For what it's worth

Even if you have paid in advance on a no-changes no-refunds tariff, Travelodge reserve the right to overbook their hotel, and may do no more than give you back your initial payment if they have run out of rooms when you arrive. That refund is very unlikely to be enough to cover the "walk-up" price of an alternative hotel. But I have obtained some promises from Travelodge that may help.

Travelodge works on a pay-in-advance model for their hotel rooms. And for cheaper tariffs, there is no option to change date, or to get a refund if you cancel.

So what possible justification is there for overbooking rooms that have been reserved on a pre-paid non-amendable basis?

The Travelodge website explains:

"Like almost all other hotel companies, we overbook some of our hotels because we know that a percentage of our customers make a reservation but then do not arrive to check-in. [...] Our aim is to make sure that people who arrive to fulfil their booking are allocated their rooms, while also ensuring that rooms that would have been left empty due to other customers not arriving are also used."

In answer to the question "What happens if the hotel I am staying in is overbooked?" they explain:
"On rare occasions, it becomes necessary for us to find suitable alternative accommodation for our customers in the local area or offer to refund the room."

This suggests that the family of four who have booked a £15 bargain room could find themselves in a strange town, having prepaid for their room - but finding themselves out on the street with their £15 refunded - and faced with paying a heavy "walk-up" price for whatever other hotel they might be able to find with rooms at no notice.

It is possible that Travelodge would never in practice just refund your payment - but their website seeks to allow them to limit their action to this level.

Anyone faced with this situation may have a legal claim against Travelodge. I am no lawyer, but a Trading Standards person suggested there might be a case against them for the extra costs.

But there is another approach that can help reduce the risk of grief.

After I pressed them, Sue James of Travelodge Customer Relations wrote to me on 20th November 2006, and I share her clarifications here for the benefit of others.

I asked about whether there were limits on their financing of an alternative hotel: "If you are telling me that you will not impose any limits on how far you will transport overbooked customers, nor the expense of the alternative hotel, please could you confirm that explicitly."

Travelodge replied: "We can confirm that transport will be provided both ways and you will incur no further costs re accommodation. "

She also offered: "For your peace of mind we can when you have made a booking place a note on that booking to say ‘booking guaranteed’, just e-mail your booking reference to Customer Services. In the event of a late arrival please inform both the hotel and Customer Services where we can again put a note on the system."

This is easier said than done - but my solution is to send a fax to the hotel (they list fax numbers on the details of each hotel, and unlike the phone number, it does connect directly to the specific hotel).
In your fax, I confirm my booking details, quote Ms James, and confirm that I expect to find a room available when you arrive. It doesn't guarantee they won't stand meup, but I suspect that it would help my prospects if they did stand me up, and I had to go to court to seek compensation.

Good Luck.