Priceline and Hotwire Forum: England Bristol Thistle - Priceline and Hotwire Forum

I stayed here one night last week on a Priceline rate of $98, there had never been a winning bid at 3* reported and I had hoped to score an upgrade to 4*. The Thistle is located right in the heart of the old city, all of the major attractions are within easy walking distance and there are some great restaurants close by.

The lobby was welcoming and we were dealt with pleasantly and efficiently; no mention of Priceline was made, just “your room is fully prepaid”. The hotel has a multi-story car park next door, which it shares with the adjacent fitness club. Parking was £6.50 ($12) per day; not unreasonable in the centre of a medieval city where parking is at a premium. Hotel guests get complementary use of the gym and pool, which looked particularly opulent. There is a restaurant and cocktail bar in the hotel but we didn’t use them.

We were allocated the non-smoking double we requested. Lifts and corridors were attractively decorated and looked cared for and recently remodelled. Our room was at the back of the building, so it was very quiet. The window looked out over the roof of an ancient church. The room was asymmetric and the attractively finished furniture looked as if it had been custom made for the room, which was TINY. The overall effect was like the cabin of a yacht rather than a hotel room; in fact Mrs P and I quickly fell into ship’s routine, one sits while the other moves around, never two people trying to move at once. That said we actually liked it, very cosy, with everything we needed, and that feeling of belonging. I strongly suspect that this room is normally given to single travellers and to that extent it was a “Priceline” room. There were coffee making facilities and a small fridge built into the custom desk. The bathroom was average size, immaculately clean, attractively decorated, and again gave the impression of having been recently remodelled.

Prominently displayed at reception was a notice, “TREAT YOURSELF enjoy your stay even more with a fabulous UPGRADE! Please ask at reception for your upgrade options”. As we were leaving I peeked into several rooms that were open for housekeeping, there was a wide variation in size and layout. Overall it is difficult to rate this hotel, the position is excellent, and the facilities and public rooms make it more a decent 4* than a 3*, but the rooms do vary a lot. I would recommend that the pros easily outweigh the cons and if space matters a lot to you consider paying for an upgrade; you will still have saved a useful sum compared to paying the rack rate. We would have no hesitation in staying there again.

Pirate