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Hotwire Hotel: Is it possible to bid on a specific hotel?


busymomma
By busymomma,
in

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So, this is my first time trying to book with Priceline or Hotwire. I want to book the Embassy Suites North Columbus, Ohio. Its a 3*. I think I prefer using Priceline. (I think) Based on needing a room for 2 adults, and 3 kids, and wanting to be able to get a refund if necessary. Um, how do I go about trying to make sure I get the Embassy, or is that not possible?

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In a nutshell, it is not possible to get a specific hotel and you can not get a refund. If these are your criteria, PL bidding is not for you.

If you want to get a deal and be sure of the hotel, you can try to ID hotels through this site on Hotwire and take the small risk. Or you can try lastminutetravel.com, using the thread in Run of House on this site, and be sure of your choice. Neither of those are generally refundable, however.

If you want to be able to cancel or get a refund, you should book conventionally thru phone or website. You may be able to get a discount with AAA. Or Expedia has a sale right now - you could check that out.

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Ok, so minus the refund issue, I think we still want to try and get a good deal and use either Priceline or Hotwire, probably priceline. Is it too early to try to get a hotel for the end of September? Does the timing of your bid change what you'll get, room availability or price differences? And with priceline does it make a huge difference between 3* and 3.5* hotels? Basically I think we'd like a great hotel, no major perks, free breakfast would be great (but you said it's impossible to guarantee to get a certain hotel).

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Ok, so minus the refund issue, I think we still want to try and get a good deal and use either Priceline or Hotwire, probably priceline. Is it too early to try to get a hotel for the end of September? Does the timing of your bid change what you'll get, room availability or price differences? And with priceline does it make a huge difference between 3* and 3.5* hotels? Basically I think we'd like a great hotel, no major perks, free breakfast would be great (but you said it's impossible to guarantee to get a certain hotel).

There is a lot of discussion about timing in the FAQs in (first post in this area), but essentially one never knows. Early bids have been successful, as well as some last minute ones. The trick is to explore the lower levels early on, saving your max budget bids for later.

Priceline has a definition of each of the star levels. If you haven't done so already, take a look in the Ohio - Priceline area. The very first posts have lists of hotels people have reported here. Also, if you look on the retail side of Priceline (direct purchase as opposed to bidding) you can see which hotels fall into which star category. Not all hotels on the retail side show up via bidding (and vice versa), but when they are on both sides, the star rating is the same.

Free breakfasts seem to appear more often at the lower star levels, but it varies.

Have you decided which Priceline zones you want to bid? If you key in "columbus" in the Priceline box up at the top right on this page, you will link right to the bidding area of Priceline and can see a map of the various zones. When you bid a zone, you have to be prepared to accept any hotel within the shaded area of the map.

And finally, if you just key in "columbus" in the Quick Search box at the top of this page, you will see a whole bunch of bidding results for that city.

Romelle

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Welcome to BetterBidding!

Please start by reading your messages.

The other issue you have is that PRICELINE only guarantees double occupancy, after that it's at the discretion of the hotel, and you could receive a room with only one bed. While you can call the hotel you win and request a room with two beds, the hotel may not be able, or willing, to honor your request. This is a risk with even just triple or quadruple occupancy, but even a greater risk with 5 people, since most standard hotel rooms are not designed for five. Is this a risk you're willing to accept?

If you are/aren't willing to accept this risk, HOTWIRE would likely be less of a risk since you can search for quad occupancy, so at least you'd only be one over the limit booked for as opposed to 3 extra people.

Let us know your thoughts and how you'd like to proceed.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases (please click each of these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links before replying)

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Read my messages and clicked on the links. (I'll use the links through here to book the room and then post about it.)

Ok, I think I'd choose the less risky route and go with HOTWIRE. Basically we need 2 double beds, one for adults, one for 2 kids, and then a crib for baby (or we'll bring a portable crib). Anyways, I'd hate to get to the hotel and not have all of us be able to sleep in the same room. Now on Hotwire can I just put down 4 adults, hoping that'll give me the 2 double beds? And then ask for a crib later when I call the hotel to confirm. Or is that totally risky?

After looking at the Columbus area I think we want the Worthington/Polaris/Westerville areas. I'll look through the corresponding posts on HOTWIRE to see what prices people were getting and go from there.

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With HOTWIRE, if you search for four in the room, then you are ensured bedding for four - that is usually two beds, but can be 1 + sofabed or other combination. Definitely do be sure to indicate how many are in your party when searching.

With HOTWIRE, you are presented with a set of listings with amenity icons, star rating, zone and price. You do not find the name of the hotel until after purchase - there is no bidding like with PRICELINE.

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

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If you search HOTWIRE for 2adults/2children (you can also try 4adults/0chidlren to see if any alternate options are presented) does anything appear within your desired zone(s), star rating and budget??

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

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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