookings had been cancelled by the hotel and they “now had to get them back at three times the price”.

Since Wednesday, prices in some hotels in Manchester for the weekends of the Oasis gigs have been about twice as high as in the weeks before and after.

One hotel's website showed rooms costing around £750 on the weekends of the Heaton Park shows, compared to around £350 on the nearest other weekends.

Another hotel offered room rates for the concert weekends at around £600, compared to around £240 for the weekend after the concert on July 19, 2025.

Ms Stroud, who describes herself as a “huge” Oasis fan, said she and her mother booked the room in Manchester on Sunday after discovering a list of speculative dates for the reunion tour online.

“We thought if cancellation is free, why not, because we know what the demand would be,” she said.

After the tour was announced, the hotel informed her and numerous other fans by email that the bookings had been unsuccessful.

The 26-year-old said she called the Maldron Hotel directly and was initially told her booking was still in the system, but was later told it could not be found.

“We kind of expected it,” she said, adding that she was “frustrated” because “it's stressful enough wondering, 'Are you going to get tickets?'”

Emma Cough, 37, from Ulverston in Cumbria, was also a victim of the booking problems at the Maldron, despite having made two reservations before the tour was announced.

“Surely you knew how many rooms they had! This is crazy,” she said.

“People are upset that they did this so early. It's not fair.”

David O'Gorman, 37, also booked a room at the Maldron for around £90 for July 20, 2025 at 8.03am on Tuesday, in the hope that he could also secure a ticket to an Oasis gig in Manchester that same evening.

However, on Tuesday at 8:15 p.m. he received an email from the hotel stating that his booking had not been successful due to a technical error.

Mr O'Gorman, from County Meath, Ireland, said: “As soon as I saw the email from the hotel, I opened Booking.com and the exact same room I booked now costs about £350. So it's not a technical error.”

He said he was in “limbo,” adding: “Realistically, I probably won't be able to afford the date anymore and so I can't take the ticket because I have to book a flight as well.”

“I'm really frustrated and it feels so unfair as I've been trying to be ahead of the curve. I'm a huge fan but have never seen them live so I thought it would be great to head to Manchester to see them.”

George Snape said he was “quite angry and really disappointed” after his hotel bookings for a wedding in Manchester next year were cancelled.

“I think they just raised the prices for Oasis,” he said.

Manchester City Councillor Pat Karney said BBC Radio Manchester Council staff would investigate what happened.

“If this is the case then they have let themselves down and they have let Manchester down,” he said.

“We are not stupid, we know that prices will be high as long as people in the hotels treat them fairly.

“There is no justification for ripping people off.”

Dan, 37, from Hull, said he had booked at the Hazeldean Hotel in Salford, which offered free cancellation before the announcement, but has now been told he must pay the full amount by Friday, the day before Oasis cards go on sale.

“How is that fair and how am I supposed to pay if I don’t know if I’ll get tickets?

“I'm sure they're just doing it so they can cancel it and then offer it at a higher price.”

The Hazeldean Hotel has been contacted for comment.

Additional reporting from PA Media.