I think a lot of people are missing the point here by saying "if they want my business or if they participate in the program then they should treat me equally". That sounds logical except for one thing. Let's say the hotel has two rooms that are really bad. The hotel is completely sold out. Two people got their rooms through Priceline or Hotwire and the hotel is getting $50 from them. The rest of the people have paid between $150 and $300. Now, think for a minute. Someone's going to get those two lousy rooms. Who do you think it's more likely to be??? And do you really think they are likely to upgrade those people so they can bump someone who paid $300 into one of the horrible rooms? Is anyone really naive enough to believe that?

By the way, that one experience I had was at the Times Square Hilton and it was completely sold out. They made it clear that I couldn't get a different room.

Well of couse, I don't expect to get special treatment, but I do expect fair treatment. If a hotel is sold out I would expect to get one of the less desirable rooms. One of the times we were upgraded was when the hotel was sold out in DC. We arrived at 130 am and were given 2 concierge floor rooms. This was the Marriott. On the same note, there have been times I have paid rack rate for a room (sold out) and have been given the worst accomodations in the house. I always dress well, am super friendly, and tip at the front desk. I don't know if that makes any difference whatsoever but at least it makes me feel better about being a PL guest.

Thank you everyone for your input. I wanted to know others' experiences and see if this is the norm for Hotwire. I actually only paid about $30 less than their web price. I figured that Hotwire helps them fill rooms. I have another Chicago stay booked next month. We'll see....

I have used both Priceline and Hotwire extensively and have been very pleased in every way. We've stayed at several Hiltons, always in a very nice room (with Hilton Honors ammenities). Well, except for one experience at a Sheraton (and it was the hotel staff, not the Hotwire booking).

I have always paid significantly less with Hotwire than hotel rates. We are staying at the Sheraton New York with Hotwire at the end of this month for $112/night (though we booked this quite a while ago) after exhaustive bidding with Priceline.

In the overall, I've gotten better rates with Priceline, but have been more pleased with the Hotwire hotels. Nearly always we are asked if we'd like to upgrade for a few dollars more, which has always been well worth it when we've accepted.

In my observation, room assignments depend mostly upon what's available for the length of your stay at the particular moment you happen to be checking in.

I would agree that you can get better rates on Priceline but it seems you get better rooms with Hotwire, in my experience.

We had a one night stay on our way to the Keys at the Wyndham Grand Bay in Coconut Grove-got a great deal on PL-
but it's was a worn-at-the-edges 4* in my opinion and I would never have paid
regular rates. Other than that, we were treated like everyone else-the entire staff had their palms out at every
corner...

R5

I booked a room through Hotwire for San Diego last summer. When we got to the hotel I asked the front desk clerk if we could have a room with two doubles as we were a party of three. He was about to honor our request when the other desk clerk told him that they were not allowed to change "those" types of bookings. The room did have a sofa sleeper so we were okay, otherwise it would have been a pain to sleep three on a queen bed. I would only book through those discount places if I was traveling alone or with one another person.