Hotwire Hotel: 4* Austin (Downtown and Town Lake Area)

[bradyd11]

When I search these dates I'm showing a 4* for $156.

Amenities include:

Free Internet

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Fitness Center

High Speed Internet Access

This would include almost all of the 4* hotels listed for this area of Austin. What is throwing me on the description is the "Free Internet" amenity. It is not listed in the BB Hotwire amenity list. I was wondering if anybody else had run across this amenity and if it could help me narrow down the options.

I don't want to stay at the AT&T and I would prefer the Omni or W but the others would work too.

Any thoughts?

[AaronJB]

The site's HOTWIRE list provides the information that has been reported to the board so far. The free internet amenity is a new amenity that was only started to be included with HOTWIRE listings within the past week or two and no hotels have been reported with this amenity set at this star rating in this zone (yet.)

The AT & T has free internet, the Hilton does not *appear* to, Hyatt appears to charge, W has free internet in public areas but not rooms, Some conflicting information regarding Omni but it appears to charge if you're not a Select Guest member, Intercontinental appears to offer free in lobby/public areas but not rooms and Sheraton *appears* to offer free internet in the lobby.

My guess is that AT & T, Intercontinental, Sheraton, W would be the more likely possibilities, but be willing to accept any of the possibilities.

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

[bradyd11]

The hotel is also recommended in 90% of hotwire reviews. The W gets 4.5 out of 5 and the AT&T and Omni get 4 out of 5. Are the customer reviews where hotwire pulls the recommendations from?

[AaronJB]

Tripadvisor.com ratings are different than HOTWIRE customer % ratings. There is a 4/5 tripadvisor rating on the detail page for this listing. There is nothing to check the current HOTWIRE customer % rating against (unlike the tripadvisor rating, although even that could be a match for multiple properties and is no guarantee), and it's not a reliable indicator of a particular property.

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

[bradyd11]

I used the Priceline Maps tool, which is awesome by the way, to check out bid ranges and what not. Can you make your bid high enough so that you are guaranteed not to be selected by some hotels? For instance if I want to bid $175 and hope for the W would that be too high for the AT&T? The highest bid I saw that "won" the AT&T was a $151. Not sure how the Priceline system works. Any links for information on that here?

Thanks

[AaronJB]

There is no way to bid for a particular property or increase the odds of a particular property. There have been instances of bids that have been over or significantly over the retail price of a hotel being accepted by the hotel (which then becomes a matter of PRICELINE's "best price" guarantee.)

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

[thereuare]

Can you make your bid high enough so that you are guaranteed not to be selected by some hotels?

See this thread for more information: Don't Bid Higher for a Specific Hotel

If you're trying to target, or avoid, a specific property then HOTWIRE is usually the better option, although it can't always be done in instances where hotels look exactly the same before purchase.

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

[bradyd11]

Just wanted to update the post. I booked the Omni for $148 a night on a different website. Couldn't stomach the thought of paying $1 less on Hotwire and possibly ending up with the AT&T. It's refundable until 3 days before check-in so I'm going to keep checking rates here to see if anything changes.

[AaronJB]

Thank you for keeping us updated - please let us know if you do decide to book HOTWIRE/PRICELINE last-minute.

Please use the site's links on the Support Page to book regular rate.

Enjoy your stay.