EdJS

I read the report when it first came out -- it was given quite a lot of publicity in Consumer Reports. While generally well written, it does contain one fundamental flaw -- it doesn't explain how they decided what to bid on Priceline. I'm pretty sure that many of us, with our experience, could have done a lot better than they did, particularly with hotels. Ed

Are you sure this is a 3*? The Chateau Champlain has traditionally been a 4* hotel on Priceline. It's one of the most distinctive hotels in the city. Were you upgraded? Ed

Actually, you're wrong. The bidding page has scripts that detect your bid as you are typing. In fact, I did just use your test method and it DID pop up a message saying that it was too low. Here's specifically: I bid for a 4* in San Francisco. In the box I typed "4", then waited a few seconds. A message appeared on the screen: "Based on recent data, your bid has almost no chance of being accepted." I then typed "5", to make my bid $45, and waited. The message changed to "Based on recent data, your bid has only a small chance of being accepted." Then I typed "5" again, to make my bid $455. The message disappeared. Try it yourself. Ed

On the Triton's website, if you click on Rooms and Suites, you'll see this paragraph: "Who says seeking enlightenment has to be painful? Experience the calm - and comfort - of Zen with a stay in one of the downtown Hotel Triton's Zen Dens. Ideal for the solo traveler looking to find solace, these cozy guestrooms feature a uniquely stylized oversized daybed that also serves as a couch. " That's what they were given. Ed

I was asked for some clarification here. The room that was offered contained a single (i.e. twin) bed only. The hotel's own web site indicates that these rooms are for the solo traveler. There were two reasons why the hotel staff was not as helpful as one might expect from Kimpton: 1. There's a big convention in town this week and almost all Kimpton hotels are fully booked. 2. It's not clear that they realized that it was their fault. They seemed to be under the impression that Priceline guests can be forced to take any room. So they didn't consider this an overbooking situation, which is what it really was. Ed

Won a bid for $82 for this hotel through Priceline. However, upon checkin the hotel informed my guests that they only had single rooms available. Priceline agreed that the hotel was in violation of its contract, so they refunded my money and cancelled the reservation. Ed

I had a hotel through Priceline which turned out to be so unacceptable on check-in that Priceline refunded my money. (See THIS THREAD in the "Off Topic" board, and the PRICELINE BID in the SF-Priceline board.) Because of that I needed a room really fast. This was 6:30 pm on the evening of my first night's stay. Hotwire had a 3.5* in USE for $101. I took it and it was the Crowne Plaza. Unfortunately, I can't get the amenities right now. It was such a scramble last night that actually I handled the Priceline situation while simultaneously my girlfriend handled the Hotwire situation, so the win is actually on her account. Ed

Several weeks ago I bid this: USE Boutique. $79 was rejected, but $82 was accepted. However, at check in the hotel only had single rooms available, not double-occupancy as Priceline's contract states. I needed a room for two. Priceline agreed that the hotel was wrong, so they refunded my money and cancelled my reservation. See THIS THREAD in the "Off Topic" forum for a further discussion. Ed

A few weeks ago I booked a room for my guest and his wife in San Francisco. I bid for a Boutique and got the Hotel Triton for $82. This evening when they arrived from their transcontinental flight, the hotel only had single rooms available. They refused to give my guest a room for two, and they refused to move them into another hotel. I called Priceline customer service, and after about 30 minutes of investigation in which they called the hotel, they told me that I was right: The hotel did not fulfill its end of the agreement which says that all rooms are supposed to be double occupancy. So Priceline offered to give me a full refund, which I took. But now I was stuck: Here were my guests without a hotel room, on a very busy week! I needed to find a room for them FAST. I tried another Priceline bid, up to $100 for a boutique, but it wasn't taken. Fortunately, Hotwire had a 3.5* available for $101, which I took. It turned out to be the Crowne Plaza, which was good enough for such an extreme last minute booking. (I'm telling you, it was 6:30 pm and my guests were wondering where they would spend the night.) Even though it ended all right (except for the extra cost of the hotel room), I'm still pretty steamed about this. I was trying to show San Francisco off to two people whom I care about and who had never been here before, and on their first day they run into this incredible inconvenience. What's worse is that it makes me wary of using Priceline in the future. How do I know this won't happen again? Ed