What to do about hotel overbooking

Talk about a bad weekend.
My buddy, Bob, was supposed to fly out to Columbus, Ohio, weekend before last for a convention. He had gotten a fabulous deal on Skybus tickets. Strike One.
Once he'd learned the discounter had fallen down and couldn't get up, he also discovered that it would be mondo expensive to get another flight at the last minute (you might be surprised to learn how sparse the service is between Boston and Columbus -- or then again you might not care) and that local friends who also had Skybus tickets opted to make the 12-hour drive but had already left. Strike Two
And then there was the matter of his hotel canceling his reservation. That's right. They tossed him because they had overbooked. Strike Three.
Ouch. Seems Bob got this letter from a Ramada in Columbus saying that they weren't going to have room for him but they'd found him a replacement room across the the street -- at a slightly higher price.

Overbooking doesn't happen all the time, but it does happen. Sometimes it's inadvertent. Hotels will sometimes be fully booked and then run into a problem with a burst pipe or other problems that force them to close rooms, said Paul Sacco, chief executive of the Massachusetts Lodging Association.
But other times hotels overbook on purpose to protect themselves from any potential loss of business from last-minute cancellations and no-shows -- in fact, the well-known Cornell University School of Hotel Management offers a course in "how to strategically overbook.''
What to do? I can't find evidence of any federal rules dictating what kinds of compensation you're owed for overbooking as there are for airlines. And it doesn't appear that any states regulate it. If you lose a room because of overbooking you could probably sue, but, let's face it, even if you win it would probably turn out to be not worth the trouble -- and that still doesn't help get you a place to stay.
Sacco says most hotels bend over backward to make sure you're taken care of in the case of overbooking. He also says that you should expect that the hotel will:
*Try to accommodate you somewhere in the hotel (perhaps even an upgrade) and if they can't they should find you comparable lodging at the same or a lower price nearby.
*Let you use their phones to call family and the office to let them know your plans have changed.
*Pay cab fare if your replacement hotel is farther than a short walk and you don't have a car.
Sacco says that if you're not happy with what the hotel is offering you that you should always try to speak with the manager on duty. In his experience many folks who've been bumped actually make out better, with perhaps a room upgrade or a comped meal or drinks.
And if all else falls through, Sacco says, they should offer you a full refund.
But what about what happened to my pal Bob? He says that when he called the Ramada corporate offices they were very apologetic and offered to make good on any difference in price in the substitute room that was secured for him.
Be firm. Stay cool. Like the dude says: Get what rightfully yours and that's that.