fatgirl

I use Priceline and Hotwire all the time when I travel to major cities. While the discounts are great, I am starting to wonder if the hotels/motels have designated rooms for Priceline and or Hotwire customers.

I notice that regardless of my requests, I am usually put in the smallest room, next to the loud ice machine, or next to the elevator. Or in large older downtown hotels, I am put in the room in the corner that use to be the broom closest.

How about you, are you put in the "Priceline room"?

Anonymous

Having recently read LOTS of detailed hotel reports from Priceline users at biddingfortravel, it seems to me that some hotels do indeed save their inferior rooms for Priceline guests, while others don't differentiate at all. Have you ever questioned your room assignment?

HowardR

Since you are paying the lowest price, that policy would seem to make sense!

GucciCoochie

I find when I present my Starwood, HiltonHonors or any other hotel card and ask for an upgrade, I get it. I ask for upgrades before I leave the front desk or checked out the room.

jpg2esq

I have used Hotwire twice in the past few months as follow:

Seattle Downtown Sheraton: Showed my starwood Gold card and paid 30 dollars at check in for a conciege level room. Given the fact that I paid less than 90 for the room initially that went for over $200 it was a deal.

Wyndham Orlando: Stayed there a few nights and was booked in the island resort area, a seperate wing by the pool. Other than a longer walk from the parking lot, the room was just like any other with a 4th floor view of downtown disney. Not back for less than 70 per night. At checkout, rooms were going for 150.00.

djkbooks

I've used Priceline and Hotwire many, many times for Boston, NYC, Baltimore and other cities. I rarely bother to make any special requests ahead of time. We've always been assigned very nice rooms (though I stick to 4* or more hotels). And, we've always been assigned a King room on request at check-in. Our rooms have always had nice views as well - often corner rooms. In NYC, the Marriott Marquis (Priceline) and Millennium Broadway (Hotwire), both did their best to assign a room with they very best view they had available when we checked in. Once in a while, we accept an offer to upgrade for a few dollars more. At Le Parker Meridien in NYC, another $15/night got us a magnificent suite on a near the highest floor with a fantastic view of Midtown. At the Hyatt Harborplace in Baltimore, another $30/night got us a huge room on the next to the top floor with panoramic views of the harbor. Etc. Considering the ridiculously low Hotwire and Priceline rates, paying to upgrade is still a terrific bargain.

Andrew

Hotels have always had "less desirable" rooms and "more desirable" rooms they've assigned based on what you pay. Hotels didn't suddenly create the "lesser" rooms when Priceline and Hotwire came along - they've always been there. In prior years, those "lesser" rooms went to people who got some other discount.

The problem isn't Hotwire or Priceline - it's that the hotels rent out "lesser" rooms in the first place. Some rooms near an ice machine or whatnot should not be rented out if they are too noisy. The problem is with the hotels.

I've had unacceptable rooms after booking with Priceline only a few times, and in all but once case I asked for a different room and got it. In Amsterdam I was worried about the noise at midnight at the Renaissance - party going on outside. They were full and could do nothing about it that night, but when I came back to the same hotel a few nights later (also a Priceline rate), they gave me a fantastic room this time.

My friend used to work at a 4-star botique hotel, and they never singled out Priceline or Hotwire users from anyone else. In fact, I don't think some of the people working at the front desk knew the difference between Hotwire and, say, Travelocity on a reservation.

Andrew

Elizabeth

I've often been offered rooms I didn't like at a hotel regardless of how I booked them. I've always gotten my room changed when I didn't like it, with no trouble.

Do you get a crummy room even when, when you are checking in, you say something like "do you have anything with a nice view?" or something like that?

In my experience requests ahead of time don't mean so much (unless it's quite a fancy place) but people are nice neough to me when I am there in person.

Cassandra

So does this mean you'll travel twice as much staying in designated rooms half the time?

soccr

No, it means it'll be all her kids' fault if she misses the exact time the leaves change in Vermont. Although that won't be a problem in Seattle, where they don't have trees. Which is a good thing because she might lose sleep over it the night before she has to travel. Wonder if it's a bunch-a-gum that makes this girl fat? I know it's the Fodor's censors that make her mad -- wonder why!

ronkala

Mmmmmm, why the broom closet???

Meesthare

Maybe the hotel staff can lock it from the outside.

rick_venter

I think the probelm maybe with the specific hotel and not all hotels booked via priceline.com

Rick
http://www.snappyvacations.com

stevecat

In my experience, the answer is yes. You will find often that the room you receive is a low-floor, near the elevators (can be a bonus in some places), non-renovated floor, odd-sized room shape (check the map on the door to confirm), or some other issue involving inferiority. Now with that in mind, is it still worth saving the money? Many people will nod their heads to this, especially if they really did their priceline homework.

Andrew

Stevecat, the only important thing to me when booking a room via Priceline/Hotwire is: is the room adequate? I will not accept a room that is not clean or too noisy, no matter how I've booked the room. And so far using Priceline, I've been denied a request to change rooms only once, when the hotel was completely full. The room in that case was too near a noisy party (not at the hotel) which turned out not to be a problem anyway.

If I care about getting a view room on the top floor (has happened once or twice with Priceline), I'll book some other way and pay more. But you do not have to expect a "substandard room" when booking with Hotwire or Priceline. Just speak up when you check in if the room is not acceptable, no matter how you booked the room.

Andrew

mommielu

I work in the hotel industry and to my knowledge, hotels do not intentionally designate inferior rooms for internet bookings. However, as someone mentioned, they do tend to carry the lowest rates. When a hotel is running high occupancy, those paying the lowest rates will generally be assigned the least desirable rooms. It does help to belong to a frequent-stay program, and since you seem to travel often, you should consider joining one. Ask the Front Desk staff for an upgrade if it's available. This may sound a little strange, but there is a technique in asking for an upgrade. But basically, just be nice and allow the clerk to first pull up your reservation before asking if upgrades are available. Good luck!