[elisamaza]

Hi everyone!

This is my first post. I never used an opaque site to book hotels before, so I'm not sure how much flexibility you have after winning. I'm planning on a vacation to Hawaii with my husband and would like to save some $$$ on hotels. But I'm worried that after winning a bid on PRICELINE or HOTWIRE, I'll end up with a room with 2 twin beds. Can you request for a queen sized bed? Would you do this with the hotel directly before I arrive? or at check-in?

Thanks everyone! I'll make sure I use the support links when I make an offer.

[Romelle]

Priceline only guarantees a room that will hold two people. After winning, you can contact the hotel directly and make a request for bed types. While they try to accommodate you, there are no guarantees. Your luck is better at the higher star levels.

One 3* place always gives a queen bed. If you want two twins, you have to pay another $10 a might.

I believe Hotwire would operate the same. No guarantees, but you can ask and they will try.

Romelle

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Romelle is correct in that you can call the hotel after your booking, but it is just a request and the hotel may not be able, or willing, to honor your request... it's the trade-off you make for a deeply discounted rate.

PRICELINE only guarnatees double occupancy... HOTWIRE guarantees 'sleeping accomodations' for everyon you include in your search. After that it's at the discretion of the hotel. For a further discusion see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

If you'd still like to move forward let us know the details of your stay: desired star rating, city, zone, budget, date(s) etc and we'll advise accordingly.

Thanks for using our PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links

[Edward2]

helloo,
i think you don need to get help from here...you simply go to hotel administration and request for the bed and i am definite they will arrange it for you because they don't wana to loose the customer ...they know once they do they will make you their client...so go and get

[powerplantop]

Edward2, on Jun 24 2009, 02:22 AM, said:

helloo,
i think you don need to get help from here...you simply go to hotel administration and request for the bed and i am definite they will arrange it for you because they don't wana to loose the customer ...they know once they do they will make you their client...so go and get

First welcome to Better bidding.

But I am going to be blunt you are giving wrong information. As has been reported on here some hotels charge more for some rooms or they will already be asigned to full rate customers before you check in. Example the Holiday INN website lets you chose what kind of bed you want. If all of the Queen beds are asigned to people who booked from the web site then there will be none left for PL customers.

That said most hotels will try to make you a happy customer.

[mbstone]

Except for Holiday Inn, which apparently has a chainwide policy of giving PL guests the worst possible rooms, nearly all hotels will make every effort to accommodate your bed type preference. The best way is to send a fax to the property asking them nicely if they would please give you a king bed/connecting rooms/etc.

[powerplantop]

mbstone, on Dec 1 2009, 02:24 PM, said:

Except for Holiday Inn, which apparently has a chainwide policy of giving PL guests the worst possible rooms,

Wrong! Holiday Inn does not have that as a policy. As a PRICELINE customer I have been upgraded to suites at Holiday Inn.

[goldendeal]

Maybe mbstone has had some bad experiences with Holiday inn, or maybe you were just lucky, whatever the case that was mbstone's opinion of the hotel chain. I personally can’t stand Holiday Inn for a whole other set of reasons, and I cringe if I win one. But to each his or her own…

[powerplantop]

goldendeal, on Dec 2 2009, 11:16 PM, said:

Maybe mbstone has had some bad experiences with Holiday inn, or maybe you were just lucky, whatever the case that was mbstone's opinion of the hotel chain. I personally can't stand Holiday Inn for a whole other set of reasons, and I cringe if I win one. But to each his or her own...

If mbsone had stated they had bad experinces at HI I would have agreed but he stated it as fact when its not true.

As anytime when on a PL stay I did consider myself lucky to be upgraded. It was a long stay and they hotel was at low ocupancy. Due to the great treatment I have been back for several stays book the normal way.

The HI chain is not for everyone for one thing they do not offer any kind of free breakfast. Over the years a high percent of the HI hotels have not been up to standards (nice way of saying they were dumps). The brand is undergoing a major upgrade and expansion. If the older hotels don't upgrade they are being stripped of the brand.

The new hotels that are being built are great here is an example of one I have stayed at three times. It is a great hotel but expensive. If you were to snag this one on PL you would be happy, but still no free breakfast.
http://travela.priceline.com/travelguides/...iewID=238939070

[goldendeal]

mbsone wrote
"Except for Holiday Inn, which apparently has a chain wide policy of giving PL guests the worst possible rooms"
Keyword here is "apparently" which shows mbsone may have had a bad experience with HI or several bad experiences.
I don’t believe mbsone was trying to state a fact when they said "apparently HI has a chain wide policy" seems to me they were trying to make the point, that they don’t know for sure but seems like HI might have a chain wide policy from their previous experience with HI .

[jstjohnz]

I just checked in to a Marriott Courtyard (Pensacola, FL) that I booked on PRICELINE. When I asked the desk clerk if he had a king room available, he said "they (meaning Priceline) say we cannot change a Priceline reservation once it comes in. If you want a special room type you have to request it through Priceline".

I have heard this same spiel from one other property, don't remember if it was another Marriott or not. On the other hand I have stayed at other Marriott properties through Priceline and have never had this problem.

When I tried to explain that there is no way to request a specific room type through Priceline, and that I had stayed at other Marriott properties through Priceline without this isue, I just got a shrug. What's the deal with these people, are they that clueless, or are they just trying not to be accomodating?

[yellowdog]

jstjohnz

Can you please post your PRICELINE win for the Marriott stay. It's good for historic reasons.

Quote

When I asked the desk clerk if he had a king room available, he said "they (meaning PRICELINE) say we cannot change a Priceline reservation once it comes in. If you want a special room type you have to request it through PRICELINE".

Hilarious comment It's comparable with the clerk in Fort Lauderdale that said "We can check in guests before 6 PM, it's the state law"

Yellowdog.

[thereuare]

jstjohnz, on Jan 21 2010, 02:35 AM, said:

I just checked in to a Marriott Courtyard (Pensacola, FL) that I booked on PRICELINE....

jstjohnz, it would be appreciated if you shared your results with the board (and please read your messages).

Thanks.

[mbstone]

goldendeal, on Dec 3 2009, 12:16 AM, said:

Maybe mbstone has had some bad experiences with Holiday inn, or maybe you were just lucky, whatever the case that was mbstone's opinion of the hotel chain. I personally can’t stand Holiday Inn for a whole other set of reasons, and I cringe if I win one. But to each his or her own…

I didn't realize my post/rant would generate all this discussion. Let me be more specific. In the last 5 years or so I have stayed at numerous HIs on PL stays, all of the bids and usually hotel reviews were posted here.

I would say I have received the identical PL Treatment Mantra -- Priceline booked you into our stinkiest smoking room and we're powerless to change it -- over 10 times, in LAS, LAX, IAD and Buena Park, CA and maybe others.

First there is my 7/22/07 post regarding PL Treatment at the HI/IAD:

"As a PL guest I was told only smoking rooms are available (this seems to be a nationwide policy of HI) but I kept asking nicely and was accommodated in a NS room."

I have read of others who also got the PL Treatment at HI/IAD.

In addition, here are two complete, similar HI hotel reviews (which are my own copyrighted material and which are still posted to a certain other web site without my permission):

(Buena Park HI 2/14/04) We were given PL treatment at check in, after a lengthy discussion we were given a king bed after repeatedly being told none were available. We finally received the "last" king bed which was "smoking." "Smoking" was an understatement, the room really stank, and the heater didn't work. Since we were in Calif., we didn't immediately complain about the heater (we had to call somebody to fix it later in our stay). The lobby and public areas were beautiful, the pool and jacuzzi were nicely heated and open 6A-11P. We received free newspapers, same as other guests. No high speed Internet access, just "data port" with 50c local calls to Buena Park numbers only. There was also said to be dial-up access in the lobby business center, we did not bother with it. Free parking, long hike from lot to elevator. Room service. Near numerous restaurants (e.g. Claim Jumper, Black Angus) and theme parks (Knott's Berry Farm, Soak City USA).

(LAX HI 12/6/05) I have stayed here several times recently. I have misplaced my Priority Club Gold card, which is a mistake. They are quite unimpressed with just the card number. You must not accept a smoking room at this property (unless, of course, you smoke). One room stank so badly I could sleep only by tossing the stinky bedspread into the hallway (where it disappeared). The rooms have sliding glass doors that open, which helps somewhat (depending on whether or not your room faces noisy Century Blvd.). The nonsmoking rooms are on the order of your typical older Holiday Inn (many of which are rated as 2* by PL), in other words you get 3* amenities including room service, but the hotel itself is showing its age. Guest laundry, free wi-fi. Small pool accessible by walking out the front door of the hotel and around, or else taking the stairs up from the basement. Parking, $11 plus 10% tax, no on-street parking. The parking spaces are tiny, and the magnetic card mechanism is perpetually messed up -- allow extra time to get out.
Restaurant, bar. Ample TV channels & PPV. Free airport shuttle. Adjacent to McDonald's (24H), AM/PM convenience store, 2 restaurants.

I am sure if you were to further drill down into reviews that other PL bidders have posted here, and elsewhere, you would find more evidence of a pattern.

[Colobill1]

"As a PL guest I was told only smoking rooms are available (this seems to be a nationwide policy of HI) but I kept asking nicely and was accommodated in a NS room."


As was included in a discussion post on a popular frequent flyer website, below is partial guidance that the folks who run Priceline give to hotels which want to sign up to sell rooms through Priceline:

"Priceline guests are customers that might not have booked your hotel through normal channels (so please welcome them as a first time guest)"

and

"Accommodate Special Requests: You will try to accommodate, to the best of your ability, any special needs requested directly by a Priceline guest (i.e., bedding, smoking, etc.). "

and

"Extend Valued Guest Treatment: You will place the Priceline guest in a room comparable to (or better than) your "best available" room assignment. You will welcome the Priceline guest just as you would welcome any other valued guest. (Remember this is your opportunity to "brand" that guest for a return visit.)"

I found this info to be very interesting, and in direct rebuttal to some of the supposed "policies" that some hotels try to force on their Priceline customers.

[powerplantop]

This is the info PL provides to hotels.

www.utellportal.com/Marketing/priceline

[slyfield]

I stayed at a courtyard in Lloyd District in Portland via Priceline, and it was actually two one night stays (the original win + an extended stay). Apparently, when you bid, the hotel assigns a specific room type up on Priceline. So in my case, for my original stay, I had 1 King, but for my 2nd night, the system had me in 2 Queens, which would have meant I would have had to move. Of course, the clerk changed it so I could keep my King and not move rooms, but in many cases they are stuck with what they have. If they had been sold out of Kings I would have had to leave my stuff at the desk until i could check in later.

Also, if you book at the last minute, you may be given a room choice. I stayed at the Marriott in Portland (not a courtyard) and I got a choice between 2Q and 1K. I left it up to the hotel to decide, as I was traveling alone. Case in point, each hotel operates differently (even different brands in the same chain).