liveinhotels

I agree with 'lindabobhat'. It sure looks like Hotwire is playing games to avoid paying these rebates. I got my first rebate denial today. Here is the e-mail I received: "Hotwire has received your mail-in rebate form for Hotwire Itinerary XXXXXXXXX. Unfortunately, this rebate was denied because: A rebate was already issued for the Entertainment Book card identification number submitted with the rebate form." I have previously received at least a dozen rebates using that same card, and have never had one denied. I intend to fight on the grounds that the offer does not state that it is limited to one per card. I am using forms that I printed off the internet before they removed them. I am still waiting for a reply on several other rebates. I e-mailed them the following message yesterday: "I submitted several rebate requests and have not received any reply. I have submitted rebate requests in the past and have been very pleased with Hotwire's service, however, I have received no response to these submissions. The Hotwire booking numbers are xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx and xxxxxxxxx. The rebates were mailed on different days in separate envelopes, so it is impossible that you did not receive them. Please check the status of the rebates and make the promised credits to my account." I received this reply today: "Thank you for contacting Hotwire regarding the Entertainment Coupon rebates for Hotwire Itinerary Numbers xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxxx, and xxxxxxxxx. I do apologize as of this time we did not receive the rebate request for these itineraries. Generally it takes up to six weeks to process, if this time frame has not lapsed please allow a little additional time." I intend to follow through and will let you know how I make out, but it would sure help if others follow through, too, or at least post your denials and "lost" rebates here so that we can establish a pattern to Hotwire's actions. FYI - If you didn't keep a copy of your rebate submittal, you can reconstruct it. Sign in to Hotwire and go to "My Account". Click on "Hotel Purchases" and you can print another copy of your confirmation. Then just make a new copy of your Entertainment Card and fill out a new form (hopefully you have one).

I think this is the Holiday Inn in Mission Bay. NOT one of my favorite hotels. The area is not great, it is not very close to the beach, the pool is tiny, and the service at the hotel was horrible. If you're not going to have a car and want to go to the beach, pick a hotel from one of those areas that has a beach icon, even though you'll pay more, or you'll end up disappointed. (Though April is cold on the beach in San Diego.) If the beach isn't important, the downtown or Gaslamp areas are great for nightlife and shopping. San Diego is kind of hard to do without a car, because everything is so spread out.

3* Chicago O'Hare shuttle, restaurant, pool, fitness, bus Wyndham O'Hare

GIFTCARD06 is still working as of today, 7/19/05. I used the same computer I always use, but when it automatically signed me in, I clicked the button saying it was not me, set up a new account with a different e-mail address, then searched for hotels. When I was ready to purchase, I had to use a different credit card, but I used the same guest name and mailing address that I always use. Luckily I have a business with lots of employees with my company credit cards that I can use. P.S. It might help others if you change the title of this string on the main page. It says "new users" and that made me overlook it a few months ago when I first discovered this site; I didn't even open it because I wasn't a new Hotwire user. I just happened to stumble onto it today. Maybe it should be "not just for new users".

My rebates are also taking much longer than usual. The good news is that I received a rebate today for a booking I submitted on June 7, and I received the $30 credit using the same Entertainment Card that I had used at least a dozen times before.

This hotel is actually in Canada, but I thought you might want to list it with the New York listings, since many people would look in Buffalo for a hotel at the Falls. 4* Niagara Falls-Canada, Sheraton on the Falls Amenities: restaurant, pool, fitness, spa, internet, childrens acitivities, golf, business

3.5* Cleveland Downtown - Wyndham Cleveland Hotel Playhouse Square restaurant, pool, fitness, business $63 for June 28, 1 night The prior listing on this site did not show a pool as an amenity.

Street parking in downtown San Diego is free after 6:00 pm, until 8:00 am. Street cleaning is on alternating sides of the street on alternating nights, so just park on the other side of the street or go around the corner. Just remember that if the sign says No Parking 3:00 - 6:00 am Tuesday and Thursday, that means you don't want to park there Monday or Wednesday night.

I complained to Hotwire about the 3.5 * rating for the Town and Country in San Diego Mission Valley. They notified me that they had reassessed the hotel and downgraded its rating to 3*, and gave me $25 hot dollars for each of the 3 nights I had stayed there. This is also great news because it now makes the Doubletree in Mission Valley much more identifiable, and should make the Doubletree come up more often. They used to interchange the two hotels, as they had similar amenities.

On several occasions I have booked hotels for multiple nights using separate reservations and received the $30 rebate for each night. No problem! I even mailed them all in the same envelope. When you check in, let the clerk know the total number of nights that you'll actually be there, and that there were multiple reservations, and they should be able to arrange it so you don't have to change rooms during your stay. Sometimes I have to go to the front desk to have my key refreshed each day. But be warned, if there is more than one hotel with the same star ratings and similar amenities in the same area for similar prices, you may end up with a different hotel for the second night. I once stayed at the Doubletree on Monday, Town & Country on Tuesday, Doubletree on Wednesday, and Town & Country on Thursday. I had opened four browsers, one for each night, and had pulled up the identical hotel for each night, but the amenities were similar enough that they could fit either hotel, and when I booked Hotwire flip flopped me back and forth between the two. Good luck!

I think this is the Holiday Inn in Mission Valley. We stayed there once, but somehow it never got added to my list of hotels, and therefore never got added to this bulletin board, but it looks really familiar. The reason it probably didn't get added to my hotel list was because it was a nightmare. It is not in a particularly nice area. It's right off the freeway in the Mission Beach area, which is an older part of town. And you have to drive anywhere you'd want to go. If you're going to drive to the beach anyway, a better choice would be a hotel in Mission Valley, where rates are very reasonable for nicer properties. Also, the service was horrible at this hotel. When we returned to our room the evening of our second night, the maid had set clean towels on the bed, but had not even made the bed. When we called to ask to have the room made up, they said there was no one available to do it, but we could come to the front desk and pick up a set of clean sheets if we wanted to change them ourselves. Good luck!

We've stayed at this hotel several times, and it always comes up with a beachfront icon, which I noticed is missing from your list.

I just booked the same Holiday Inn Select in Mission Valley, and there was an additional icon for internet. I've seen this hotel come up many times, and the internet icon seems to have been permanently added. It's not a bad hotel as Holiday Inns go. Like you, I've stayed in some that weren't so nice. My biggest complaint would probably be that every time we've stayed there, there were LOTS of kids running around all the time. Holiday Inn is still perceived as a family hotel.

To follow up: I received 3 e-mails today confirming 3 Hotwire rebates, all from the same Entertainment Card. I even sent all three claims in the same envelope. I used the internet form. :)

Aldo gave you great advice. It's a long way back to San Diego from the Wild Animal Park just to turn around and drive right back up the same freeway the next day. For whatever my opinion is worth, we prefer the Radisson Suites to the Rancho Bernardo Inn. We felt the Inn was a little bit stuffy, lots of older patrons and an old world country club feel. The Suites are a small property but the hotel encircles a pool with beautiful flowers and it's a very relaxed feel. We have also stayed at the 3 star with food, pool, weights that may come up in north county. That is the 4 points by Sheraton, also a nice relaxed property with a big pool. It's a very nice 3 star. There are very few hotels that come up in Old Town, close to the zoo, but Mission Valley is only a 5 minute drive, as is downtown. Good luck!

If you don't mind the cramped quarters, I suggest you just enter 2 adults, 2 children in your search. Virtually all hotel chains now have a policy that kids stay free in their parents room, so worse case scenario, you pay an extra $10 at checkin for a crib. I have NEVER had a hotel make a fuss about 3 small children in my room (though I generally tried not to flaunt it and didn't take them all to the desk with me to check in.) Good luck!

My list shows it as the Hyatt Regency La Jolla. That hotel is not "near" the beach. It's in a beautiful area, across the street from UTC, a really nice mall. It's probably a 5 minute drive to the beach. And there will probably be a $20 per night parking fee. If you want a hotel along the beach, I generally have better luck in the Shelter Island, Mission Bay, Harbor Island, or Coronado areas. My general rule of thumb, and my experience, is that if it doesn't show a beach or oceanfront icon, it's a car ride away and the view from the hotel doesn't include water Good luck.

My bet is that the 3* hotel you're seeing is the Holiday Inn in Mission Beach. I can't find any notes about it in my list, probably because I didn't like the hotel so I blocked it from my memory, though I try to report all my purchases here. While it is in Mission Beach, it is not near the water, and is not in a great neighborhood. The hotel was brand new, but service was awful! The maids set new towels on my bed but didn't even make the beds. When I returned to the hotel late that night and called the front desk, they said no one was available to make the beds, but I could come to the front desk and pick up clean sheets if I wanted. Holiday Inn ended us sending me $30 in gift vouchers for a later stay at a different property. As I remember it, they served free continental breakfast, and the amenities on hotwire included golf and tennis, even though the hotel didn't have either (my understanding is that those services are only required to be available within a certain distance for the hotel to include them). The hotel had internet and you could send a fax from the front desk, so probably had a business center icon, and they did have a pool and workout room, and most Holiday Inns have a laundry center. The listings showing less amenities may just be excluding some to try to remain "opaque". Hope this helps.

The 4* Hilton with these amenities that is mentioned earlier here is the one in the Gaslamp right next to the new ballpark and right across the street from the convention center.

Hey, the link is gone from the web site. But, Thanks! The link from the post above worked to make additional copies. Since we live in hotels, I book about 250 nights per year through Hotwire. Assuming that the info is correct and I will be able to use one card with many copies of the rebate form, this web site and the info about the Hotwire coupon, just saved me thousands of dollars! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! EVERYBODY! P.S. I've already sent in 6 rebates, all using the same card. I'll post as soon as I get rebates and can confirm the good news.

If you can get it for that rate, go for it! Mission Valley is a very nice area. There is a mall right across the street with lots of both sit down and fast food restaurants and a movie theater. If you're planning to go to beaches, the zoo, Wild Animal Park, etc. this location is actually more convenient than downtown. The drive is about the same but without the parking hassles. The only reason to be downtown is because you want to enjoy the nightlife in the Gaslamp Quarter without having to worry about driving home, but you could take the trolley which is also within walking distance of the Sheraton. By the way, this used to be the Radisson. It just changed over and has been completely renovated. It's very nice!

This hotel is the Hampton Inn in Kearney Mesa. I think I've posted it before, but may have overlooked it. We've stayed there many times. The hotel is only about a year old, so everything is in good condition. Free parking. Lots of fast food eating places very close by. The hot items on the breakfast buffet leave a little to be desired, but the other choices are numerous. We even had a refrigerator in our room. The down side is that they are often short of staff. If you need an extra pillow or blanket be sure to ask for it as soon as you get in, because by 10:00 there will only be one employee there who won't be able to leave the desk. They've always been willing to upgrade our room to a King (I only got a bad attitute once). I assume you're familiar with the Kearney Mesa area. It's a nice area, but is about 15 minutes from downtown or the beaches. We usually get this hotel for $47. Try signing off and pretending you aren't a member. Just click the link that says "If this isn't you, click here." Then when it prompts you to sign in, just click on hotels and you should be able to go in without signing in. Maybe it's just a matter of timing, but I always seem to get lower rates if I don't sign in before I search. Good luck.

I just printed the form from the web site the day before yesterday. The first time I tried, something interrupted the page and it wouldn't open, but when I tried again it came up and I printed several copies. Just try again.

There are lots of good deals for off-season rates during the winter. For just over $100 our favorite waterfront properties have been Paradise Point Resort, Hilton Mission Bay, and Loews Coronado. All were absolutely wonderful, and all are in resort type areas. For a downtown hotel, this week we're at the Westin Horton Plaza for $93 a night. It's beautiful and in a perfect downtown location right by the Gaslamp District and Horton Plaza. We've also stayed at the Hilton Downtown for about $75. It's also beautiful and in a great location, but doesn't seem to be available very often. Unfortunately, all of these come with hefty nightly parking rates. If you're looking for something a little cheaper, we really like the Doubletree in Mission Valley. It is usually available for $76 a night, and is in a really nice neighborhood about 10 miles from downtown, and we've always been able to find free parking on the street. If you're not really a city lover, this is a really nice alternative. It's right on the freeway, but not in the middle of downtown traffic and parking hassles. The Sheraton Mission Valley is in the same general location and is also really nice. If you want something even cheaper, the Hampton Inn in Kearny Mesa is brand new so it's in good shape and is usually only $47 a night. If there's a certain area you're looking for, let me know and I'll be happy to give more info.

Has anyone tried to submit a second rebate using the same membership card? As pointed out earlier, there is not limitation on the coupon limiting you to one rebate per membership card.