Hotwire Hotel: 4* San Francisco (Embarcadero) Hyatt Regency

[polly021]

I need to share this experience of mine at Hyatt Regency San Francisco!!

I booked for 2 nights using Hotwire for 2 adults and 2 children aged 17 and 12 in May 2010 for accomodation in mid July 2010. Hotwire gurantees 4 in a room.

Upon check in at hotel i was given a king size bed with option of one roll away bed and 4th person to sleep on floor.

This was totally unacceptable to me as i had 2 grown up kids and my booking request was done 2 months in advance. I was told hotel was full and no other rooms were available. I requested to see the front desk manager and explained the situation to her. She was also not forthcomming and her comment was Hotwire was given run of mills room only. As the hotel was full and no other rooms available i had to accept that king size room. I meantioned to her that i booked 2 months in advance and surely hotel should have allocated a room with 2 double beds. Her words were to this effect...

Hotwire requested a kind size room. I told her to give me that in writing as i will then take it up with hotwire. She then changed her tune and said she cant do that but its always run of mill given to hotwire clients. I asked if they discriminated against hotwire clients. She didnt give me a direct answer but her response was indirectly yes they discriminated as she said that if i booked direct with hotel i would have been given a room with 2 double beds. I broght it to her attention that hotwire gurantees on their voucher 4 to a room. She saids yes they do that but theydo not gurantee 2 double beds and this is left to discretion of hotel! I found this a bit hard to swallow comming from a 5 start hotel but i had no choice but to accept the room.( The manager also had the cheek to tell me normally they charge $25.00 per night for a roll away bed but she wont charge me) . I asked if they could put in 2 roll away beds but this was against fire dept rules accordng to her.

Well the king size bedroom with an added rool away bed was just too small to accomodate 4 people. There was no place to move in the room or open bags. I find it hard to believe that hotwire while not guranteeing 2 double beds gurantees you 4 in a room in a hotel room that at worst may sleep 2 people comfortably!!

I used hotwire over priceline to ensure we get a room for 4 but obviously this did not happen. This was the first time i used hotwire and i think it will be the last. So too for Hyatt!!!

[thereuare]

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[Gallus50]

I know we need to see the original bid/win as a post, but this is appalling. At the very least, she should have had a pullout that could sleep two. They also probably could have put her in an upgrade/suite. Hyatt could have also walked her to another property. I would have had HW on the line immediately. HW or Hyatt should give Polly her money back.

I had a situation in Charlotte/Huntersville NC at at Country Suites where they gave me a king and a sofa bed for 4 of us. I called the front desk, told them this was not acceptable and they did everything they could to accommodate me. Just before 6 pm, they moved us to a suite with two beds. I gave them a very positive review on TA and emailed their corporate website to thank the front desk clerk by name.

That's the way it should be done. Shame on you, Hyatt.

[polly021]

4* Hotel Hyatt Regency San Francisco

$129 per night

13/7/10-15/07/10

Embarcadero Area

Fitness Center

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High Speed Internet Access

It received an 85% recommended in reviews

Overall Satisfaction of 4.5

[thereuare]

Thanks for the post and sorry to hear of your negative experience.

Hopefully you won't be in this situation again, but if you can't get a satisfactory response from the hotel management, then you should get HOTWIRE on the phone while at the property and have them resolve it for you. If you indicated quad occupancy on your search then HOTWIRE should be able to resolve the situation with the hotel, if it was an overbooked situation they would have tried to find you alternate accommodations nearby.

I would still contact HOTWIRE as this point and let them know that you purchased a room for quad occupancy and that is not what you received... i'm sure they will contact the hotel to get their side of the story and, assuming as described above, will make some sort of mends.

Let us know if you contact HOTWIRE and their response.

[polly021]

thereuare thanks for the response.

What makes you think this situation wont happen again? Hyatt were adamant that there are no room guarantees with Hotwire? All they guarantee is four in a room...so Hyatt can still give you any small room,throw in a roll away bed and make one person sleep on floor , all within their rights to the discomfort to their clients...

I have sent an email to Hotwire and lets see whats their response..

I also see you moved this thread from the off topic run of mill to here. In my opinion this info will get lost here and i would appreciate it if it could be moved back to run of mill thread where it will really help follow travellers to ascertain if its worth taking a chance to book for 4 people with hotwire..The whole purpose of this post is not to show a winning bid but to inform travellers about the risk of using Hotwire when booking for 4 people.

Just to add to my above post, im from South Africa and was on vacation for 8 weeks in USA having visited New York,Niagra Falls,Washington, Carey North Carolina, Atlanta, New Orleans, Orlando, Miami, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, LA and finally SF.. I booked my best hotels(so i presumed) at beginning of my stay (Sheraton New York) and at end of my stay ( Hyatt Regency SF) so as to spoil my family.. In between i booked Holiday Inns..The HI may be 3 stars but they would certainly make Hyatt look ashamed as far as customer satisfaction is concerned.

Im my opinion off peak will be fine using hotwire to book for 4 people in a room as rooms may be available. Come peak periods hotwire will be at bottow of pecking que for choice of rooms!! Is anyone on family vacation prepared to take that chance?? Not me..never again!!!

Await response from Hotwire and i will keep you informed!!

[polly021]

Heres Hotwires response which leaves much to be desired.... :)

At Hotwire, our customers are extremely important, however, Hotwire guarantees all rooms booked will accommodate the appropriate number of guests in each room, based on the total number of guests and the number of rooms requested at the time of booking. Hotel industry standards state a king size bed will accommodate three persons. While some hotel partners allow customers booking a hot Rate to reserve their preferred bed type and number of beds, all hot Rate rooms without Bed Choice reservations are considered "run-of-house." The bed type for run-of house rooms is based on the availability of the hotel on the day of check-in; some properties may offer pull-out couches or cots to accommodate this need.

I regret that we are unable to offer further compensation for this situation.

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to reply to this email or contact us directly at 1-866-HOTWIRE (468-9473). Thank you for choosing Hotwire.

Sincerely,

Eleanor M.

Hotwire Customer Care

www.hotwire.com

So it appears sleeping on floor is totally acceptable by Hotwire???

To me it appears Hotwire never even contacted Hyatt after i sent them the email query...they merely answered my query!!So much for customer service!!

This makes me of the opinion that its not Hyatts fault but a Hotwires problem as they are contacted for run of mills room only! The 4 in a room gurantee means nothing.. Its like guranteeing 6 in a room too...and making 4 sleep on the floor!! same thing!! I have travelled throughout the world and have never ever had any family member of mine sleeping on the floor.. Well their is always a first time...and it was Hotwire!!!

[thereuare]

If you read their response their stance is:

King bed = triple occupancy

Rollaway = at least one additional occupancy

King (3 people) + Rollaway (1 person) = Quad Occupancy (4 people... what you had searched for)

I've never heard of "standard industry practice" for a King sized bed holding triple occupancy (although it probably could), and perhaps some of our users who are in the industry can comment, but as per the above HOTWIRE's stance is that your room did accommodate quad occupancy.... 3 in the king bed and 1 one in the rollaway.

[BrainTop]

Old thread...but I just came across it now.

When I booked my hotel thru hotwire (2 adults/2 children), they show you a page that shows the TYPE of room. Then, based on your guesstimate and the hotellist here, go to that hotels webiste and see what they offer for that bed type. it doesnt work every time though.