Priceline Hotel: 4* Toronto (Markham) Sheraton Parkway North

[sftong]

Originally put in bid for $66, could not get 4* hotel, and priceline suggested bumping to $96. Quit and retry later for $80 and won the weekends of 9/3 and 9/4 for Sheraton Parkway.

I was furious as I later discovered that this hotel is only rated 3.5* in AAA, TripAdvisor, Expedia and Hotels.com. Fired an email to Priceline executives and they blah around standing by their own re-packaged rating of 4* hotel!!

I went there anwyay since I could not get my money back. And lo and behold, it's really just a 3* or 3.5* hotel. There are wears and tears everywhere, and hotel facilities are small, and not a hint of any luxury. Should have just pay additional $10 to book Hotwire "$89" 4* hotel with tripadvisor user rate of 4/5, which I researched and found only Hilton Suits fit the criteria but it requires $10 parking per night.

I would suggest moderator may want to put this as a sticky on the forum, and Priceline is really cheating non-suspecting customers here. This hotel is NEVER 3.5* to begin with, and 3* is better suited.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Sorry to hear you were disappointed in the results. While Expedia does rate this property 3.5*, both orbtiz and Travelocity rate this property similar to PRICELINE, at the 4* level.

Feel free to ask the board for help before your future purchases and please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Hope your future stays are more to your liking.

[sftong]

Well, I verified Orbitz RoundUp/Down the hotel class rating because they could not do a more granular 0.5 star rating. That leave Travelocity on the side of priceline.

My arguement is that, a hotel class rating cannot be greater than the rating by the pre-agreed rater, which is AAA/CAA in this case, as advertised on Sheraton Parkway home site. And in this case, Sheraton Parkway is awarded a 4-diamond by AAA which was translated to 3.5 star rating by AAA/CAA.

But Priceline said they "re-packaged" the rating to sell it as 4 star. I really doubt priceline sent anyone out there to inspect all the hotels in the world. But since AAA/CAA has given out the award, that means they have been there to inspect Sheraton Parkway, and it's only worth 3.5 star.

Priceline just cheats.

[thereuare]

Bottomline is that star ratings are subjective, and it's pretty hard to argue a half star difference (the 4* assigned by PRICELINE and the 3.5* you say it should be rated)

I've never stayed at this property so i'm not trying to claim what the star rating should be, but if you're going to use the opaque suppliers and give up choosing a hotel in exchange for a deep discount, then you need to have a little wiggle room in what you think the hotel's true rating should be. You shouldn't get a 2* hotel when you bid on a 4*, but as per above, a half star difference is hard to complain about given the subjectivity of of star ratings.

If you do choose to use PRICELINE (or HOTWIRE) again in the future feel free to ask the board for help and we'll try to help you avoid any 'known' issues in the area you're purchasing.

Hope your future travel plans result in a better experience.