Hotwire Hotel: 4.5* Las Vegas (South Strip) TheHotel

[GOBROWNS]

A month or so ago I won TheHotel at Mandalay Bay for $112 for the weekend of 10/6. At the time I thought it was a great win. Unfortunately, I recently received an email from Hotwire indicating that my "room category" was no longer available. Based on a few other posts, it appears TheHotel was taking Hotwire guests who won Suites (one of the amenties listed, among the others frequently shared on the board) and sticking them in some sort of "deluxe room" which was smaller and was more akin to the Mandalay's regular sized rooms. I believe hotwire has now changed the amenities for TheHotel, but i'm not sure. I'm interested to know if anyone ran into this problem when they went to check in, and if they were still able to get the Suite?

[AaronJB]

Congrats on your success, although sorry to hear that a problem with the reservation has come up.

Can you confirm the list of amenity icons that were showing when you purchased the reservation? This info should be in your account under the trip info.

Did HOTWIRE cancel the reservation entirely?

Thank you for sharing your win and please use the site's PRICELINE or HOTWIRE links to start your purchases and searches.

Enjoy your stay.

[thereuare]

Can you confirm the list of amenity icons that were showing when you purchased the reservation? This info should be in your account under the trip info.

As well, please indicate if the Suite icon (and any other amenities) are currently showing thru the MY ACCOUNT link at HOTWIRE.

We hope you continue to share your wins with the board and use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links here for your bidding, searches and travel purchases.

[GOBROWNS]

These are the amenities-

Resort Suite

Casino

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

High-Speed Internet Access

Golf Nearby

Tennis Nearby

Spa Services

Hotwire is providing me the option to cancel, if I keep the reservation they will give me 25% of what I paid for this trip in "hotdollars" for a future stay. I was wondering if anyone had a similar experience and was able to keep the suite. For the price I could have gotten a "regular room" through the MGM players club for a lower cost at other properties.

Thanks in advance for the advice

[GOBROWNS]

This is the email I received... just for an fyi

We are contacting you about your upcoming stay at THEhotel at Mandalay Bay. Hotwire itinerary xxxxxxxx. We regret that the hotel is not able to offer the Suite that was listed on our site. We do periodically review our hotel partners' amenities to show the most accurate and up-to-date information, and we recently changed our site to reflect the current offerings of THEhotel at Mandalay Bay.

As such, we would like to offer you the option of either cancelling the reservation for a full refund, or keeping the reservation and receiving 25% of your entire stay in HotDollars. HotDollars can be used for any hotel, flight, or Hotwire hot Rate rental car booking on Hotwire. Each HotDollar is equivalent to one U.S. dollar and is available for one year from the date of issuance.

[AaronJB]

Thank you for the follow-up. :)

I believe there was another example a week or so ago of a poster who did not find out that the suite wasn't available, but only once they have to check-in. They were able to negotiate and finally get a suite. However, if HOTWIRE is telling you in advance the suite is no longer an option, I think the chances are slim at best.

[GOBROWNS]

Yeah- its really a conundrum... Because I called the reservation line at TheHotel @ Mandalay and they still have me in the suite, and when I told the woman my story she said "but its an all suite hotel" and then I relayed the story from the other poster. She did eventually say it might have been possible, but that rooms are assigned at check in, and she was still showing me in a suite. Was just curious if anyone else had this issue.

Thanks for listening :)

I'll let you know what happens, as of now I think i'm going to try to stick it out.. and maybe try the $20 trick, and at best try to get something else comped if i get bumped.

[AaronJB]

Thanks for keeping us updated - definitely let us know what happens and hopefully you'll be able to keep your suite (or at least get a partial refund if you don't get a suite.)

[GOBROWNS]

The other couple going with us received the same email last night regarding the "amenity change", so we decided to rebook. I used Priceline and got a room at the Venetian we ended up paying a little over $100 more over the three nights but I feel pretty good about it still. The HOTWIRE cancellation email I received noted we'd get a refund within 1-2 billing cycles which I thought was a bit too long.... but I guess I'm sort of at their mercy.

I'll post my priceline win in the Priceline forum.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Thanks for the udpate, and from your 'replacement' hotel it looks like you scored the Venetian, which should prove to be an even nicer experience.

I'm sure HOTWIRE will submit the refund immediately, but the 'one to two billing cycles' is standard language for most companies to minimize the number of calls they receive from users who don't see the refund on their very next statement.

Sorry to see you had to deal with this situation, but glad to see it all worked out in the end.

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