Priceline Hotel: 4* Vienna (West) Mercure Wien Europaplatz

[styrx]

I have just won a bid for Hotel Mercure Wien Europaplatz at $78, is it really 4*?

I bidded for 5* city centre at $75, added a west zone and tried $77, final bid of $78 adding 4*.

Before i bid, I did a check on the 4* hotels that are available on my period of travelling, and Hotel Mercure Wien Europaplatz was not even inside the list. The only 4* mercure hotel that is listed in priceline is Mercure Grand Hotel Biedermeier Wien. Can someone help me on this

[yellowdog]

Thank you for sharing your result with the board!

I'm not clear over the zone for this hotel. Did you win for the City or West zone? Both zones got 4* bidding.

The only 4* mercure hotel that is listed in priceline is Mercure Grand Hotel Biedermeier Wien. Can someone help me on this

What do you need help with? Did you look at the PRICELINE retail site or the board's Priceline hotel list?

Enjoy your stay.

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

Yellowdog.

[styrx]

I had email priceline and this was their reply

"Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We understand that you believe that the Hotel Mercure Wien Europaplatz does not have any

rating in Priceline.

We evaluate each participating property on many different criteria, including cleanliness, guest satisfaction, decor, etc. We screen

participating hotels carefully and update our information constantly to ensure that you always receive the best available hotel.

We are sorry to hear that you feel that this hotel does not meet your expectations. While placing your request, you agreed to accept any 4 or

higher star hotel within the area(s) you selected. Your hotel does have a 4 star rating.

All properties offered through priceline.com have been evaluated according to the specific star level standards that we have developed

exclusively for our program and described on our web site. While you may feel that this property should have a different star rating or is rated

differently by other groups, we are confident that our evaluation of this property will meet your expectations.

By naming your own price, you saved $93.45 or 28% based on the lowest published rate available at the time of booking. You would not have

received these savings had you booked your reservation through the hotel or on another website; however, one of the reasons we are able to offer

superior savings, is because name your own price reservations come with more restrictions, including the agreement that they will not be

cancelled.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you find this information helpful."

A check on PL vienna, the Vienna Mercure Wien Europaplatz is categorized under "unrated" star category. I had check all the 4* that are available for the period I am staying and Vienna Mercure Wien Europaplatz is not even in the list.

I had email back to PL, will post an update when I get a reply.

[styrx]

Just received a reply from PL, and they are still not answering my question as in why I was awarded an "unrated" hotel. I had emailed a strong letter back to PL, demanding a proper answer.

"Thank you for taking the time to send us an e-mail. We understand that you believe that the Hotel Mercure Wien Europaplatz does not have any rating in Priceline.

We apologize that you are unhappy with your upcoming hotel accommodations. We do evaluate each participating hotel on many different criteria, including cleanliness, guest satisfaction, decor, etc. We are sorry to hear that this hotel falls short of your expectations.

Per our Quality Experience Guarantee, your hotel has been star-rated by priceline according to our rigorous rating system. This means that our hotel staff has researched your hotel, reviewed customer comments and compared star ratings assigned by other rating services. The hotel you get will meet priceline's strict quality standards.

We do feel that this hotel is properly rated through our system, and we are unable to offer any compensation at this time. However, if you experience problems while at this hotel, please contact the hotel's front desk and provide them an opportunity to assist you. If the front desk is unable to assist, please contact our Customer Service department

for further assistance.

We apologize for the inconvenience and hope you find this information helpful."

[yellowdog]

I'm sorry to say that i don't understand the problem here. This hotel is rated 4* on the UK and Asia side of PRICELINE. When using PRICELINE you never know what hotel you get. And you can't expect to get any of the hotels on the retail side since that service use other zones and hotels than the bidding service.

Can you please clarify your problem with this so maybe we can explain for you.

Can you also please confirm the zone for the hotel you got.

Yellowdog.

[thereuare]

I'm not clear over the zone for this hotel. Did you win for the City or West zone?

I believe this property is in PRICELINE's West zone, please confirm which zone this property is located in, i'll then comment on your situation above.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[styrx]

I bid through the PRICELINE link here. My initial bid was for 5* in city center for $75, thereafter added the west zone, bid for 5* at $76. Bid was not accepted, so I added 4* to my bid for city center and west zone at $78. My bid was accepted by Mercure Wien Europaplatz. I had a look at PL site in HK and there are 80 over 4* in Vienna, compare to 13 in the PL U.S site. Why is there such a big different?

From the link that I book from, this hotel is categorized as "unrated", and now PL tell me that its 4*! I just don't understand this whole thing

[thereuare]

The above doesn't confirm for us which zone this property is located in...

If you go to your PRICELINE winning bid confirmation page (click the MY PROFILE link at the top right of their home page, then click the MY TRIPS link)... what zone is licated below the hotel name but above the address??

[styrx]

The above hotel is in the west zone, I spoke to the customer service yesterday and he admitted there is a mistake in the rating of the hotel. Apparently the hotel rating had changed but was not reflected on PL system, that's why it's still rated 4*. I was very adamant and refuse to give in. In the end he cancel my booking and gave me a full refund. Thanks for all the help guys. I am not sure whether to bid on PL again in the future!

[thereuare]

Thanks for the update and confirmation of the zone.

Glad you worked it out.