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Travelchik

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  9. Hotwire bait and switch

    in Hotwire Tips

    Posted

    Thank you for your advice.

    I'm not worried that I will have a bad stay. I'm sure we will have a fabulous time. No worries there. Initially, I was fine with the hotel until I saw 90% of the other sites rated it 3*. Had some rated it 4*, I would have been pleased.

    What concerns me is Hotwire's rating of this hotel and I feel a bait and switch. I would not have booked so early on if I knew I was getting a 3* hotel. $66 is not that great of a deal. I would have paid more for a true 4* hotel. But given what looked like a 4* for a great price, I booked and took on the risk of it being non-refundable months out.

    BTW, I could have booked this hotel directly with Rosen Centre for $76 night.

    The reason I was surprised about getting this hotel is partly because of an error on my part. We went to Disney a couple of weeks ago. I was watching both HOTWIRE and PRICELINE. I bid Priceline of $81 on a resort and got the Hyatt Cypress. Which we loved.

    For this trip, I had adjusted my Hotwire "fare watch" but did not adjust the number of people (from 3 down to 2) and when I checked packages it did not list Rosen Centre as a possible hotel. (It's not available for 3) When I made my booking, I made it for 2 adults and that's why the Rosen Centre came back. I just wasn't paying close enough attention during research and unintentionally searched for 3 guests instead of 2.

    Anyway, this site was very helpful in booking my trip. Thank you.

  11. Hotwire bait and switch

    in Hotwire Tips

    Posted

    4* Hotel Orlando, FL (Sea World, I-Drive South)

    12/23 - 12/28/2008 (5 nights)

    Price Per Night:$66.00

    Amenities: Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s),Business Center, Laundry Facilities, High-speed Internet Access, Golf Nearby

    Rosen Centre Hotel

    Parking extra: $5 per night self, $10 per night Valet

    (which is fine with me)

  13. Hotwire bait and switch

    in Hotwire Tips

    Posted

    I bought a 4* Orlando on August 10, 2008 (for 5 nights 12/23 - 12/28/08). I received the Rosen Centre Hotel. Given that I love lots of information, I excitedly researched this hotel only to find out that 90% of the sites I visited (over 30) rated this hotel 3*. 10 % gave it a 3.5* and NOBODY gave it 4*.

    The following well known sites rate it a 3*: AAA, tripadvisor, yahoo, Travelocity, travelpost, and many others. There was a small number that gave it 3.5 * - Expedia being one. Hotwire & Expedia are owned by the same company, yet different rating scale? I could not find a single site rating this hotel 4*.

    I was disappointed. I could have bid on a 3* property for a lot less. For a 4* property, it was a great price and I booked this early because of the price. Otherwise, I would have waited until closer to my travel date.

    I immediately contacted Hotwire. The customer service rep told me to print out the pages from other websites and fax it to them. I did just that. I received an e-mail notification, a canned response from Hotwire saying they visited the hotel and are confident it deserves the 4* rating. I countered back about no other reputable sites giving this hotel a 4* and an overwhelming majority rating it with 3*. They postured that they use AAA, Fodors, Zagats, and Mobile to rate their properties. Well, AAA & Fodors give it 3* and Zagat does not rate it and I couldn't find Mobile's rating. After several back and forth attempts to resolve this, they finally found ONE site that rates this hotel 4* - Orbitz. They are saying because one site rates it 4*, so be it.....regardless of the umpteenth others that don't. Also, I found out Hotwire recently changed the rating on this hotel from 3.5* to 4*.

    I have used Hotwire several times over the past year. Mostly with good results. I did have one hotel stay in Sioux Falls that in no way qualified for Hotwire's star rating but I decided to give Hotwire the benefit of the doubt given the limited number of better hotels in that area. Well, fool me once....shame on you......fool me twice.....shame on, well, you know.

    This is poor business practice.

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