We are still trying to decide on a Paris hotel for the end of our Europe trip this summer. We just got a pretty good "run of the house rate" through Utell/Hotelbook.com for the Madison. It was explained to us that we would get the best room available at the time of check -in. Has anyone booked a room using this type of rate at a hotel?

Are you sure that's what run of the house means? I thought it was more that the hotel could decide to give you whatever room it wanted when you arrived, not necessarily the best room.

I think WillTravel has it the way I would see it and really, a LOT of hotel rooms are booked that way. The Madison is a nice hotel and it is in a fabulous location.

I agree with WillTravel, in my experience and understanding, that term always means the hotel can give you whatever they want when you check in -- it is not a reservation for a particular category of room. Maybe it's the best room available within the rooms they give to Utell clients at that special rate or something. So, if the special rate is for a standard double, you can hope they give you the best available std. double when you check in. I think there may be some misunderstanding at the Utell customer service center, or they are not explaining it very well. I would not expect it to mean you will get a superior deluxe room, even if one is free.

I have used Utell, but not at Madison --I didn't get a deluxe room but don't think they used that term, although I don't recall exactly. I think that term just gives the hotel the most flexibility as they aren't obligated to give you any particular kind of room.

Marianna- when you reserve with Utell, REQUEST a particular type room- ie. Non-smoking King or 2 twins....

ROH of means exactly that whatever is available upon checkin, you get..But we have done this with UTELL and other places in the past..and they try to HONOR what you request on reservation, if at all possible...

I've stayed in a suite under ROH rate, but I've also been given the most undesirable room in the hotel.
This rate is great for the hotel, because it means just that, they could put you in any room at their discretion. They have a reservation, yet they are not commited to any specific room. And you get a discount rate for taking a chance you may not get the nice view/location room.

But at the end of the day, the hotel will place you in whatever is available, even a suite, if that's the only one left. Hotel yield mngt. plays with rooms and assignments, trying to get the most but also satifiy the low paying customer just to fill up rooms nightly. If they experienced a number of low paying walk-ins before you got there, you may get lucky. Hotels will try to assign the least attractive rooms first, unless they have no choice because the guest has a reservation for a certain room group, but even then they assign the least attractive rooms within the group first. Then of course, they have to look at how many elites of the hotel program are coming in that day, if any regular, good paying guests are coming, etc..etc...With the OH rate, you may be moved 10 times before you even walk through the door. If you happen to walk in at a lucky time, you may get a great room, or you may get the a/c view room by the elevator shaft. It's a gamble, which I'm willing to take provided it's a good quality hotel to begin with, not some run down family run operation.

I compare it somewhat to Priceline. If you go with certain location and star rating, you won't be disappointed with what you get, but you may not get the hotel you really wanted either.

Hi Marianna,

We had a recent experience of this nature. We booked a hotel in Venice at a very good rate. Upon arrival, we were assigned a fourth floor room that was quite pleasant.

However, the elevator only went to the third floor.

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. The person we spoke to at hotelbook.com said that he could put requests on the reservation as Andy has said and that his experience has been that the hotel would try to honor them if they can. He indicated that since it was the Madison, all (almost all?) the rooms are very nice and that we would not be disappointed. We know that most hotels, even the best ones, will have an undesirable room or two.

Anyway, we haven't booked it yet, but it may be safer to pay a little more to get a firm reservation for a room we would be pleased with rather than get a room assignment which everyone else has refused. My husband also thought that we could book at the lower rate and upgrade, depending on availabity, when we get there if we disliked the room. Another suggestion from the agent was to call the hotel a few days before arrival and ask them what kind of a room they are assigning us and make a change then, if necessary. We could either do it through the hotel or call hotelbook.com back and have them make the change for us. Cancellation policy is 48 hours before arrival.