Hotwire Hotel: 2.5* Lumberton Ramada Inn and Suites

[repage3]

I just booked this hotel last night and I'm very dissapointed. It was listed as 2.5* but the reviews I've read on trip advisor, Orbitz and others are terrible. The first two reviews on trip advisor describe it as a fire hazard and a crack den. These and other reviews talk about dirty sheets, bugs, loud parties, drug use and prostitution in the hotel. I contacted Hotwire after reading these reviews to ask how they rated this 2.5 when other sites I looked at had it rated 2* and had terrible reviews. They said it was a combined ranking from Expedia (2), Travelocity(2) and Orbitz(3) and that averaged out to 2.5. I questioned their math but was told they also include user reviews. I asked what their user reviews were and they told me they couldn't give me that information. On the site it said they are still gathering reviews so I'm assuming the either don't have any or they have been negative and they don't want to post that. I offered to pay the difference to upgrade to a better hotel (at full price) but was told I could not do that.

Any advice on what to do? I plan on visiting the hotel since I've already paid, but I went ahead and booked a room (not through Hotwire) at another hotel with good ratings anyway. If the room at the Ramada is clean and the hotel seems reasonably safe I'll have no dispute and accept that I lost money on an extra room because I was paranoid about the reviews. If the hotel is anything like the reviews I've read do I have any recourse with Hotwire? I'm not picky about where I stay but it does need to be clean and safe. i've had good luck with Priceline in the past and assumed Hotwire would be similar. If anyone has any experience with a bad hotel through Hotwire I'd like to hear the best way to handle it.

[yellowdog]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Thank you for sharing your result with the board!

Also thanx for the addition for this new property to the BetterBidding Hotwire Hotel List

Sorry to read this! But can you please start with posting the amenites for this hotel and we'll comment the above. You can still view this information by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Please use the site's HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links to start future purchases.

Yellowdog.

[repage3]

Hi -

The only ammenity listed via HOTWIRE was high speed internet access.

On Ramada's site they list the following:

Free Continental Breakfast

Free High Speed Internet

Meeting/Banquet Facilities

Pets Allowed

Pool

Restaurant

It's possible Hotwire may change their list at some point but unfortunately that would probably make the hotel sound like an even better deal.

[thereuare]

Their math is correct: 2* + 2* + 3* = 10 divided by 3 = 2.33 which gets rounded up to 2.5*

However, I would contact HOTWIRE again and ask them to read the reviews at each of the aforementioned websites and tell them that Orbitz 'got it wrong' when it comes to the star rating, as based upon the reviews, this property clearly shouldn't be rated 2.5*. HOTWIRE is usually pretty reasonable, and if you can't get a customer service agent to act, ask for a supervisor and if they won't ask if they can escalate to their review committee to review the star rating.

If you arrive at the hotel and it is as poor at the reviews, call HOTWIRE from the hotel and explain to them the things that are wrong (tangible items work best... "the sheets are stained" is better than "the furniture is old" as the 2nd is more a matter of opinion and taste).

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[repage3]

I did get this resolved today if rather reluctantly by Hotwire. I sent them several emails with the reviews that concerned me and again explained that this did not meet what a reasonable person would consider a 2.5* hotel or even a hotel that should be listed on Hotwire. Both emails came back with a standard response telling me if there was a problem with the room when I arrived I could call and they would work with the management to make sure I was given a better room. I explained that I was traveling with a 6 month old child and would probably arrive close to midnight and I couldn't wait until then to make other arrangements if there was a problem. I also explained that many of the reviews talked about people not feeling safe at the hotel which is not something that moving to a new room could resolve. Unfortunatley they still were not willing to allow me to change to a new hotel.

I finally called the hotel directly and told them about the reviews I read and my concerns about bringing a child there. The person I spoke to said she was surprised about the reviews but wouldn't want me to stay at the hotel if I wasn't comfortable with it. She said she was fine giving a refund as long as Hotwire was okay with it. I then called Hotwire back and told them the hotel was willing to give a refund. Fortunately the person I talked to this time was helpful and put me on hold while she called the hotel and confirmed it was okay. Once it was confirmed she quickly processed the refund and sent out the email confirmation.

I have mixed feelings overall about this experience. Hotwire did refund my money but only after I talked to the hotel and got the okay from them. They did not seem at all concerned about the bad reviews and the safety concerns expressed in them. I'm surprised because a friend told me he had a similar situation where a hotel he booked clearly didn't match the star rating and they agreed after looking at the description and reviews and moved him to a new hotel. I'm not sure why they were so unwilling to move me even when I offered to pay the difference. It seems strange that the hotel was the place willing to resolve my issue and not hotwire. I have to believe that even though they said they were surprised by the reviews they realized this was not a good place to bring a child and thought it would be better just to refund the money. I don't think I will use Hotwire again after this experience unless I could clearly identify the hotel ahead of time and be sure it fits the description they are advertising. It's too bad they are more concerned about sticking to their policy and resolving an issue. I would much rather be telling a story about how they quickly addressed the issue and allowed me to pay to move to a better hotel.

[thereuare]

There are plenty of reasons why HOTWIRE needs to stick with their policy... the hotel agrees to provide deeply discounted rates in exchange of a non-cancellable reservation. As well, while i think your situation was extreme where the hotel was clearly overrated (imo, strictly based upon the reviews i read, i have no firsthand experience with this property) where do you draw the line... unfortunately you'd get users who win a 4* hotel, it's not the hotel they wanted, so they'd claim that it was really 3.5* rated (is there really that much difference between a 3.5* and 4*??) and demand that they too deserve a refund. IF there was more time between your win and your stay, i do think you would have ultimately gotten this resolved directly with HOTWIRE, but given there wasn't much time, i'm glad to see you were able to get this taken care of by going directly thru the hotel.

If you need help with a 'replacement' reservation for this stay please start a NEW TOPIC (or if you book direct please check for and use the links in our support page if available)