If you are absolutely sure you got the address correct then you have done your part. The blockchain proves that the money is now in the hands of whoever holds the private key that controls that public key. Perhaps it's the management company who messed up? By sending you the wrong address maybe? what do they say?

Here are about 1 million hotels that take bitcoin. 

https://www.expedia.com/

Hmmm. It should. Are you sure it is the correct folder? It will be the one that core created the wallet.dat folder in. You will have to excuse my ignorance of windows, if that is what you are using. But I sort of recall that windows hides the folder with the wallet but displays another "bitcoin" folder.
Also make sure that the name is "wallet.dat". Anything else will be ignored. If it's corrupted I would expect an error, but maybe not?
Did that help?

Speculation is risky, sometimes foolish. It distorts the market and exacerbates bubble cycles. But... One of the bitcoin values is that your money is your business. We don't tell each other what to do with each others money. 

It can get confusing. Each time the core software runs it checks for a wallet.dat file. If one is not present it will make a new wallet and run that one. I rename all the wallets I work with then change the name back to wallet.dat when I put it in the bitcoin folder. Otherwise I risk overwriting a full wallet with an empty one.

if you use Winxx you should be able to find your hidden bitcoin folder by running in the run box. If you are using Linux (which you should) you can find the .bitcoin folder by showing hidden files in your home folder.

Hope this helps.

The "hard" part is dealing with fiat currency.
Here is how to buy bitcoin.


1. Set up an account at a licensed exchange in your own country. Never trust an unlicensed business! Use your real identity. If you try lying about your identity you are going to get your account locked and you may be unable to recover your bitcoin. Exchanges MUST follow AML and KYC laws. They will turn over your info to the IRS, They will not help you if you lie. That's just business.   

2. Fund your account from a bank account. You can use a credit card or PayPal, but it will cost more and involve more entities. Since this involves fiat money it will take days to clear in the mail. Bitcoin is fast, fiat is slow.
Once it does clear you will have dollars/Euros/whatever in your account that can be used to buy bitcoin. At that point you can buy in a variety of ways. You can place a low bid and hope someone comes down to your price or just buy at current market price. Note that you are now also set up to sell coins.

3. Move the coins you buy immediately.  You will want to have a wallet synced on a secure computer. As soon as a trade is confirmed You should send the newly bought coins to your wallet. Until you have your coins in a wallet that you have sole possession of the private key, you do not have bitcoin. It is possible for the exchange to go out of business or be crooks. Get that money under your keys ASAP! Same is true selling coins. After a sale for fiat do a bank deposit into your bank account.

4. Record everything. Keep careful records of how much you paid for your coins. When you sell or spend them you will owe taxes on any gain you see. In the U.S. typically you will owe 0% - 15% of the profit you made, depending on your tax bracket.

Why just a tip though? Let's push them to fully accept payment in bitcoin.

I am always surprised at how little people know about taxes. I guess it's a combination of an ever more complex system and a total lack of teaching taxes in schools.

In the USA you owe tax anytime you make money. If you earn money from work you owe income tax.
If you see a gain in value when you trade something, be it money or anything, you owe capitol gains tax.

Even if you find a gold ring buried in your yard you owe on it. ALL MONEY IS TAXABLE. This is not the government attacking bitcoin. It has been the law for decades.
 

It's math. Bitcoin is doing exactly what she was programed to do. The rest is human behavior which does not sway her.

Something you get for free is worth ___________.

Thanks man. If Africa goes unclaimed and the price goes way high I may make the next destination under the Ocean somewhere.

That will make a poor legal defense at your trial. In the USA it is this simple:
Did you make money? YES
Then you owe tax on it. No exceptions.

Bitcoin enables all sorts of new transactions. Even the ones we don't want. 

If it is "too low" (unprofitable) then it won't get done.
If it is "too high" then someone will do it for less.

Bitcoin is full of incentives and disincentives that keep the transaction price trending toward the lowest profitable value. Of course at any one moment it may be higher or lower than the optimal value.   

It's a good question. Some scam alt-coins calculate it this way.

1. Pre-mine 10,000 dumcoins.
2. Sell one to your buddy for $120.
3. Now advertise dumcoin as having a 1.2 million dollar marketcap.
4. Vacuum up money from people who can't do math.
 

Let's make it simple. Here is an item I have bought with bitcoin:

https://www.amagimetals.com/gold/bars/10-oz-pamp-suisse-gold-bar-999-fine-gold

Now look at the price. You may notice that if you pay with cash, including bitcoin, the price is lower.
So what is the advantage? well in this one sale it is $416.47 cheaper than had I used a credit card. For a seller of gold the advantage is the irresistibility of the transaction. Is $400 bucks clear enough?

Welcome to the party! We have drank over half the booze already. 

The new CEO of Uber is a bitcoin guy. He is leaving Expedia, which started taking bitcoin under his watch. I think Uber will soon be payable in BTC.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/08/27/technology/new-uber-ceo/index.html

I think you are right about that, but it is completely unfounded. It is the same reason why credit cards were created. With a payment processor a business can take bitcoin without ever touching bitcoin. They face no price volatility because the processor immediately buys the coins and deposits dollars into their bank account.  That means they receive their money days or weeks before a credit card transaction and generally for about a third of the cost.

The only real CON for business is ignorance.
 

I think you have a point Duck. I don't think it will destroy crypto, but a speculative economy will see endless bubbles. As long as people want dollars rather than bitcoin they are just trading tokens. When we see more adoption of bitcoin for payments, remittances and other economic activity then we will really ramp up.