Hotwire Hotel: 3* San Diego (Mission Valley-Hotel Circle) Best Western Seven Seas

[travelsmith]

I booked a 3* for 9/24-9/26 for $61 a night and got the Best Western Seven Seas. I don't agree with their star rating. Best Western, Expedia and TripAdvisor all list this hotel as 2.5*. To make matters worse, there have been reports of bed bugs within the last several weeks. I have been on the phone with Hotwire for the last half hour trying to fight this. I am know waiting for a supervisor call back. If anyone has any tips, please let me know. I was told that they last benchmarked the rating based on Travelocity (with 3*) and Expedia (with 2.5*) on September 10th. The agent told me that they take an average ratings from three major sites, but that they were unable to get the Orbitz rating on September 10th, so he admitted that they round up in this case. I was also told that the hotel changed their bedding within the last month. I'm not sure how this gets rid of bedbugs, but Hotwire seems to think it's just fine. As you can see, I'm very frustrated!

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear of your frustration/disappointment with this purchase.

Can you please add a reply to this thread with the amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view this information by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Fortunately you have some time before this stay and hopefully can work it out with HOTWIRE. I would explain to them how this rating is only based upon two services (since Orbitz doesn't rate it) and provide some other services which rate this property 2.5*, as well as your concern regarding the recent reviews.

Good luck and let us know how things progress with HOTWIRE.

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

[Colfax]

To make matters worse, there have been reports of bed bugs within the last several weeks.

Just curious where you saw the bedbug report. If you're talking about the TripAdvisor review posted on Sept 8 I don't consider that a review with high credibility as it was written by someone with only two posts.

The poster said he stayed at the Seven Seas in Feb 2011, but he didn't post the bedbug report until seven months later. More than 40 Seven Seas reviews have been written since Feb 2011, and scanning them I didn't see any other reports of bedbugs. One review mentioned bugs in room, but not bedbugs, and that post was also from a one time poster.

If a hotel really has bedbugs generally there will be several reports, not just one, and at least some of them will come from regular TripAdvisor posters with a long track record of many posts.

[travelsmith]

Sorry, forgot to include the amenities!

Airport Shuttle

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Laundry Facilities (self-service)

High-Speed Internet Access Golf Nearby

As for the argument about the star rating, they also mentioned that they factor in recent Hotwire guest reviews to support their rating. I still feel like the 3* was misleading. I will update this thread if I have any success with arguing my case.

Thanks!

[thereuare]

Thanks for the update... and good luck with the situation, hopefully you'll make some headway.