Priceline Hotel: 2.5* Tampa (Airport TPA-Westshore) Hyatt Place

[MikeMpls]

I'd heard of bids being accepted recently @ $52 & $56 & wanted to try low first. It appears $56 is the floor at the moment. Note sliding window of dates -- bids were presented one after the other. I would have been ok with changing hotels on day 1 or 3 if this had not worked out.

Bid $52 for 2/29-3/3, rejected

Bid $54 for 2/29-3/2, rejected

Bid $56 for 3/1-3/3, accepted

Accepted offer to extend stay @ $56, changed start date to 2/29

Net result is $56 for 2/29-3/3

All-in price is $134.36 + $70.52 = $204.88

Used the link in SavingsBarn.com

[thereuare]

Congratualtions on your win... nicely played and a great deal as a result.

Thank you for helping us add this property to thePriceline Hotel List and for using the SavingsBarn.com PRICELINE links to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.

[MikeMpls]

This Hyatt Place, as we learned, isn't above renting your prepaid/guaranteed for late arrival room to someone else and only referring you to another hotel one day at a time. It wasn't until 3 a.m. that we were finally checked into the Grand Hyatt, but only for one night -- tomorrow morning we have to return to Hyatt Place & beg for the balance of our prepaid stay. The dip at the front desk refused to guarantee a late morning checkin or even that we receive the balance of our 3-day stay.

If you don't mind getting kicked around from hotel to hotel (wherever they happen to have space) it might work out (the 12th floor of the Grand Hyatt's not bad :):) ), but we have a full day of activiities planned tomorrow until the very late evening hours (& a friend in Hyatt Place depending on us for a ride) so this just really jerks us around at this point

[dahammer]

what time did you call the hotel to let them know you were going to be late?

from the PRICELINE terms and conditions

Late Arrival and Failure to Check-in on First Night: If you are going to be delayed or find that you cannot check in to your hotel on the date you requested, you should contact the hotel to let them know. If you fail to check in to your hotel on the day of your reservation and do not alert the hotel, the remaining portion of your reservation will be canceled and you will not be entitled to a refund.

[MikeMpls]

I consider 1 a.m. to be within that first night. No special notice was required to the hotel.

We routinely check in to our hotels up to ~ 3 a.m.

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear of your negative experience.

While getting 'walked' is certainly never fun, just like airlines, it is part of their business model in order to increase revenue by overbooking by x% which they historically estimate won't show up to use their hotel room. While they're pretty good at this game and they are successful in collecting extra revenue as a result, sometimes they guess wrong and somebody has to be walked. Just as the airlines offer travel vouchers to those willing to be bumped from a flight, the nite you were walked should be at no charge (at the hotel you were walked to as well as the hotel you had booked) and you should receive a refund for this nite of your stay.

While i do agree that a pre-paid room should never be re-sold (if i paid for it i have the option to use it or not... you don't have the option to take that right away from me), the hotel is always trying to maximize revenue, and at 1am considered you a no-show, figuring that they could double-dip and re-rent the room on the assumption that your plans had changed. It is in Priceline's terms that you should call the hotel if you'll be arriving rate (as a rule i always call if i intend to arrive after 11pm... or earlier if i know the hotel may sell-out) and if you routinely arrive late i would get in the habit of calling ahead and making them aware of your late arrival... you can even go so far as to give them your credit card info over the phone and ask them to check you in while on the phone.

Just like those who complain they couldn't get a non-smoking room, a room with two beds, etc, and "have never had a problem before"... eventually your luck runs and you encounter a problem such as you did. Call ahead and you can save yourself the aggrevation and inconvenience of a similar situation in the future.

Hope the rest of your trip goes more smoothly.

[MikeMpls]

Sorry to hear of your negative experience....

On the 2nd call to Priceline (office that handles this stuff was closed in the early morning hours), they put me on hold for quite a while and arranged an 11 a.m. check-in at the original Hyatt Place. The daytime staff were apologetic & helpful, as was the manager (although he indicated he wished they cut off Priceline earlier).

Besides calling as thereuare suggests (even when you might normally think it not necessary), I'd recommend people winning this location be prepped for these substitutions and have Priceline's 800# handy (it's not on the confirmations!).

As substitutions go, the Grand Hyatt's not a bad deal if you can work in the hotel switch on day 2.

Be cautious with this place but stand your ground & it should work out.

Now I mainly need to work on my caffeine level to make it through the rest of the evening.