Hotwire Hotel: 2.5* Union Square West - Nob Hill ?

[packjev]

I'm searching for 11 Sept - 16 Sept. Any idea what hotels these are?

2.5* Union Square West - Nob Hill area hotel

Boutique, High-speed Internet

95% Hotwire users recommend

$133

Also:

3.5* Union Square West - Nob Hill area hotel

Fitness Center, Restaurant, Business Center, High-speed Internet

90% Hotwire users recommend

$168

Thanks for your help!

jp.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please click this HOTWIRE link and repliy to this thread, we'll then have a look at the offers above.

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

Thanks.

[Colfax]

Welcome to the board, packjev.

For the 3.5*, I think these could be new icons for the Rex, or possibly the Donatello. The Handlery and Warwick have been reported with these icons before but they're both rated 4/5 on TripAdvisor while this mystery hotel is 4.5/5, making it a better fit for Rex or Donatello.

For the 2.5*, it could be any of the following 3* now downgraded to 2.5*: King George, Hotel Diva, Hotel Frank, or Hotel Vertigo.

Sorry I can't give a more definitive answer.

Those rates are fairly high and you can probably beat them bidding for a 3.5* or 3* on Priceline. I like Hotwire when I know what I'm buying, but when I can't do a positive ID on Hotwire I usually go with Priceline to save money. What are you looking for in this hotel stay?

Please use this HOTWIRE link if you purchase one of those options and let us know what you get. Or let us know if you want to try PRICELINE instead and someone can suggest a strategy.

[packjev]

Thank you very much for your help. I'm looking for a very nice hotel in a good area for my wife and me. I'm going to a pretty big conference that might be filling up some of these hotels. We're currently booked at the Abri (through the conference) at a rate of $200+taxes, but I'd rather book something for cheaper through bb and the PRICELINE or HOTWIRE. Your advice to book through Priceline if we don't know what we're looking at on Hotwire is a good one. Thanks again.

jp.

[thereuare]

My guess for the 3.5* is the Donatello... for the 2.5* i'd guess the Hotel Bijou upgraded since the last time it was reported to the board.

While using PRICELINE when you're not confident about what you may get with HOTWIRE is usually a good policy, keep in mind that when using PRICELINE you can receive any hotel in the zone at the star rating you select. While this usually isn't such a big deal at the higher star levels, at the lower star levels there can be a very big difference in quality from one hotel to the next, even at the same star rating. At least with the above (especially for the 2.5*) it shows Tripadvisor ratings which can give you a little bit of comfort knowing that the hotel(s) are well reviewed by previous guests (as 4.0 and 4.5 TA ratings are better then most)

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

Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if/how we can be of further help.

[Colfax]

Hotel Abri hasn't been reported as a Name Your Own Price win before but in Priceline's retail section Abri is rated 2*. It gets pretty good reviews though, esepecially for a 2* (#26 of 242 SF hotels on TripAdvisor). Curiously TripAdvisor rates Abri as 3.5*. It's common for two services to rate the same hotel differently but 3.5* vs 2* is a pretty wide discrepancy. In this case I suspect Priceline is underrating the hotel.

You have a couple options here:

1) Try to win a 4* in USW or USE (Abri is in USW but USE is very close) for less than your $200 convention rate.

2) Try to win something similarly rated to Abri, probably a 3*, but at a lower rate than Abri, maybe $90-120, I'm guessing.

It's still early for September but if you'd like to try one of these routes let us know which and someone will suggest a strategy.

[packjev]

Great info, thanks Colfax and thereuare.

I guess I'll hang on to our reservation at the Abri for now, and do some more research on the neighborhoods. I'm eyeing that Drisco Hotel right now, but I don't think they play around w/ Priceline or Hotwire. My wife wants something small and boutiquey, and if not, then w/ a pool and 24-hr room service. Since we have until September, it's probably okay, to wait it out and see what we can get closer to the dates. I'll follow-up when we know exactly what/where we want.

Quick question: on Hotwire, the percentage of positive reviews are now labeled as "Hotwire customer reviews". Do they still get them from Tripadvisor?

Thanks, again!

jp.

[AaronJB]

HOTWIRE listings do not always show tripadvisor ratings, but if they do, they are located on the detail page (click "see details", then scroll down on the next page.)

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