Priceline Hotel: 2.5* Raleigh-Durham (Durham) Comfort Inn Medical Park

[moviemom]

Bid $40 first time out, having seen that the Homewood Suites was 2.5* and not seeing mention of the Comfort Inn on the list.

I am heartsick. Reviews of this hotel are terrible (see Trip Advisor), including bedbugs. The management acknowledges that at least some of the complaints are valid. I'll post my question in a separate message. We went through Better Bidding's link to get to Priceline.

[moviemom]

As I posted on the North Carolina thread, we went through Better Bidding to Priceline and got a reservation at the Comfort Inn Medical Park in Durham, NC, for $40/night for 6 nights. It's for a trip this coming week.

I have dealt with Priceline before and have been pleased. Got good rates at both the Millennium Hotel and the Homewood Suites in Durham. At the time we bid, about a month ago, the Homewood Suites was listed as 2.5*, and we didn't see the Comfort Inn Medical Park listed. But when our bid went in, we got the Comfort Inn.

Frankly, I thought, "How bad can it be? It's a Comfort Inn. It'll probably be plain, but okay."

Well, today I looked on Trip Advisor, and the reviews for this hotel are horrible. I would ordinarily take reviews with some grain of salt; however, the management itself replied to some of the comments, apologizing and acknowledging that they've had their troubles.

I am heartsick. I don't want to stay there. One of the posts was a detailed report about bedbugs, though I don't see the hotel listed on the Bedbug Registry. Maybe the customer/reviewer didn't know about the Bedbug Registry. (I didn't until today.)

Is there anything at all that can be done, other than throw the $240 away and stay elsewhere? I wrote to Priceline customer service, but I know they have a policy of no changes.

Thanks for any help you might be able to give.

[AaronJB]

Sorry to hear that the result was a disappointment. :)

Thank you for letting us know about this new PRICELINE property so that we can update the site's Priceline Hotel List.

PRICELINE reservations are non-refundable, but you can call and plead your case regarding reviews for the property (including the bed bugs) and see what they say.

Thank you for sharing your win and using the site's PRICELINE link.

Enjoy your stay.

[thereuare]

I am a frequent Priceline and Hotwire user and have had great results with both - in part, thanks to the tips on this site. Thanks for that!

It would be appreciated if you began to share your wins with the board (and as you receive them) so that the information can help others... not just when you have a problem, complaint, or new hotel to report to the board. :)

Thanks.

[moviemom]

I have shared reviews here in the past and gladly.

We have just checked into our room at this property and it is a dump. Exactly as bad as the TripAdvisor reviews led me to believe, except that (knock wood) so far, no evidence of bedbugs.

The hotel smells horrible. Despite "no smoking" signs on every room door, the whole floor reeks of cigarette smoke. Inside the room, there's been clear water damage in the bathroom that was badly painted over. And I do mean badly - it looks like a kindergarten class was unleashed with yellow paint and paintbrushes.

In the past, I have bid only on 3* and 4* properties - and have been rewarded with nice hotels.

When we went to bid for this trip, we saw on this site that the Homewood Suites on Mt. Moriah Rd. have been downgraded to a 2.5* property. We had stayed there before, liked it, and wanted to stay there again, so I bid at the 2.5* level.

If this hotel is a 2.5*, I'd hate to see what a 2* looks like. Really, I have never complained about a hotel until this one. But it's awful.

For the record, all correspondence with Priceline's customer service dept. about this issue has been met with a response of "no changes, no refunds."

[thereuare]

I have shared reviews here in the past and gladly.

Thanks for the previous review, but it would also be appreciated if you started to share your wins as you receive them so that others can benefit from the info for their own stays.

Thanks.