Hotwire Hotel: 4* Brussels Sheraton Hotel and Towers

[13Logan]

At this point, this comment is of a general nature. I'm trying to better understand how Hotwire uses tripadvisor info - and how we can use that info to identify a hotel.

**For example** - I've been looking at hotels in Brussels from April 29 to May 7. Unfortunately, something is going on in Brussels and rooms are almost all booked on April 29 and 30. I tried playing with the dates and looked at April 30- May 7.

The cheapest hotel shown is supposedly a 3.5* at $103 a night, with a tripadvisor rating of 2.5 (80+ reviews) and following amenities: Boutique Hotel - Fitness Center - Restaurant(s) - Business Center

- High-speed Internet Access.

Yet, if I look on tripadvisor, I cannot find any hotel that matches those criteria, in particular the rating of 2.5 with 80+ reviews. Why is that? Shouldn't I be able to find that same hotel on tripadvisor?

Thank you for your insight on this.

[tilepusher]

I don't see any TA information for this hotel. Do you still see it? If so, what are the exact search parameters that you're using?

[13Logan]

I don't see any TA information for this hotel. Do you still see it? If so, what are the exact search parameters that you're using?

Yes, I still see it (today, March 1st at 16h:08 EST). It is to the right of the map, under "Travel information: 7.2 miles to Brussels National (BRU)" and it says: "Traveler rating

2.5 out of 5

Based on 80+ customer reviews (Last reviewed February 2009)"

1 room for 2 persons in Brussels, Thu April 30 to Thu May 7

[tilepusher]

I still don't see the information, so I'll just have to take your word for it.

If you don't see a hotel that matches the TA information, try this:

1. Look for hotels that show slightly less than the number of reviews claimed by Hotwire. For some reason, I have found that number of actual reviews (which you can see on the top right-hand corner when you click to the reviews) is generally greater than what is shown in the search results.

2. The TA information given by Hotwire can be slightly out of date, so you should ignore TA reviews posted within the last few days when determining the number of reviews and when the hotel was last reviewed.

With this in mind, I looked at the listings on Tripadvisor, and my best guess for this hotel is the Hotel Husa President Park. Both of the above points proved to be relevant here. Although the listing in the search results shows 78 reviews, the full listing for the hotel shows 87. And there are reviews for the hotel posted on March 1st.

[13Logan]

Thank you for your reply. It's weird that you can't see the info I see on Hotwire (which I still get today, though the price is now $104). Perhaps cookies or the cache are having an effect (mine are cleared every day).

When I looked on Tripadvisor, I did broaden my search in case the Hotwire info wasn't exactly up-to-date or even accurate. And I did think perhaps it was the Hotel Husa President Park as the number of reviews and Travelers' rating matched what Hotwire said. Except for the amenities - on Hotwire, the "mystery" hotel is listed as a boutique hotel, which the Hotel Husa President Park is not with almost 300 rooms.

[dahammer]

since your trip is for 7 or 8 nights, would you consider opening two HOTWIRE browsers:

1) for the single night

2) for the balance of your stay

if both browsers show the same listing, you could buy the first night and if its acceptable, buy the remaining balance. If the hotel is not acceptable, you can continue to search other resources on the board.

Please use the HOTWIRE links on the board if you proceed.

good luck!

[13Logan]

I thank you for your suggestion. I may indeed follow it if I decide to go the Hotwire route. It could be a way to get around apparent discrepancies between what Hotwire says and the actual information available on Tripadvisor.

However, my main goal with this thread was to better understand (and perhaps help other users understand) how Hotwire uses tripadvisor info - and how we can use that info to identify a hotel.

I gave an **example** (but there must be other ones) where there seems to be no match on Tripadvisor despite the info shown on Hotwire, which is weird, and was looking for insight on that subject. It's related to other people's comments on hotel ratings that change or do not seem to be the right ones and other such issues with Hotwire.

[dahammer]

just a few thoughts on your subject....I looked for hotels using Tripadvisor that had a rating of 2.5 out of 5, the main problem is there are over 200 hotels in Brussels. So you would need to "sort" the list of hotels by rating and then try and get a match for the 2.5 out of 5 Tripadvisor rating with at least 80 reviews as well as being at least a 3*, and fitting the description of a "Boutique" property. I really could not find anything that was a close match.

For example, I have used Tripadvisor ratings to help Identify a hotel listing that was of interest to me, but in my situation, the eligible "pool" of hotels was much smaller, perhaps 35 or less. It was much easier because didn't have to comb through multiple pages of prospective properties and I was able to make an educated guess among just a handful of close matches.

My other concern is the rating itself....2.5 out of 5 is not very good in my book, even though its human nature to complain than to praise, I still would have second thoughts about spending 8 days at a place with such mixed reviews especially since you can't cancel a HOTWIRE reservation.

If your plans are firm rather than theoretical, let us know, we can move this topic to the appropriate section on BetterBidding where others more experienced may chime in.

[13Logan]

Thank you, dahammer, I did do various sorts in order to find a hotel matching Hotwire's info supposedly taken from Tripadvisor. In an attempt to solve this mystery (that is: why the info or Hotwire cannot be found on Tripdadvisor), I've looked at almost all the hotels listed for Brussels. I was unable to find any match, and it is why I made this post.

At this point, given the comments made, I can only assume that perhaps the Tripadvisor info on Hotwire is not accurate. Why is that? I don't know. I can wonder if this kind of discrepancy happens often. I can also wonder if this info can be misleading and what its potential impact on a prospective user might be (i.e. if the hotel is indeed the Husa President Park, then the user is mislead).

And yes, whatever the hotel, a 2.5 rating makes it unattractive. But even then, it should show up on Tripadvisor.

[13Logan]

Hotel rate per night $65.00

Nights: 3

Rooms: 1

Subtotal: $195.00

Tax recovery charges and fees: $75.65 (more than 38% of basic price!!)

Total price: $270.65

Amenities:

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-speed Internet Access

Golf Nearby

Tennis Nearby

Tripadvisor review = 4/5

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Hope you're happy with the results and this property works well for your plans... looks like a very nice deal at this price!

Thank you for sharing your results with the board.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

Enjoy your stay.

[13Logan]

Thanks, it's a good deal until the charges and fees are added. (it's still cheap, but the fees are outrageous). It's great to be able to learn and share on this forum.

That said, this particular stay has nothing to do with the comments I posted in the general Hotwire forum, and so I don't understand why they've been subsumed here.

[thereuare]

Your original inquiry regarding the Tripadvisor ratings was in regards to this particular stay (i'm assuming since both were for Brussels) which is why i merged the threads.