Days after British pop band Coldplay announced another concert in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad as part of its much-awaited “Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025”, a social media user has revealed that one of the hotels near the Narendra Modi Stadium had increased booking prices despite having made the reservation previously. The netizen took to X (formerly Twitter) and posted the correspondence with the hotel as the booking price was raised exponentially from Rs 5,521 to Rs 16,000.

“All in for capitalism but asking increased rate for a booked stay. That’s new,” wrote the user, sharing the screenshot.

The management claimed that owing to the Coldplay concert in Ahmedabad on Jan 25 and 26, 2025 — hotel rooms were in high demand, prompting the price increase.

“Unfortunately, due to this, we are unable to honour your reservation at current rates, and need to make an adjustment to reflect the market conditions,” read the statement by the hotel.

“What does this mean for your booking? Option 1(Keep Your Booking): If you’d like to confirm your reservation, we kindly request you to pay the adjusted rate of INR 16000 (an increase of INR 10479). To thank you for your understanding, we’d love to treat you to a complimentary meal during your stay,” it added.

All in for capitalism but asking increased rate for a booked stay. Thats new. pic.twitter.com/ox5fu9iIfH

— Ashish Singh (@ashzingh) November 21, 2024

Netizens fume

The post quickly went viral, inviting the wrath of the netizens who called out the hotel for not honouring the booking and using anti-consumer means to profit off the situation.

“What’s the point of reservation then?” said one user, while another added: “This is not done. Perfect case to pursue under consumer protection law. Happy to get you legal help at no cost.”

A third commented: “That one millisecond tick to” I agree to the terms and conditions” is going to start haunting us now. Treebo has given a ‘cold shoulder’ to patrons.”

Prices increase

Immediately after the concert dates were announced, hotels in the city increased their prices with many claiming that rooms were being booked for as high as Rs 90,000 for just one night.

“Hotel rooms in ITC Narmada Ahmedabad are selling for 90,000 per night on the 25th. If you manage to get Coldplay tickets, you also need to spend 6 months of an Indian middle-class person’s income to simply visit the city,” said an X user.

Hotel rooms in ITC Narmada Ahmedabad are selling for 90,000 per night on the 25th

If you manage to get Coldplay tickets, you also need to spend 6 months of an Indian middle-class person’s income to simply visit the city

Coldplay plays, city’s hotels party

— Aviral Bhatnagar (@aviralbhat) November 16, 2024

One of the hotels stated that the cost of rooms were reflective of “dynamic pricing” during highly-anticipated events that create a high demand among travellers for hotels.