Hotwire Hotel: 3* Pittsburgh (Downtown) Hilton Pittsburgh and Towers

[Ariana13xy]

Used BB's links to access both HOTWIRE and PRICELINE. Bid three nights ago unsuccessively on PRICELINE:

• 3* Pittsburgh Downtown, West Mifflin - West Homestead, Pittsburgh South Side 3-Star $85
  
• 3.5* Pittsburgh Downtown, Pittsburgh South Side, West Mifflin - West Homestead Boutique $95
  
• 3.5* Pittsburgh Downtown, Pittsburgh South Side Boutique $89
  
• 4* Pittsburgh Downtown, Pittsburgh South Side $85
  
• 4* Pittsburgh Downtown $80
  

Checked HOTWIRE today and saw they were offering a 3* for $88 (total $207.83), so retried a bunch of bids on Priceline for no lower than a three star, keeping my bidding total lower than that of Hotwire. No accepts, so went with HOTWIRE's offer. Got the Hilton on the edge of the Point State Park.

Pretty relieved, as prices are skyrocketing. Both Steelers and Penguins play that weekend, and Sat. night rooms are retailing $250-300.

Thanks BB for helping me ID the Hilton and HOTWIRE / bid confidently!

:)

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Nice to see you stuck with this one and monitored prices often, scoring the best deal you could when it presented itself!

Can you please add a reply to this thread with the amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view this information by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Thank you for sharing your results and using the HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your purchase.

Enjoy your stay (and any of the games if you're going)

[Ariana13xy]

Thanks!

Here are the listed amenities for the Hilton Pittsburgh and Towers (3*):

• Fitness Center
  
• Restaurant(s)
  
• Business Center
  
• High-speed Internet Access
  

And sorry for the double-post- I tried to stop my browser when I realized I had inverted the order of my bids in my description, but I guess the original posted anyway. Couldn't figure out how to delete my own posts... just edit.

Thanks, BB board! And YES, I'm going to both games! Let's Go Pens! Here We Go, Steelers, Here We Go! :)

[AaronJB]

Thank you for the follow-up.

[taliategan]

Update on this hotel from the newspaper today - still operating under Hilton name, but it is not linked into the Hilton reservation system; Hilton willing to let it operate under its name on an interim basis if it was run by a receiver rather than the current owner under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy case; an offer has been made by Wyndam to take over hotel and convert it into a Wyndam Grand - Wyndam is interested becauase it has the largest conference facilities between Phildaelphia and Chicago.

[Ariana13xy]

Interesting! I also just got this email from HOTWIRE, which about made my heart jump out of my chest (I thought they were about to tell me that they were overbooked):

Dear Ariana13xy,

We are contacting you about your upcoming stay at Hilton Pittsburgh and Towers, Hotwire itinerary XXX.

We have been informed that the Hilton Pittsburgh and Towers has changed its name to Hilton Pittsburgh. Please be assured that the star rating and amenities are the same. The hotel still holds your reservation and your original Hotwire itinerary confirmation with the Hilton Pittsburgh and Towers.

Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you. Our customers are very important to us, and we would like to ensure you have the best possible experience.

Sincerely,

Hotwire Customer Care

Well, I'll have to report back on how it went, I guess!

[86x]

great find, A13XY! as I will be visiting Pitt soon, I should take your experience into account. thanks for the scoop.

I was surprised, though, to not find this property listing (not even an address) on hilton.com, so How does one reserve it, without finding it on discount sites? I just wanted to see what it retails for.

and... tripadvisor has it as being a sold out property that particular weekend (one of many in the area that sells out on Browns/Steelers weekend).

[86x]

This hotel was nice but they double billed me! I paid $100 to hotwire and then several weeks later the rooms were again charged to my incidental card, less about 25% (presumed to be hotwire's volume discount in this case) as Hilton Pittsburgh (even though that name no longer actually exists). I spoke with a hotel manager at the ex-Hilton to report that and she said she had experienced several problems like this due to the multiple billing systems running in parallel during the transition between Hilton, and the new franchise. I am told the refund (of the lesser amount, billed after my stay) is pending shortly and they did apologize for the error. I am glad I caught this on my statement since they were about a month apart, but I knew I had definitely prepaid and the amount on my statement didn't even match what I had been quoted.

I had found it strange that the hotel bill was slipped under my door which contained the secret hotwire rate, the cost hotwire was being charged by the hotel. This should have been a warning sign to me to check the payment method, which is how I caught up to the problem so quickly. I don't know if I would have.

I had questioned the clerk at checkout about how come I could be seeing hotwire's bills. Isn't that a term of service breach between hotwire and the hotel billing department? And not only that, doesn't it invite confusion (and even disdain) of the guest, not to mention potential double billing that occurred? The clerk seemed aware of the problem but not overly concerned because he acknowledged it was being worked on but sort of out of his reach.

I think you should all always audit your statements especially if you choose this hotel while they are in transition.

[AaronJB]

Thank you for the follow-up. I've had this happen (double billing) on a couple of occasions, as well, and it is never fun to have to deal with, but glad it was eventually resolved in this case.