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Hotwire Hotel: 2* Pensacola Easy Rest Inn


Lo Cash John
By Lo Cash John,
in

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Posted

Well, after being a long time Priceline bidder and being happy 99% of the time, I decided to try Hotwire. This site promotes it quit a bit and after looking over the Hotwire website I figured it very similar to Priceline.

So I set my dates and destination of Pensacola, FL. Hotwire gives you a list of hotel stars and prices and you can sort by price, distance from city center, recomended, star, etc. So after looking everything over I decided to look at their list of hotels that does show the names. They also include a tab you can look at to get an idea of what brands are in what star level.

I looked everything over and figured lets try a 2*. There was one listed as "Best Deal" or something so I went with that. I committed to buy it for $39 and wham-O I get the Easy Rest Inn. Huh??? I don't recall that name on the list. So I went back to the hotels by brand list and searched for "Easy Rest" and guess what? It's not there. So then I Google Street View the address and look around. At first I thought I was looking at some housing projects, then I realized this was the hotel. NICE!!! :) So, just as a test I called the hotel and ask for the walk-in rate. How about $39/night!! Some savings Hotwire!! :)

Now I've booked 2 nights into a bed bug farm, didn't save one friggin penny and I'll probably have "room service" knocking on my door all night wanting to know if I need a "date". If the place looks as nasty in person when I get there, I'll go stay somewhere else.

So %#@ Hotwire!!! :o Thanks for selling me a room you don't even have the balls to actually list on your site because it's so dumpy looking!! I'll stick with Priceline from here out. Even when staying in a 2* from a priceline bid, I always ended up with a hotel that was listed on the priceline site with a buy it now price. That way you can get the feel for what MAY come up in an area and decide to raise your star or not choose that area.

Hotwire sucks!! :)

Posted

Sorry to hear you're not happy 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.

Here are my thoughts/comments and what i would do:

First, the argument isn't that HOTWIRE didn't list this in their 'retail' listings because nobody ever said that they did (as well, PRICELINE has some hotels available thru "name your own price" which don't appear in their retail listings)

Apparently this hotel was recently purchased, renovated, and re-opened. If we're seeing the same pictures the parking lot is empty and there is no signage, so that picture is not current and perhaps the property is in good condition and things are new.

Call HOTWIRE and let them know of your disappointment and show them the two reviews at TA, and let them know that you're willing to accept a 2* hotel but this wasn't what you bargained for and feel that HOTWIRE is not providing the quality hotel that you agreed to purchase. Keep calm, no profanity, and don't bring up items which are not relevant (ie- that this listing didn't appear on the retail side of their site) and see if they will work with you in some way (refund, price in hot Dollars to use on another purchase, etc).

HOTWIRE's usual stance is that you'll have to give the hotel a try by showing up, and if it's unacceptable, then to call them. At that point if you can give them tangible things (ie- things like "the lamp is broken", "TV doesn't work", "bugs", etc as opposed to "it just feels old and outdated", HOTWIRE will verify with the hotel and usually an agreement is reached that is satisfactory to all). While you're on the phone with them let them know that online the room is selling for $35/nite (Best Available Rate) and at the very least they'll credit you for the difference.

Hope this helps and let us know if you give HOTWIRE a call and how it goes, and if you do end up showing up, how it all ultimately goes (and please don't forget to add the amenities associated with this property in a reply to this thread).

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

Good luck.

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

Posted

I just checked with HOTWIRE and the amenities listed are: complimentry breakfast, pool, business center and high-speed internet.

I am actually in the Penscola area right now so I may go look at the property tonight. If necessary I'll take your advice and contact Hotwire.

I'll report back here and let everyone know how this works out.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

So the stay at the Easy Rest Inn went a little better than expected but I'm still very unhappy with HOTWIRE and will let them know about it.

First things first.

The hotel property looks rather run down, however it appears the owner is trying to fix it up with a meager budget. Approaching the property the general area is run down and I noticed a couple of cracked broken/window on some of the rooms. The main sign out by the interstate is is missing it's lenses and would lead most people to think the propery is out of business.

Entering a checking in, the girl at the front desk was VERY nice and helpful. I got my key and headed to the room (without bags) to look it over. I carried a small flashlight and used that to check various nooks and crannies for bed bug signs. No signs of the creepy crawlies, but you could tell the vacuum cleaner is not frequently or thuroughly used here. The carpet more or less looked ok, but in the very corners of the room or right up along the baseboards was not as clean.

The bathroom appeared clean but the tub/shower was quit old, the curtain had some small tears and the water took an honest 5 to 6 minutes (I timed it) to get hot enough to shower.

The bed was ok, but not great. Same with the pillows. Luckily I can sleep just about anywhere. The furniture looked like late 70's or early 80's hotel furniture with about that much wear and tear. The TV was an old tube style and many of the channels came in fuzzy. The AC unit was your basic "window rattler" but it did keep the room cool (not hard this time of year).

So when I bought the room through Hotwire I paid $39.99/night for 2 nights. Considereing the banner on the side of the building said $39.99/night I'm still trying to see where Hotwire saved me one cent...Oh wait, they didn't!! So, since I was stuck with the room for 2 nights and it seemed (just) clean enough I carried my stuff on in. My work plan changed a little and I stayed in Pensacola 2 extra nights. Rather than move I bought 2 more nights at the Easy Rest and when I did, they only charged me $29.99/night! Nice bargain yes, but I'm still pissed and Hotwire.

As I said, the girl at the desk was very nice and friendly but that doesn't change the fact that the property is not up to 2 star level. If Extended Stay America, Fairfield by Marriott, Microtel, Studio Plus, etc are examples of 2 star brands, the Easy Rest comes in at about 1/2 star. With an influx of cash this property could come up but I don't think the owner is looking to make it that nice. There are several other equally shabby hotels on the same road so I suspect this property is about as nice as it's going to get.

Posted

Sorry to hear that the hotel didn't live up to the star rating, but glad to see it went better than expected (and was at least good enough to stay a few extra nites, even if at a lower rate then your original nites)

An industry 'problem' is that there is no uniformity in star ratings, and while the chains you mentioned are some of the better ones that often appear at the 2* level (i can add some other good ones to the list too), there are others (such as Super8, Travelodge, etc) which are sometimes a bit overrated at 2*. There can be a pretty big quality gap between the best and worst property within any given star level, but at the budget rated properties the gap may be a bit more of a disappointment. I often make the analogy to the student with a score of 80 vs. a student with a score of 89... both get a 'B' on their report card, yet one is clearly 'better' than the other.

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

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