curiousx

$39.95 per day. Full-size car

Hi, just thought I'd report a car rental using Hotwire. The deal is with Hertz and, though not the greatest price I've seen on these boards, it is significantly better than the $1000+ Avis was asking for on its website for the same car, same period. It's a fullsized car with unlimited mileage. And I made the buy through www.savingsbarn.com.

I feel for you - I was staying at Peach and Quiet the week after your stay at SS. I decided to walk up the beach to SS to check it out again - ordered a soft drink at the bar and, when I went to pay, was told to do this at the front desk...there I was hit with a user fee of some 20BDOS fee for access to the grounds (please!) on top of the drink. The 'grounds' in question consisted of the pools and beach I mentioned previously, but they were absolutely teeming with noisy children and there was music blaring everywhere. The stuff were slow, non-responsive, and surly. Later I learned the whole charging thing is new and they resent it too, but that's no excuse. For future reference, do consider P&Q - offseason room rate of $69US and very reasonably priced, excellent, meals plus a 'no children' policy, honour bar and no canned music.

family members used the Dolphin and loved it - their room turned out to be a suite complete with fireplace and kitchenette. Hope you get lucky too,

I have been comped at the Silver Sands thanks to my airline that screwed up a flight connection. SS is the courtesy hotel this airline uses in such situations. SS is on a spectacular strip of the south coast very popular with kiteboarders and surfers owing to the strength of the winds and the waves that give good ramps for jumping. Take your binoculars as this makes for spectacular viewing. OTOH, the wave action makes actual swimming a bit of a challenge ! The hotel has a very pretty lobby and simple attactive pools in an interior courtyard that is sheltered from the pervasive wind. Our room was on the ground level, very small and very musty. And this was supposedly a double! The bathroom facilities were small but adequate. A nice feature was a sliding door that let us just step out of the room into the courtyard. We were there through a full meal cycle - buffet dinner, breakfast and lunch. Without doubt these were the most indescribably awful meals that I have ever had in Barbados or almost anywhere forthat matter. Even free, they weren't worth it. As we were only in transit and tired, we did not look around for alternatives at the time but I certainly would, if staying there for more than a day. Here are a couple of suggestions for you, just in case things have not improved. About 3-4 minutes walk from SS away along the seashore path is a small hotel called the Peach and Quiet run by a couple called Margaret and Adrian. The hotel, built in moorish adobe style is very pretty, the chef is excellent and the meals are very reasonably priced. In my opinion, P&Q is a much nicer spot to stay than SS and P&Q's posted off-season rates for a double are good value at $69 (noting there are ceiling fans but no a/c). Also, at SS you will be only a short drive from Oistins where the fish-fry on Friday and Saturday nights is great fun. Finally, if you want a good swimming beach to hang out on, go to Miami Beach, about 10 minutes away by local bus or taxi. Very nice spot with lots of shade, no aggressive vendors and no jetskis. Beach chairs are for rent at reasonable rates (as opposed to the west coast beaches where this is a scam). There is a friendly little cantina serving local food. Little Arches boutique hotel is across the street and has an excellent roof top restaurant if you want to indulge. So, bottom line, I think you will enjoy your time at SS, but have alternative strategies if swinning, lying on the beach and good food are among your priorites.

Yup, probably the Arc with the Boutique 'B' -though it is some nerve calling the rooms quality....they are very tiny, not surprising as this is a refurbished Hojo's. Nice place, actually, but not really in an area of great interest - office blocks and such.

without knowing the amenities, it's hard to say with any certainty. The 4 star could be the Westin. The three star could either be the Radisson or the Delta.

I believe the Dolphin in Westminster comes up quite often. I know people who have stayed there and loved it. On Priceline, it's a 4 star.

right, da hammer. I can do that...but how does this help Betterbidding.com ?

Threyouare, just where is the savings barn link - which page, what corner ? I have never been able to find it. For those of us who are blind (or blinded by our pop-up protectors), perhaps you could just add it to the samepage where you have listed all the other "Travel Links to Help support better bidding". :)

Queen Street in Ottawa is not a rough area at all. She might be thinking of Toronto where there is a Queen Street that is mostly funky but has a block or two that are somewhat more 'challenging'. It's actually hard to think of any area in Ottawa that could be called rough !

I am just winding up a 5 day stay (Sept 14-19, 2005) at Le Meridien Piccadilly. I booked on Hotwire getting a very favourable rate of $181 per day for a 4.5 star hotel, including all taxes and Hotwire Fees. Tips were also part of the offer but something got screwed up on the Hotwire end, and we are still having this discussion (so I tipped the staff separately). The lowest rate on the hotel website for this period was GBP276. I had room 505. Check-in was fast and friendly. No upgrades were available as the hotel was fully booked for Fashion Week. The room was ready at the advertised time (2 p.m.). It was comfortably large for a solo traveller - twin-bedded and very quiet even though it was at the front of the hotel overlooking Piccadilly. Lots of light. Comfortable sitting area (tho chairs and carpet had a couple of spots), large TV, good bathroom with a couple of cosy robes. super bedlinen and a comfortable mattress. All my advance requests had been honoured including non-feather bedding, non-smoking, and reservations at a couple of top restaurants. The toiletries supplied were adequate. Housekeeping was good and the turndown service quite elegant as pirate has reported previously. The Times was left on my door every weekday. Room service was prompt. Concierge, reception, bellmen and doormen were helpful, even solicitous. I liked the Burlington Bar although it was smoky. Didn't try the restaurant. The location was super - steps away from the royal Academy, Green Park, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, Theatre Land. Easy walks to Trafalgar Square, South Bank, British Museum. There's a Starbucks half a block away as you exit the hotel towards Piccadilly Circus, and a good cheap internet service in the bottom of the Burger King on Piccadilly. Very happy with everything, really

For what it's worth, in July, I got Le Meridien Piccadilly in Mayfair/Soho on Hotwire for a 5 night stay in September for $181, per night, including taxes (the offer said that it also included tips but Hotwire is reneging on this...we are thrashing it out). Le Meridien is, I believe, ranked as a 5 star hotel by Priceline (lathough it is only 4.5 stars on Hotwire). I posted the details of the win on this board and will post a review of the hotel on my return. At the time, Hotwire was not offering any 5 star hotels in the zone. Using the identifying hotel icons, I have been dropping in on Hotwire occasionally, just to see if the hotel has come down in price but this doesn't seem to have happened. The lowest winning bid for the hotel I have ever seen on Priceline was $145 a night (plus taxes and Priceline fees) and that was a good few months ago. $175-$185 appears to be in the right range.

Interesting to read all the stuff about the Hotwire star ratings being overblown compared to Priceline. I will be staying at the Meridien Piccadilly in September. It has a Priceline star rating of 5 compared to a Hotwire rating of 4.5. On reading tripadvisor reviews, I am inclined to think it is probably a 'real' 4 but gets the bump-up owing to superb location. Your views ?

Well, I contacted Hotwire asking them to send me a new confirmation referencing the "tips/taxes included" information that was part of the offer I accepted. Their response so far is that "Tipping as always is up to the guest" so could not possibly be part of the offer or it would appear on the confirmation. Oh sigh. So I have now sent them a copy of the offer page showing "tips/taxes included" in the offer, and asking them to adjust the confirmation accordingly. And, just in case I was crazy or this was a one time glitch, I have also been back to the Hotwire website twice and replicated my offer (same dates, zone, number of travellers, etc). Each time I came up with offers that said "tips/taxes included" on the offer page just below the box where the per diem rate is provided. I'll let you know what Hotwire says next. I also note that there is a person who identifies him/herself as a Hotwire CSR who posts helpfully on this website from time to time. Perhaps he/she has something to suggest ? P.S. I am still happy with my purchase...the rate for (I assume) the same hotel (based on same dates, amenities, 4.5 stars, zone) is up to $288. I am also amused to note a 4 star hotel offered for $265 with, guess what, "taxes and tips included".

sorry - the zone is Mayfair Soho. And yes, the offer specified that tips and taxes were included. But the confirmation I received from hotwired did no mention this, so I have sent off a request for confirmation to them asap. I also kept a copy of the offer page, just to ensure there would be no confusion on this point, as I recognize the inclusion of tips is unusual.

This is for a five night stay Sept 9-14, 2005. The hotel's website rate was 195GBP pd. Expedia was offering US$328 pd. Amenities listed were restaurant, fitness centre, spa, internet, business centre. It was also listed as a 'best value'. Because of the amenities, I was 99% sure that I was going to get the Meridien Piccadilly. The rates seem OK compared to other successful bids I have seen for this hotel, especially since it includes tips and taxes. Some successful Priceline bids were around $175-200 excluding t&t, although I did see one for $145 (wow)! Tripadvisor reviews for this hotel are mixed. The negatives mostly focus on the expensive meals/bar and complaints from some that they were given lesser rooms because they booked through Priceline. We'll see if Hotware gets the same treatment !

Willtravel, that's a great suggestion. Thanks !

Thanks for the advice Randi66, but I don't have a Mastercard (and don't want one) so Priceline is not for me. That said, the room was just great for my stay in November and so was the service. Hilton made an amusing billing error, which I just discovered and am now in the process of straightening out. Instead of billing me extra for the room services I used, they credited the amount against the Hotwire bill I had pre-paid. Net effect...their invoice shows them owing me money !

I just checked 'My Account'. The first reservation shows the original list of amenities. The second reservation shows the updated list of amenities.

Amenities: shuttle, restaurant, pool, fitness centre, high-speed internet, business centre, golf nearby, tennis nearby Date booked: October 16 Isn't this interesting. Two days ago I got the same hotel - paid $6 more for a stay in November. Note that the amenities listed also changed from two days ago.

Amenities: shuttle, restaurant, pool, fitness centre, business centre Date booked: October 14

Amenities: shuttle, restaurants, pool, fitness centre, business centre, tennis Booking Date: October 14, 2003