Do people sometimes arrive at hotels where they've made reservation only to find there are no available rooms? If so, how frequently does this happen?

We do not practice overselling our hotel, for various reasons, but mainly due to reputation. I personally feel if you have guaranteed your room with a credit card that is valid on the day of your arrival, then we as a hotel will guarantee we'll hold that room for you until the next morning, in case you happen to arrive at4 am for example. If you don't show up for your room, we charge your credit card for the first night of your stay and cancel the remainder, if any, of your reservation. Very rarely have we had to walk a guest to another hotel, and only then it was because of either a maintenance issue that put the room out of service, or damage done by a guest that would make it unrentable, both very rare situations. But we are a small hotel, I imagine large resorts or city hotels with hundreds/thousands of rooms would have a different story. We want every guest to have a great experience, walking to a lesser hotel is not going to make that happen.

Usually when you receive a booking and you send out a confirmation letter it is understood that you are holding a room for that particular booking. Some hotels do overbook the hotel as part of their revenue management strategy or if they have a history of last minute cancellation.

If you do anticipate to be overbooked, you also better have a solution for accommodating your confirmed bookings. It is all about planning and anticipation, which is part of any hotel operation.