skhuong

We are a family of 5 (all kids under 6) and usually we are ok with booking through Priceline. We try to call in advance to make sure we get 2 beds, but it happened once (at Orlando Airport) were there was only 1 king size bed available (we checked in at midnight). If you book through HOTWIRE, you can guarantee 2 beds (put 2 adults/2 kids) but it is usually a bit more expensive. Kids in NA are not considered as additional person, so you should be fine (except maybe NY and Boston were rooms are smalls and rarely have 2 beds).

I have been bidding for a while for May 20-23. I had to split my stay, I got 4* - 150$ for Grand Hyatt for the 20. 21-22 are almost impossible to get. I bid up to 285$ and nothing came up for a 4* I book at the Beekman for 206$ as a backup in the meantime

One thing I noticed is sometimes Hotwire lists the trip advisor viewer rating and the number of reviews. I think it is much more reliable to identify the source than the retail price. I was sure I was going to get the Marina and suite (Oceanside, CA), because the the displayed retail was 330$ for 4 and 250$ for 2 (the same price I found on Expedia). Turned out it was completely different hotel. Again: DO NOT RELY ON RETAIL PRICE. However I got 25$ from Hotwire.com after complaining, but they would never refund me.

Hotwire retail price has nothing to do with the retail price of the hotel. (it would be too easy to guess the hotel). I found out the hard way the first time I booked on Hotwire. The site was offering me a 3* hotel in Oceanside, CA for 106$ with a retail of 330$ (68% saving). Turned out to be a 3* highwayfront hotel (retail 139$) instead of the 3* Oceanfront hotel (330 retail). [email protected] said they just put in any 3* retail price in the area as an example (not the actual, not the average, just any 3*) It is actually true because I booked 2 other reservations at the Sheraton Burlington, VT (56$, listed retail 104$, real retail 159$) and Sheraton Mission Valley SD (69$, listed retail 119$, real retail 185$). So I guess it evens out. Just make sure you select the correct number of stars and don't even look at listed retail. One more thing, Hotwire tends to rate their hotel higher than other sites so be careful.