The deal was $49 for a 2.5 star hotel in Tuscaloosa, AL Feb 13 to Feb15. When paid I got notice that the hotel was La Qunita. If you look on hotwire it is listed as a 2 star hotel and on other sites." This just happened to me for a LaQuinta in Florida. I have used Hotwire for the past two or three years and never had an issue with them up until recently. Just in the last week alone, they have been practicing what looks suspiciously like bait and switch. In one instance, they had a logo on a listing identifying it as having guest rooms that are always non-smoking. That turned out not to be true. Then, as customer service was of little help I had to file with the Better Business Bureau before they booked me in a real non-smoking hotel. As an apology, they credited me a few bucks which I used to book another room thinking that this was an isolated incident. So, I book what is advertised as a "Midscale" hotel--a category they define as a "Holiday Inn Express, Amerisuites or Country Inn and Suites" type of property. What I GOT was a lower class of property they called an "Economy" property (a 2 star LaQuinta). They say directly on their site that LaQuinta (they mention LaQuinta specifically by name) is an "Economy" 2 star property. So, they shorted me (again) and it doesn't seem to bother them (customer service) that Hotwire did it again. I've complained twice already. And, as the previous poster pointed out: Hotwire defines the LaQuinta as a 2 star hotel on their site then sells it as a 2 1/2 hotel. (And, no, it's is not any fancier or has any more amenities than other LaQuintas). What makes this particularly irritating is that I recently got an email from Hotwire saying that I was some kind of frequent-user preferred customer who could expect a higher standard of service. Obviously not. Also, this comes not that long after they tried to pawn a bad South Beach Hotel off as a three star hotel when the Trip advisor reviews complained of all sorts of crime and general filth going on there. (It took months but they finally did downgrade that hotel, although they probably still list them). When I went to the Better Business Bureau site I saw that they have had some other complaints about false advertising and bait and switch. I don't know if you tried the Better Business Bureau or not. It, at least, helped with the first situation for me.
