Wanted to warn people considering using Priceline for London to be VERY aware about their system and "stars". Did a bid on Priceline and ended up with Le Merdien Russell Square(supposedly 4*) for 100$. Thought this was a deal. Found out that the Russell(it is the old Russell Hotel) is in the process of being remodeled. They give their "old" rooms to Priceline customers and I read on Tripadvisor that they are very "old" and nasty indeed. Most people were quite upset about this. I should have known better. I did not forsee this happening. I called Priceline and told them about the situation, and they could have cared less. gave me the old standard spiel. The old buyer beware, holds true, especially for Priceline. I will not use them again. FYI, Judy

While others may disagree with me, I've always suspected that people who book through Priceline are likely to get the worst rooms. My one booking through Priceline was for a single night at the Hilton Times Square, which is a nice hotel. Our room was a "handicapped" room with the worst shower I've ever seen -- absolutely no water pressure. I had to remove the shower head on the hand held hose to "squirt myself" with water. And the bathroom had no vanity or even shelf to put anything as it was a "handicap" roll up to type sink.
We endured for one night. The next morning when questioned, the clerk admitted that the handicap rooms are not popular (except for the handicapped who need them), but we had gotten that room because we had gotten such a "discount" through Priceline. By the way for the busy night we booked -- I was turned down twice until I bid $150 for a four star and got this one. $ 130 was flat turned down. I understand I might have bid for $140 and gotten it, but nothing for less without dropping to a three star, which I wasn't about to do considering some of the hotels they put in their three star category.

I have used Priceline for hotels in both Chicago and NYC, and I must admit I have been fortunate - no bad rooms so far. If the hotel is not fully booked, I would suggest politely approaching the front desk staff and asking for another room (especially if you stay is lengthy). You might get sneered at, you might not - who knows? But it certainly can not hurt to try.

Patrick and Judyrem, would you say it is generally true that you should shop Priceline by price, rather than star value? In other words, would you say that you got a room that was fair market value for the price you paid?
If I've done the exchange math correctly, then as of today US$100 is about £60, which doesn't usually buy much in London.

To what extent do you think that having these rooms in a full-service hotel was some compensation for what you got? US$100 in a major city rarely gets one a hotel with four star services (i.e. restaurant, lounge areas, room service, etc. etc.)

Too very true. Patrick. I thought I was being so clever and thrifty. But almost always the old adage, "you get what you paid for", holds true for most things, including priceline. IMO, if they keep this garbage up, no one will trust them anymore. I will now use londontown.com, and pay more AND like what I am getting, instead of dreading it. Well as I said before to Judybarnes, I am not married to the place, just hope it is clean, and has good water pressure ;-)

Judy, you're quite right to warn people to be careful. However, it's possible that you might be able to upgrade for free (if you get an agreeable desk clerk) or for a fee (say 20 pounds per night or whatever). If the assigned room is not acceptable to you when you get there, I would be forthright in asking what you can do about it. Also, many properties that have this policy of foisting off the worst rooms do that for any type of third-party booking, such as Expedia, not just Priceline.

So far about 10 Priceline stays in my case and no complaints (two more coming up soon). In one instance (a different Le Meridien) I think I might have gotten a worse room because it was Priceline. However, since the rate I paid was about half of the cheapest rate available anywhere else, I just put up with it, since it wasn't a big deal.

You might not be able to do anything about this until you get there. I hope it works out as well as possible.

They don't give any stars, as I recall -- they just let a hotel give its own stars. This is in their FAQs. It seems normal to me that someone getting the cheapest/discounted rates would get the less desirable rooms. I don't think anyone has a reason to complain, a regular-paying customer sure would if they weren't getting the best rooms available. Why would you expect anything else? Also, you know that you are getting rooms that the hotel needs to unload.

People bid on Priceline because they don't want to pay regular rates and agree to not be able to specify a lot of things about room type and hotel. I think it can work out well in some cases, especially for those not picky, but it's a known gamble. YOu aren't going to get the best rooms in the greatest hotels or they wouldn't be getting dumped on Priceline.

Sue, I get what you are saying, but I thought a 4*, should have 4* rooms. I just feel priceline should exclude hotels, that can not deliver what they promise i.e. 4* rooms! Judy

We will be in London in February and I have spent a lot of time searching for inexpensive rooms (we need two) near the theaters. I finally booked Thistle Trafalgar, from their own site. The londontown.com rate looked better, but that was only because they do not add in the taxes! Also, I can cancel up to the day of arrival. I figure I may get a deal at the last minute. I have always been wary of priceline because I want to know where I am staying and I want to be able to cancel. Reading these posts makes it clear to me that I made the right choice! Priceline is not for me!

Hi Judy

Truly, I did want to know your opinion based on your experience, sorry if my question sounded 'leading'.

I've never used priceline but I've heard this problem discussed a lot on biddingfortravel.com. You might try posting there about your experience as well.

Just on the flip side, I got a room in a hotel right in the historic part of Philly for $70 for a 3*, and it was beautiful. It was a huge corner room with a great view, lots of windows, perfect location, etc.

Maybe arrangements are different in the US than Europe?

Karen

Sue, an example: I used Priceline for last month's stay in Boston. I got the Hyatt Regency Financial District, which was a very solid 4* with workout room, pool etc. I paid 100$ a nite on Priceline.... a very good deal. It had lovely 4* rooms too. Ours was smaller, but very nice, with great furniture and duvets. I also had a 4* star Thistle Charing Cross, which we loved. This experience, just leaves a very bad feeling with me. They were so darn intractable. Willtravel: I just may try to upgrade to a nicer room, but still I am so soured on Priceline Never again. Christina, if you would read some of the descriptions of the old rooms, you would be shocked, some people barely give them a 2*! Judy

Judyrem, a rule of thumb people use is to expect the hotels across the pond to be 1* less than the equivalent star in the US. So a 4* in London is more like a 3* in the US. Then consider Priceline generally, and the same rule applies again, so if you want to be sure of 3* quality in London, bid for a 5*.

That said, I bid for a 2* in London this summer and got a nice, new, clean, spacious room, so who can tell for sure.

I have to say that I've read many bad reviews of different hotels on TripAdvisor and never once have I ever had as bad an experience as some reported when I visited the same hotels. I would just focus on being pleasant and indicate you would like a nicer room and if you don't get anywhere, indicate a willingness to pay for it.

Priceline customers, like any other bargain hunters, MUST do their research in advance. The lists and reviews at www.biddingfortravel.com are invaluable in planning which zones and star levels to bid on.

If you had checked in advance, you would have seen that Le Meridien Russell's reviews had leaders like: "Not as bas as expected," "Not a 4*, but a great location!" "very bad experience," and "Economy was too cheap". (Those are the first 4 listed.)

When I do PL research for a new city, I look up the hotel reviews and eliminate zone/star combinations that have any poorly-rated hotels. There's always a chance that a hotel will deteriorate, or that a new, terrible hotel will be added to PL's offerings, but this strategy hasn't let me down yet. For an hour or less of effort, I've been rewarded wtih lovely places in Washington, DC, New York, etc. for under $100.

I've also never felt that PL customers were treated as second-class citizens, nor have I personally gotten an inferior room. Indeed, I once planned a trip with my daughter, found out at the last minute that my son would be joining us, and called the hotel to inquire about booking a rollaway bed for my two-bed room; not possible, said the agent, without knowing who I was. But when I checked in with the kids, at midnight, the front desk clerk, though knowing that I had booked thru PL, went out of his way to find us a larger two-bed room and to get a rollaway into it.

There are a lot of caveats with Priceline but I've been thrilled to find 2-4* hotels in London for $65 and $75 per night, in central areas that have a/c, hair dryers and hot water, much less than I had previously paid for really nasty rooms. Were they the same as 4* hotels in the US? No, but that holds true for a lot of 4* European hotels regardless of whether they are on Priceline. Did we get the nicest rooms in the hotel? No, but I didn't expect to for the price I was paying.

Since it appears that you haven't stayed at this hotel yet, it's quite possible that the hotel will not be fully booked and that you will not get stuck with the worst room in the place. There would be no benefit to the hotel to put you in a crappy room if there are still nice rooms available. If I were you, I would figure out where the nicer rooms are and request one or ask very nicely for a remodeled room when I check in. I'd heard so many negative things about the Copthorne Tara and our stay there was very nice. I hope that you are worrying for nothing

Anon, I have to admit, I am not as savy as a lot of the biddingfortravel devotees. I did not do a thorough cross check. Ater being rejected after my first bid, I quickly added Bloomsbury(which I loved BTW), which I see I should not have, maybe Westminster instead. In fact, I should have asked for a "bidding strategy" from the moderator. But that is 20/20 hindsight. Kirsti, I do hope, I am worrying for nothing too! I did join the Meridien's "frequent guests" program, hoping that it will give me some leverage with the front desk. I guess(no, I know) I am a worry wort. I just love London so much, I always want my stay to be perfect Thanks everyone for letting me rant, I just felt so terribly frustrated. As I said in my heading, if using priceline be VERY careful. Judy

Judyrem - I too got the Le Meridien Russell Square on Priceline for $100. I think you may be getting upset unnecessarily. While some of the reviews on Trip Advisor are bad, some are not:

London: Le Meridien Russell: "Super hotel!"
Date: December 19, 2002
Reviewer: A TripAdvisor User, New York, NY
Compare prices with:
I was somewhat apprehensive about staying here after reading some of the reviews on this website. We stayed in one of the "unrenovated rooms" on the fifth floor and had a beautiful room with an extraordinary bathroom!! Hotel staff was very helpful and the concierge was particularly helpful, plugging us in to some nice restaurants and economic ways of getting around London. The restaurant was only so-so but there are so many good restaurants now in London, it didn't matter. We're already saving up to go back as soon as we can. LOVED this hotel!

I have had very good luck with Priceline and will continue to use it.

Definitely post after your trip to let me know how the hotel was. Good Luck! When do you leave?

Barbara, thanks for lifting my sprirts...hopefully, it will be much ado about nothing. I will post when we get back. We go Feb 25 -March 3.

Judyrem, I misread your OP and thought you had already completed your stay, but other posts have clarified your itinerary. I would've been less harsh if I'd realized I was building up your worries rather than your regrets, sorry.

As an avid user of Priceline and Hotwire for some years now, I would offer the following:

I've been much more pleased with the Hotwire hotels, but have gotten much better rates with Priceline.

Though Hotwire is not available for London hotels, I'm responding here because I've stayed in the same properties booked via each in USA cities.

In my personal experience, I would guess that a Priceline booking generally gets you a "Priceline" room in a "Priceline" hotel , whereas a Hotwire booking gets you more normal room at the Hotwire rate.

For example, we've often stayed at the Hilton or Sheraton NYC with Hotwire at $125 or thereabouts (compared to the $55-75,85/night rates reported on BFT). We've always been assigned a perfectly nice room. Folks on BFT swear there are "Priceline" rooms which are positively dismal.

We've used both several times a year for many years for Baltimore. With each, we've always gotten either the Hyatt or Renaissance. With Hotwire, the assigned room has always been just fine. Spacious, nice, views. With Priceline, we've been assigned tiny, sometimes shabby, rooms at the farthest end of the hall with no views, though with the option to "upgrade" for another $30/night or so.

In Montreal, we scored the 4* Sofitel (brand new hotel, fabulous corner room), whereas with Priceline we got the Hilton Bonaventure alleged 4* (a shabby room miles from the elevator) at a far lesser bid, but we left a day early because the bed was so terribly uncomfortable, and the hotel was altogether otherwise totally unappealing.

Over the years, in my observation, Priceline is quite tricky. They rate certain hotels one or two full star less than other booking websites for each of their prescribed "areas". Sure enough, folks on BFT get those places once in a while, and are thrilled. Others, if you read all the hotel reviews, receive rooms at far lesser venues in a far off corner of the "area" and are quite disappointed with the hotel location and the quality of the hotel and their room.

For example, Priceline Boston stretches the "Copley Square/Back Bay" area so as to just cover the Doubletree Downtown (which Priceline rates a 3*, to me more like 2*,, maybe 2-1/2*), which is actually in the Theater District (something you'd never, ever guess, if you were not familiar with Boston and all the hotels). Meanwhile, the highly desirable Hilton Copley Place is designated a 3* hotel (4* or more at all other booking websites). Again, lots of folks report winning bids at ridiculously low rates for a night or two on BFT at the Hilton, while others are dismally disappointed with their rooms/stay at the Doubletree or "tired" Park Plaza, etc.

We're headed for London next year and wondering about using Priceline for those $75-85/night rates (plus taxes and not including breakfast).

Same thing - many hotels Priceline rates a full star more or less than all other booking resources. And, if you peruse BFT, some folks are thrilled with their results, others are distressed and dismally disappointed.

However, I would point out that no matter what hotel I've ever "won" with Priceline, it's been at a rate way substantially lower than I'd have been able to book otherwise, and also signifcantly lower than I'd have been able to book any other hotel as well for the general rating/area in that particular destination.

On the other hand, once I used Priceline for Boston and wound up at the Royal Sonesta Cambridge for a ridicously low rate. I was thrilled. When we arrived, the entire lobby was undergoing "renovation", check in was at tables in a hallway. None of the restaurants or cocktail lounges were open. Most rooms have a spectacular view of the Boston skyline. Ours overlooked the parking lot and an ugly construction sight. The bed was SO uncomfortable, we left after one night of our two night stay. Curiously, they had a card on the bed as to where we could purchase their "comfy" beds. No such bed was in OUR room.

All in all, if you use Priceline, you may get really lucky and you may not. In my estimation, you can't really whine too much, as you'll still have paid far less for your accomadations as you would have by booking through alternate resources (and way less than other unsuspecting patrons). AND, it would have cost you way, way more to have acquired similar accomodations at alternate places.

It is "a deal". In London, you can hardly expect much for $100 US dollars, anyway.

Again, I'm guessing, and stil wondering whether to use Priceline or not for our May trip, whether it's worth the risk for the WAY lower rate to take the chance with a Priceline hotel/room.

Thank you ever so much for posting.