jquero

It is showing a 5 star hotel in the North Madrid zone.... Fitness, Restaurant, Laundry, High Speed, and Spa.... It's for 2/15-2/17. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

Bid $45 in Disneyland zone for 3*....was rejected added Anaheim Hills zone and raised bid to $48 was accepted for one night

Bid 60 at San Clemente/Dana Point was rejected added this bid zone and was accepted for 65 at the Costa Mesa Hilton... retail is 289, so I figure It's a great bargain! Thanks again

I think GM put it best.... The personality of the person standing in front of you will determine what you can do as a guest. I can upgrade to a view room without worrying about much, even if it's a PL or HW user and there is no problem. There are times when the hotel is slow that I can even upgrade people to a suite without any additional charges. The thing that sometimes people don't understand when trying to check in is that I have rooms available and sometimes I don't. At times I feel like saying 'Look sir, what satisfaction do you think I would gain from holding this room back from you?'.....I had a travel agent check in the other day, requesting a room close to a specific room number the rest of his party was in, no mention of that on the reservation so the room was not pre-blocked at all. His wife comes in and asks what we can do, mentioning that specific room number her party was in, I said I could so something at the end of the wing, with NO view of the golf course.......so the husband comes up to me and tries to strong arm me, asking me for a map of the facilities and suggesting rooms himself....I put a stop to his behavior and told him we could only do that room I had blocked him into. And this wasn't even a room booked through the hotel! The twenty dollar tip can be hit or miss. I was dealing with a couple about two weeks ago who were very pleasant and chatted with me and wanted a view room of the pool, which I was going to block them into, it just wasn't ready, and they were happy about it. We chatted, I suggest places to dine, things to do, etc...as they were leaving, the gentleman gave me a twenty and said thank you. He was expecting to get just a regular view room(or maybe he wasn't who knows)....and when I called 30 minutes later to get a suite, they were quite ecstatic...saying it was their anniversary, etc, etc and thanked me and wrote a note about the service I provided. It was a win win situation I agree about the calling ahead because that helps, especially about an hour to half an about before check out and check in, when the front desk area can get desolate at times. If there is not a line, engage the agent in conversation, because you never know what that conversation can do for you. The agent might be having a bad day and the hello and small talk can get you that higher floor or the suite upgrade.... Use money as a last resort I would say....small talk helps too

Jason's Storm: It honestly is hit or miss sometimes with that. I am only a front desk agent and don't plan on making working at a hotel/resort something I want to do for the rest of my life. I'm 21 and in college and hopefully going to law school after this. This job helps me pay the bills and is close to home. I have very little vested interest in whether the restaurant has to comp a breakfast or two, because I know that as long as the hotel is booked, I will get hours regardless of any incidentals the guest might have. I do my job to the best of my abilities but I know that there are rules I can bend, just like the managers and supervisors can. The place I work at has a partnership with a 3rd party vendor that sells a membership for $99 that includes vouchers for a free night stay, two vouchers for buy 1 and get one 1 night free, a happy hour food party and a bottle of wine. Previously, guests would be able to use more than one voucher at a time, and only last week, the hotel changed their policy and made it only one voucher per stay. A guest was going to check in, and my supervisor was next to me, and flat out told the lady she couldn't use more than just one, as she was about to check in. Apparently an e-mail had been sent out the day before and he was not going to budge from that position. The guest just stared at him in disbelief. I didn't say anything because then it comes back to me, but I personally thought that was very mean(to not use more profane words). I then asked him why he said no, and he stated that the goal of that is to get guests to spend money in the hotel and that by using more than one certificate, it would not help the restaurant, golf course, etc. That didn't make sense to me, and still doesn't but I just said okay. I had another guest a few days back that had multiple certificates. I accepted them because in my opinion, the guest will end up using the certificates one way or another, be it months apart or consecutively, the hotel lost out by negotiating such a HORRIBLE rate with the 3rd party vendor and those are room nights that are now lost. The guest was happy and it made my job easier. Sorry to rant, but that's just an example of a time when a desk agent might be more helpful than just a young desk agent who is working at the hotel as a job not as a career.... I know managers, especially those on the executive committee have to worry about the bottom line and every room night counts, many times their job and more importantly their bonus depends on that. The F&B Director will not want the vouchers to be given away for free. There is much hypocrisy in the upper levels of management. An employee amount runs for x amount of dollars, many times a manager will upgrade their guest to the Presidential Suite and comp the night, while if I did that, it would not be acceptable. Again, a lot of hypocrisy involved. I can do this but you can't mentality. In terms of your breakfast situation it does help to deal sometimes with a "normal" desk agent because managers will many times go more by the book, in the end it all depends on who the manager and desk agent are too because some managers are very nice and flexible while some agents will NOT be... I don't mean to sound bitter as I really enjoy my job and the people I work with, but I figure this forum is a good way to expose some of the stuff behind the scenes, at least at the place I work at to some of you people that tend to travel a lot throughout the year.

I think guest is an acceptable term to use when dealing with the hospitality industry.... as opposed to Target where they call their customers guests....I don't see a point in that

Zone is more important than price is...I prefer being close to Stanford than having to drive the 30 minutes from San Jose on a daily basis, regardless of which is less expensive

You're very welcome anything I can do to help the people on this board try and get more of an understanding of what goes on behind the scenes, so to speak. Tipping is kinda risky, in terms of how it will affect the room given at the front desk, as opposed to tipping bellstaff or maid service, because that's a tip for service already performed. The tip of the front desk is something that is given hoping for a nice room or upgrade. I actually had a gentlemen yesterday hand me a five and say, give me a good room. I did. I took it and helped him out, but others might not have. It can be kinda hit or miss just depending again on the agent. Other times, a tip will occur AFTER the room is assigned and especially if there is some sort of conversation between the agent and guest that's more than just the standard check in procedure.

I don't stay in hotels much during the year(although I probably should get out and travel more) but I do work at the front desk of a resort in the Palm Springs area and can say that there are various factors as to getting 'better service' In the end, a guest is a guest is a guest. I do agree that many times paying more for a room will get the guest better service or a better room. I personally try to treat all guests the same regardless of whether they are on a HW/PL rate or paying full rack rate, because they are a guest in the hotel and should be treated as kindly as possible. The overall purpose of a resort is to get the guest to spend as much money as possible, which is why when asked for places to dine, the various restaurants in the hotel are mentioned first, to keep the money within the hotel. The golf course gives guests a discount to keep them from going to many of the other courses in the area. I have to admit that sometimes a guest that tips will get better service regardless of what rate they are on, I hate to sound unethical, but if you take care of me, I will definitely take care of you. I might not get you the presidential suite but I'll definitely give you a nice view of the mountains, golf course, or the pool. How booked up the hotel is also affects what rooms a guest will get, especially since so many of us here use HW/PL(of course it is a board dedicated to those two services)...I don't understand why some of my colleague, as the previous poster said, 'want you in a crappy room'...when the hotel is at 15% in the dead of summer, during low season, why doesn't everyone get a nice mountain/pool view room? I do upgrade guests to those rooms when the hotel is DEAD, but some of my colleagues won't. I know we have incentives to upgrade because the hotel gives the agent x amount per day depending on how much is charged...I just think it's more of a hassle sometimes to go through all the paperwork required and I upgrade, and a happy guest is always better than one upset about their view who will not be coming back. This could also be because I'm VERY flexible with the rules as opposed to others who I work with and I'm sure many of you have encountered who are 100% by the book. In the end, in my opinion, the factor that will affect your treatment at the hotel/resort is your treatment of the person assisting you. From a front desk aspect, the agent is in control of what room you will get, regardless of what is requested. They have the power to say they don't have a particular room when in fact they do and not give the room type requested or location. When the guest is nice, the agent is much more likely to upgrade without a fee(w/ or w/o HW/PL rate). I have upgraded guests to SUITES simply because they asked how my day was going and were genuine about it....not just being 'fake'(although I'm sure that's just my perception) sorry to rant on, but in the end, treat the staff as you would like to be treated and if you take care of them(and not necessarily monetarily), they will more than likely take care of you.

My mistake, my arrival date would be Thursday April 5th departing on Sunday April 8th for a total of three nights. I thought I had looked at the Redwood City star ratings but now I realize I did not and only did see the ratings for the San Jose and the Sunnyvale/Santa Clara areas my three new areas that I would be willing to bid in would be Palo Alto/Mountain View, Sunnyvale/Santa Clara, and San Jose...in order of preference with a 3 star or better. Hope this clarifies

Hi everyone, can anyone offer me any suggestions on how to bid for hotels in the Palo Alto area from Thursday April 5 to Sunday April 8 for a total of four nights. I would like to try for the Westin Palo Alto as it is very close to Stanford University where I will be. The prevailing rate for that hotel is 129$ a night. I am also willing to book a room in the areas north and south of there(Redwood City as well as San Jose and points south). I know Priceline has a double occupancy guarantee and nothing more, but I would have 2 roommates so splitting the cost would help me go to a higher maximum bid. I would like somewhere along a 60$ room, which I think might be possible. Thanks for your help.

That is correct.....my mistake I don't think a guest paying Rack rate would love to be facing a wall.....

I work at a hotel that is a PL/HW hotel in the Palm Springs area as a Front Desk agent. I wouldn't say that most hotels have rooms specifically assigned for PL/HW guests but at times when the hotel is close to being book, the least desirable rooms are usually reserved for the higher paying guests, but it also all depends on the front desk agents. Some of my colleagues will charge an upgrade in order to get a view room even in the dead of summer with a 6% occupancy rate, while I will upgrade for free, even at the PL/HW rate, in the end it all depends on the agent that checks you in, what time you check in(arriving as early as possible is good because even if a room isn't available, agents have the ability to block a room for a guest) as well as how booked the hotel is those particular dates....good luck oh yeah, and being nice to the agent is definitely a plus, sometimes all it takes is a 'how is your day going?' in order to get an upgrade, honestly.

Hi everyone, this is my first post at this forum and wanted to thank you for all the advice. I went on Priceline and bid on a 4* hotel in the Beverly Hills and Downtown area for $65 for one night and my bids were accepted both times. I received the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, which is just great. Total is $81 and change. Thank you all!