A friend and I decided it was time for a treat so we settled on a weekend at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin.  I made the booking online, two nights bed and breakfast and requested a twin room.  The website makes it clear that any “preferences” cannot be guaranteed and confirmation should be sought directly with the hotel.  After making the booking I emailed the hotel to request confirmation that we would be allocated a twin room.  I received no response to this email so rang the hotel instead.  I spoke with a nice gentleman who checked availability for the nights we were to stay and who confirmed to me that he had allocated us the required room. We arrived at reception and were told that although we had indicated a preference for a twin room that there were none available and that we would have had to have rang in advance to “guarantee” one of these rooms.  Apparently there was no log of my call and the man on reception gave the impression he …