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I see what you mean...

Of course, that makes it even worse actually. So even if we stay away from "resort" options, there is always a chance you can get "upgraded" to that - and then get "upgraded" on your price as well by getting the resort fee slapped on... Unbelievable!

If it says that in the know before you go section, I think that is not as bad. Priceline however does not do that at all. The best they have is in the legalese where they say hotels _may_ charge you blah blah, resort fees blah blah. What makes this even more heinous is that they have a "RESORT" category but it looks like other categories might also result in resort fees. Dont know what is the point of doing that...

My recent post on what I faced in Priceline Lake Tahoe

I agree on the fees you were charged - and also on the internet fees, parking fees etc. Those are fees based on your usage. But I disagree on the resort fee. Priceline has a "resort" category, and so if you are not bidding on that category, it does not make sense to charge you a resort fee. It is a compulsory fee and so hiding that does not make any sense...

Folks,

Be aware that you may be charged resort fees on top of your regular bid. And this is the bad part - this can happen even if you did NOT bid on a resort category.

I recently bid for 4* hotels in Lake Tahoe. Ended up getting the Hyatt regency resort and spa. Note that I got the resort even though I did not bid on a resort type. Ended up having to pay $25 per night at the hotel - on top of my $85 bid. If you are keeping track, that is 25% more than what I expected to pay per night...

All priceline needs to do is ensure that hotels with resort fees are only included under the "resort" category.

Or provide the option to cancel the winning bid by informing the user that in addition to the bid there will be a resort fee.

This seems to be a bad business practice! The hotel says that priceline is made aware of the fact that they have a resort fee, so it is not like priceline does not have this information.

The worst part I think is that I have been singing praises of Priceline for the last 9 years! Now I wonder if I will go back there again. Hotwire seems like a better option - maybe even stick to priceline.

And no, it did state that it had changed my category

This is somewhat contradictory, so i'm not sure what you're stating. However, if you go the the MY PROFILE >> MY TRIPS link at the top right of PRICELINE's home page, you'll see your 4* bid there... if you click the request number i suspect you'll see some wording indicating that this property is "Resort" rated by PRICELINE.

I looked it up. In the list, under star level it show 4 stars. NOT resort...

I realized what you meant by contradictory - I meant to say it did NOT state...

This is somewhat contradictory, so i'm not sure what you're stating. However, if you go the the MY PROFILE >> MY TRIPS link at the top right of PRICELINE's home page, you'll see your 4* bid there... if you click the request number i suspect you'll see some wording indicating that this property is "Resort" rated by PRICELINE.

We reflect the 'true' rating at the time you bid. If another user is looking to target this same property, they would be better served bidding Resort rather than 4*, which is why have reflected "resort" in the topic title :)

Hope that explains it a bit.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Actually, that is what I was trying to point out. I did NOT ask for a "Resort". I was asking for 4* only, but still ended up getting a resort. I was pretty much forced into this - and had to pay the extra resort fee.

So if someone was targeting this property, they probably should ask for 4*, which is the reason why I was saying that this should be changed back to 4*. Make sense?

Also, we've edited the topic title of this thread to reflect that this property is currently rated "Resort" by PRICELINE, can you please check your winning bid confirmation page to see if you were upgraded to this category property on your 4* bid?

And no, it did state that it had changed my category.

In any case, since 4* is what I bid on, you really should change the topic back to 4* since that is what I bid on. I thought that was the point - to give examples of what you get when you bid...

Would you mind sharing which dates you booked for?

My bad. It was from the 2nd of April through the 4th.

However, I came back here to add a note to this. Turns out I was charged a resort fee of around 20$ a night. So turns the effective rate to a 105$. Almost 25% more than projected...

I am sure they have it covered in legalese, but when you don't have the option of rejecting the bid after finding out about the resort fee it seems like a bad business practice to do this...

Got the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort Spa And Casino

tried 75 then 85

Hyatt Regency in SantaClara. for $77

Started at 50 and kept adding locations.

8/23-25

Hotwire

4 star

Suite, Boutique, Fitness, restaurants, bus center, highspeed, tennis, spa

Got the Mayfair hotel and Spa - which isnt listed here.

Starting the 28th of feb :-)

Am ready to go up to around 200

My wife tried bids of 85 - 100 - 120 - 170 - none got thru! My trip is from tuesday though, so maybe that is why? Seems kinda high...

Also, I just noticed the "close browser" and then rebid advice. Why the close browser?

Thanks!