Priceline Hotel: 4* Las Vegas (Lake Las Vegas) Lowes Lake Las Vegas

[rivche]

I have bid on Priceline many times over the years both in the states and Europe. NEVER AGAIN! :)

I just was bidding on 4 & 5* in Las Vegas for my Bachelorette party and was completely deceived by their zone map. According to the Priceline zone map, Henderson Nevada doesn't have any 4* or even 3 1/2 * in its vicinity. So I included Henderson in my 4 & 5* hotel search to increase my number of bids possible. Lo and behold I WON a 4* hotel in Henderson for $140 (4/9/2011). This is way too much to pay for an area that is about 20 minutes from the strip. I am devestated that my party is ruined by being so far from Vegas and all because they misrepresented their properties.

Priceline will not refund my money as I included Henderson in my search. Now that I know this type of thing can happen I will not be "Better-Bidding" it any further.

Thanks and good luck to all of you.

[Dman]

Sorry to hear that this happened to you. I try to play it even safer than that - such as, when bidding for a 4*, I try to avoid even using zones that have 3 and 3.5* places, just in case a place got it's rating recently boosted. When I was recently bidding for a 5*, I only bid in the zone I really wanted, plus zones that didn't even have any 4* places listed.

[thereuare]

Lo and behold I WON a 4* hotel in Henderson for $140 (4/9/2011).

Exactly what hotel did you win? Are you sure it's in the Henderson zone??

Let us know the above and we'll be able to comment further.

[rivche]

I won for Loews Lake Las Vegas in Henderson. After spending all morning on the phone with Priceline I felt so disgusted and tricked by the misinformation they presented on their Las Vegas zone map. They were very clear that there was NOTHING I could do and would not be refunding my money. I ended up phoning the Loews Lake Las Vegas and spoke with the front desk manager. She was unbelievably sweet and helpful!

She told me that she would have no problem refunding my reservation due to the circumstances. However, my money and reservation were controlled and tied up by Priceline. She suggested I call Priceline and have them call her as she would confirm to them her willingness to cancel my reservation. Another half hour of waiting on the phone with Priceline they finally contacted the Loews and spoke with the Manager. I was refunded my money, but all due to the kindness and professionalism of the Loews management.

I will never bid with Priceline again, but I would consider staying at the Loews on a weekend when I don't need to be near the strip.

Thanks for responding.

[yellowdog]

rivche

Good to see that everything got solved with PRICELINE :)

But something isn't right here.

Loews Lake Las Vegas in Henderson isn't located in the Henderson zone according to the PRICELINE map. And Henderson don't have any 4* bidding like you say. Did you include Lake Las Vegas by mistake when bidding? Lowes is located in Henderson but belongs to the Lake Las Vegas PRICELINE zone according to the map.

Can you please confirm the zone for the hotel. Does it say Henderson or Lake Las Vegas?

Your confirmation looks like this,

Hyatt Regency Jersey City On The Hudson

Jersey City (second line)

2 Exchange Place

Jersey City, New Jersey 07302

201-469-1234

And the second line indicates the zone for the hotel.

Thanx in advance.

Yellowdog.

[rivche]

My original itinerary was canceled so I can't access it anymore.

However, here is what the confirmation email read:

Hotel Details

Loews Lake Las Vegas

101 Montelago Boulevard

Henderson, NV 89011

702-567-6000

I definitely didn't select Lake Las Vegas as it has 4 stars in its vicinity and I didn't want to win in that area. I chose Henderson on purpose as Priceline didn't list any 4 stars. Priceline also confirmed that I had chosen Henderson and that is why they wouldn't refund me initially. As I selected the area it was my responsibility to take the hotel won in that area (this was their whole argument).

Thanks!

[rivche]

By the way I am not sure what zone map you are looking at. I just visited Priceline.com and did a search as if I did not want to bid but just purchase a specific hotel (which from what I know is the only way to see hotel names in their specific zone), the Henderson & Lake Las Vegas zones are combined as one area. So of course the Loews would show up in this category.

When you are bidding, Priceline separates these zones into their own categories. The Loews Lake Las Vegas Hotel is located in Henderson ALONG the Lake Las Vegas, but not in the specific zone known as Lake Las Vegas.

Hope this helps.

[rivche]

This shows how the two areas are separated when you are in the "bidding screen".

[rivche]

And this shows which category the Loews pops up in (Henderson and Lake Las Vegas combined) when you are searching for a specific hotel on Priceline (the non-bidding view/format).

[AaronJB]

The retail side is different from the bidding side of the service. If you are able to access the information in your account (it was apparently deleted when the reservation was cancelled) it would be greatly appreciated if you could confirm the zone that was listed for the final purchase.

Otherwise, please let us know if we can help re-booking at a different property - we would be happy to offer other ideas.

Thank you for using the site's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.

[thereuare]

If you go to Maps and Hotels.com and enter '101 Montelago Boulevard, Las Vegas' you'll see the location of the Lowes no a map.

If you then enter "Las Vegas" in the search box on the top right corner of this page you'll see the PRICELINE bidding zones... zooming in on the map shows that the Loews is clearly within the shaded boundaries of the Lake Las Vegas zone. (regardless of the hotel's mailing address being in Henderson, the hotel is located within the shaded boundaries of PRICELINE's Las Las Vegas zone)

You can't use the retail side of PRICELINE to determine your re-bid zones, as the zones and boundaries (as well as the names, as per your post above) differ then those on the bidding side. The correct way to determine your re-bid zones is detailed here: Priceline Re-Bidding Explained. If you read this link and are still confused, and want to possibly use PRICELINE again in the future, post back and we'll break it down for you so that you can properly add re-bid zones in the future.

As Aaron mentioned above, if you'd like help with a replacement stay, either thru PRICELINE or HOTWIRE, feel free to start a NEW TOPIC (you can also try our Las Vegas Checker)

Good luck.

[rivche]

No worries all. My situation has been taken care of. I was just wondering what map you were looking at. Although, I never use it as reference. I provided the non-bidding map only as an illustration of what I believed you were accessing from Priceline's website. The above link you provided does not lead us to an official Priceline map. Your source may need to be updated.

I never used the non-bidding screen during my bidding process (again I was only posting that because I thought that you were accessing an official priceline map). I originally only looked at what level of star lit up in what zone on the bidding map(i.e.; No 4 or 5 star available in Henderson Zone).

My original itinerary listed the property in the Henderson zone as also confirmed by Priceline when I called. Priceline told me they are able to view each map I accessed through my reservation and see exactly what I clicked on each bid. I guess this is how they are able to protect themselves from people trying to get their money back using fabricated stories.

Based on their access to the actual maps I clicked on while bidding, three different Priceline operators confirmed I had clicked Henderson and that I won a hotel in that zone: Loews. According to Priceline, it was because they had the proof that I clicked on Henderson that they would be unable to refund my money. I was trying to explain to them that I wasn't disputing the fact that I had clicked on Henderson but that their website listed incorrectly lists Henderson as having no 4 star hotels.

Thanks for all your help. I just want to make sure the correct information is being listed here for all that read this board.