I was wondering if the hotel star levels that are listed if you use the 'choose your hotel' option on priceline are the same as the star levels they assign for hotels you might get through the opaque Priceline service. The reason I am asking is that when I was searching recently for hotels in Virginia near Kings Dominion (Doswell, Ashland, etc.), the transparent program lists 2-star hotels that range from $59 up to over $100 per night, but when I have tried bidding on the 'name-your-own-price' for the same area, my bids have been rejected all the way up to $53. 2-stars is the highest level available in the areas I have been searching. I'd be happy if I got a room at the Holiday Inn Express (normally $100+ per night) for around $50, but if I bid that much and ended up at the Howard Johnson($59 on transparent), I'd be rather disappointed. Those 2 hotels both were listed as 2 stars on the transparent program, but the H.I. Express appears to be a much nicer hotel, with an indoor pool, free hot breakfast, etc. Does Priceline use the same ratings criteria for both the opaque and transparent services? Thanks for any feedback.

Not all hotels are that participate in the opaque product also participate in the 'retail' product (and vice versa)

While the star ratings should be the same in each, they don't have to be so, since each operates independently. I do know of once situation where there was a difference in star rating, but this was only for a few days and it took awhile for one product to 'catch up' to the others. Even though the user complained to priceline at the time, pointing out that "even your own company (by pointing to the other product... i forgot whether it was opaque or non-opaque) rates this lower", they refused to do anything about it.

Also see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ for additional info.