Is this too risky a proposition? I know there are many "boutique" hotels in SF and my 14 yo probably wouldn't be too happy if she had to sleep on the floor.

If I absolutely needed bedding for 3 (as you do), I would use Hotwire rather than Priceline (regardless of location).

Adding to what dmlove said, sometimes (via betterbidding.com) you can figure out which hotel you're getting on Hotwire, and then see if they offer a couch or rollaway option in all rooms.

With Hotwire I think there is still a chance you will be offered the worst room, and may not have a choice as to king bed or two doubles/queens. However if you can figure out which hotel it is, you can also check their own website and see if there are lots of rooms available. Sometimes you'll also see that it's only a small savings by the time you add in the Hotwire service fee. In that case you may as well book the room directly at the room type you want.

Also you can follow up with a phone call to the hotel if you use Hotwire or Priceline and see if they will honor any special room requests in advance.

Priceline will not book for 3 in a room:

"Hotel Accommodations and Special Requests: All Name Your Own Price® hotel reservations are guaranteed for double occupancy (one double bed or two twin beds). Priceline.com requests that our hotel suppliers provide non-smoking rooms. However room assignments are based on hotel availability and are at the hotel's discretion. We cannot guarantee a non-smoking room, nor can we guarantee you will have one bed or two. If you have special requests (such as smoking room, pet accommodations, type of bedding, connecting rooms, view, floor location, etc.), you must call the hotel and verify that special requests can be met after your reservation is confirmed. Priceline.com makes no guarantee that special requests will be met. A hotel reservation cannot be refunded, canceled or modified on the basis that a special request was not (or could not be) met by the hotel. "

Deb

With Hotwire I think there is still a chance you will be offered the worst room, and may not have a choice as to king bed or two doubles/queens

With Hotwire, you can input the size of your party - 3 adults, or 2 adults and one child (depending on whether "child" means under 12 or under 18, I don't remember). Either way, they do then only offer hotels that can accommodate 3 in a room.

I totally disagree that you'll be assigned the worst room with Hotwire. Not only has this never, ever, happened to us, we've been given great rooms!

We just returned from a second Hotwire stay at the Hyatt Regency Penns Landing. Both times we were given a king corner room on a high floor with amazing rooms - first time city view, second time river view.

On a Hotwire stay at Beekman Tower in NYC, we were assigned a corner room with a balcony on the highest floor with balconies (so no balcony above) with panoramic views of the city and river).

We also just spend three nights at the Omni Shoreham in Washington, DC on a Hotwire booking, and the room/view were just fine.

I've used Priceline and Hotwire for many years. Everything turns on the hotel. We prefer a King room on a high floor with a view. I always call and request. Some hotels are more accomodating than others. Omni, IC, Hyatt, Sheraton, to my recollection, are always accomodating and no "if possible". Hyatt even confirms with an e-mail with an offer of concierge services ahead of time. In my recent experience, only the Doubletree in NYC replied with "we cannot touch that reservation", but an e-mail to the general manager proved otherwise.

One time, I did observe a family of five trying to check into the Hilton in NYC on a Priceline reservation being told they just could not put five people in one room and they would have to pay for an adjoining room at the going rate with a significant discount. These people were trying to stand their ground as we went off to our room.

But, there have been plenty of reports of people getting rooms with two queens or a rollaway with Priceline reservations.

It would be better to book a room for three on Hotwire. Using Priceline is risky - but, still, it really depends on the hotel you get and how full they are for your dates. And, whether local zoning laws prohibit more than two people the room they have available for you.

FWIW, I meant to put the post about bad rooms in quotes -- I was copying someone else's post and only intended to respond about the 3 people in a room issue.

We have had good luck and not-so-good luck with room choice. When we showed up with our Hotwire reservation at the Hilton Times Square, they asked us what floor and which view we preferred (and we took the view of the Empire State Building) -- they couldn't have been nicer. On the other hand, at the Hilton on Hilton Head, the room we got was huge but it also overlooked the parking lot and was literally over the place where they moved dumpsters in and out all day -- no amount of pleading got our room changed there.

There are some hotels that when they see you have prepaid with Hotwire or Priceline, automatically offer you the worst room. If you ask for another, they may then move you if there is room.

It's just the way it is with some operators. Not universal, certainly.

I've had it happen and reading up on betterbidding, I've seen that others getting the same hotel via Hotwire, always get shown to the same particular awful room, above the restaurant and noisy. If I hadn't been alerted to that by I wouldn't have thought to ask for something else.

I didn't know that about Hotwire allowing you to specify a 3-person room. I'll have to pass it along to some friends who were afraid to use it recently because of the need for accommodating 3 adults.

Don't do PL for 3.

Adding more, I've found Hyatt the best about upgrading a Priceline room on request, pending availability. However if I don't call ahead or ask for something else, they'll still try to give the "parking lot view" and see if anyone takes it.

It's the smaller operations not part of a chain that seem to be the worst. I guess they're always hoping for someone coming in off the street, and don't have much interest in building brand loyalty. Some will upgrade but only with a fee.

Again, not always, but it happens.

Well, some years ago, I booked the Marriott Marquis over New Year's Eve with Priceline for a ridiculously low rate. We were given a corner room overlooking Times Square, the largest hotel room I've ever seen.

With Hotwire, you can search for a room for more than 2 adults, and specific a number of children.