maynard7 Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 2.5*8/14 - 8/15/2008 One night $39 + taxes & feesCentral Palm SpringsAmenities listed - Fitness Center, Pool, Restaurant, Laundry, High Speed InternetQuality Inn (I didn't see this one on the BetterBidding web site... maybe it's new)1269 E. Palm Canyon Dr., Palm Springs, CA, US, 922648/14/08 price was $39 on HOTWIRE. Looked at Hotels dot com, and the Quality Inn Web Site, and the regular price was $40.50, so I saved a big $1.50 booking through Hotwire. The price is $58 on Hotwire for tomorrow night (Friday), and I may book it if everything turns out OK here (and stay an extra day). I am in the hotel right now, and it seems OK. There *is* a fitness room, but it's tiny and only has a universal station and one treadmill. The pool is nice. 2 restaurants adjacent (Carrows and Ichi Ban Japanese). High-speed internet is free, as are local calls and parking. No resort fee. Front desk said the reservation came through as a non-smoking queen, but a few minutes of talking to him, he gave me a room with two beds near the pool. He tried to put me in rooms that were near the lobby, or over the fitness center. Since Courtyard by Marriott hotels are usually 2.5*, I think this place is closer to 2*, since it has exterior hallways, and it's an older place as well. Everything works in the room, but it's nothing fancy. Will leave review later on after checkout.Used the HOTWIRE link to make reservation. Link to comment
zbenye Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Since Courtyard by Marriott hotels are usually 2.5Courtyard are usually 2.5* on PRICELINE, but not on HOTWIRE. A Hotwire 2.5* is usually a 2* on Priceline. Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 15, 2008 Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 Thank you for sharing your results with the board.Sorry to hear the savings wern't much (or at all) for this purchase.2 restaurants adjacent (Carrows and Ichi Ban Japanese).Is there a restaurant in the hotel itself? (or connected somehow so you can get to it without going outside)Thanks for using our HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase and for sharing your win with the board... helping us add this property to the Hotwire Hotel List.Glad to hear your stay is going smoothly and the hotel seems accomodating to your requests. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
maynard7 Posted August 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2008 There are 2 restaurants across the parking lot, but they are not connected to the hotel in any way. You must go outside to get to them. I will write a full review when I get home, but I do not recommend that people take this hotel on HOTWIRE. I just felt uneasy there. Also when I checked out this morning they tried to charge me $4.60 each for 3 local calls, even though they say that local calls are free. The places I called were about 2 miles from the hotel. One of the 3 numbers didn't even answer. After talking with the desk clerk for about 10 minutes, she agreed to remove the charges. Link to comment
thereuare Posted August 16, 2008 Report Share Posted August 16, 2008 You may want to contact HOTWIRE regarding this property... the restaurant icon states 'restaurant on the premises' and i'm not sure if 'in the parking lot' qualifies.If you pursue it let us know how it goes and HOTWIRE's response. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
maynard7 Posted August 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2008 Here's a cut and paste of the e-mail I just sent them:The property description said "Property offers at least one restaurant on the premises." There was no restaurant on the premises. There is a Carrows restaurant across the parking lot, but isn't connected with the hotel in any way. The Ichi Ban restaurant is further down the street at the corner. Both restaurants just happen to be nearby, but aren't affiliated with the hotel in any way.The hotel is rated as 2.5 stars, and deserves no more than 2 stars. It's just a baby-step up from a Motel 6. In fact, I just read your descriptions of your hotel ratings, and this property sounds just like a 2-star, not a 2.5-star. Despite the fact that right now is low seaon in Palm Springs (and the hotel was practically empty), they tried to stick me in rooms that were highly undesireable. These were rooms right next to the lobby, or right next to the house laundry facility, or right above the workout room, or with the window facing a wall 4 feet away, so no view whatsoever. I can understand that if the hotel were full of guests who paid a lot more, I would get one of those rooms, but the hotel only had about 20 cars in the parking lot at midnight.They list local calls as being free, but they tried to charge me $4.60 each, for 3 calls I made (to restaurants within 2 miles of the hotel). One of the calls was never even answered. I had to haggle with the front desk clerk for a good 15 minutes at checkout to get them to remove the charges.And maybe most importantly, I paid $39 + taxes and fees for this room. Immediately after learning the name of the hotel, I looked at Hotels.com and the Quality Inn web site, and learned that I could have gotten the same room for $40.50 plus tax. That's only a $1.50 difference. Considering that you also added fees in addition to the room tax, I ended up paying more for the room than I would have paid going direct to the hotel, or booking through Hotels.com. I would like to believe your advertising that talks about big savings, but it was not accurate in this case.I've booked other rooms on Hotwire before and was generally satisfied, but this time I was not. If I have one more experience like this, I won't consider using your service again. Link to comment
maynard7 Posted August 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 Hotwire responded to my complaint. Interesting that they only responded to the part about the restaurant not being on the premises (this was the least of my problems with the property). They may remove the "restaurant" amenity from the property description, so keep that in mind when booking a 2.5* in Palm Springs. Here's the response from them:Dear Maynard,This email is regarding your hotel booking in Palm Springs, Hotwire Itinerary Number 57850xxxxxx. Thank you for contacting us to express your concerns about your stay at the Quality Inn in Palm Springs. I regret the restaurant amenity provided by the hotel was not to your satisfaction. Customer feedback helps us ensure our properties continue to meet the high quality standards we expect from all of our partners. Please accept our apologies along with 25 HotDollars, which we added to your Hotwire account. You can use HotDollars to book any flight, discounted car rental, hotel reservation or land package on the Hotwire Web site! Each one is equivalent to one U.S. dollar in value and is available for one year from the date of issuance;Your HotDollars will expire August 26, 2009. Link to comment
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