Hotwire Hotel: 4* San Francisco (Fishermans Wharf) Sheraton FW

[angieinalabama]

The Argonaut is 4 star with no restaurant now. So if no restaurant appears in the ameneties i believe it will be the Argonaut. Am I correct?

Angie

[epicureangirl]

The Argonaut shows up with the exact amenities as listed in this forum "Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business". So if those are the amenities showing up for a 4* in Fisherman's Wharf, you can be 'almost' certain it is the Argonaut. It's a fantastic hotel, but be sure to ask for an exterior room (with a view) if you go.

Cheers.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

You are best to match up all the amenities with what appears in our HOTWIRE HOTEL LIST for this area... rather than just looking for a lack of a restaurant icon.

Let us know if we can be of further help and if you go for it what you get (and also include price, dates, amenties shown before purchase).

Good Luck.

[angieinalabama]

That is what I did........used to have restaurant, but now scratched. About requesting exterior room with a view.......do I do that upon arrival or should I call to confirm reservation and ask at that time? Thanks so much for the info.

Angie

PS Going in October pre cruise and one night post cruise also!!!!

[thereuare]

Have you made this purchase already?

[angieinalabama]

No, not yet..........didn't know if this is too early for october or if i will get a better price if i wait.

[angieinalabama]

Well should have grabbed it last nite, because now it's not coming up on hotwire. I see patience is going to come into this now LOL. Will keep checking until i see it again.

[thereuare]

What are the dates of your stay, what was the Hotwire price, what was the hotels price thru their website?

[angieinalabama]

Dates are 10/29 - 10/31/05........web site price was $204.00 for standard room, $245 for room with view of bay. Hotwire was $167.00 which I assume was a standard room.

[angieinalabama]

OK I'm totally freaked out......the pinned list is obviously incorrect because i just got the damned Sheraton and I went for 4 star.......FW. There are only supposed to be the Argonaut and Hyatt. What is going on?????

Angie

[thereuare]

We'll address your questions in a minute, but please first let us know....

What were the amenties shown before your purchase? What price did you pay?

I just did a search for a 4* hotel for your dates in the FW zone and saw a 4* offered with the following amenties:

Restaurant(s), Pool(s), Fitness Center, High-Speed Internet Access, Business Center

Is this the hotel you purchased? (you can still view the amenities associated with the hotel you purchased by going to Hotwire and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page)

[angieinalabama]

No, that is shown for the first dates I told you but I was this time booking a post cruise one night. Nov 10 leaving the 11th. The ameneties shown were Internet, business and fitness. No restaurant, no pool!!!!!! Anyway the only other 4 star was supposed to be the Hyatt. Anyway only 3 ameneties for the november dates. Thanks for any help

[thereuare]

So to make sure i got it right...

You bought the 4* hotel in SF Wharf on 11/10 with Fitness, Internet, and Business icons and it was the Sheraton?

[angieinalabama]

YES! ABSOLUTELY!!! I AM SOOOOOOOO MAD.

ANGIE

[thereuare]

OK, to address your questions...

As far as your comment "There are only supposed to be the Argonaut and Hyatt", from the top of the hotel list:

(READ the ENTIRE thread as there may be more hotels for your city below the first post)

If you look at the second post of that thread you will see that the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf is indeed listed (although with different amenty icons than were shown to you above, so not sure how much of a difference this would have made)

This hotel apparently is working with a few amenity combinations... one of which makes it match (and look the same as) the Argonaut.

Also from the top of the hotel lists:

This list is NOT a complete list of all hotels that Hotwire offers in this area, it is ONLY a compilation of hotels that have already been reported on this forum. Hotels are added/removed by Hotwire all the time, and star ratings can change at ANY time. As well, the geographic boundaries of an area are subject to change, so it's always a good idea to look at the Hotwire map before purchasing.

In light of the above, you MAY get a hotel that is NOT on this list, or get a hotel on this list but at a star level you didn't expect (if the star rating has changed).

While a hotel changing amenities, or using more than one set of amenities is more the exception than the rule, it can and does occur. While matching up the exact amenties and star ratings can give you a high degree of success in figuring out the property, you are still buying an opaque property.

The hotel lists are updated with information as it is received, so are correct as per the latest report of that property.

Sorry you are disappointed with the results and it didn't work out as you had expected. You can try to keep an eye on Hotiwre to see if this property id downgraded in the next 4 months, as that might be your best hope of getting out of this reservation.

[angieinalabama]

I looked at that list......I admit I hadn't seen it before, however, am I correct in saying that the list has not been updated since the date of that post in 2003?

[thereuare]

The list was first posted at the board's inception (in 2003) and is continuously updated as new reports and information is reported. As you can see, your Sheraton info is alread in the list (with a note about the resemblence to the Argounaut)

[angieinalabama]

Yes, I see that but I still don't see how it can appear like the Sheraton when they don't have the same things as the Sheraton........Others watch and learn...........i think this means you can't be safe going by what the true ameneties at any hotel are?

[bbbb]

If you have been around this board you would know that Thereuare does an outstanding job of updating this board as soon as new information is brought to his attention. I brought to his attention a change two days ago and it was changed with-in two hours of him knowing about it. This does not happen very often where a hotels icons change this much. Anyone who uses PL and Hotwire is taking a risk and this board helps minimize those risks.

[angieinalabama]

I've been around and yes a good job is done. I didn't post to say anything against the board, instead, just actually wanted to know if there was anything at all i could do to cancel. I know the policy.................so if that's the case then i just learned an expensive lesson.

[BEAV]

.......i think this means you can't be safe going by what the true ameneties at any hotel are?

You hit the nail on the head with that statement.

For quite awhile, the Argonaut had been displaying on Hotwire with no restaurant icon, when in fact the there is an on property restaurant. Confusing? You bet! I'm sure Hotwire's stance is that they don't necessarily list all amenities a property has, but only some. With that said, welcome to the world of buying opague products!

If you're a newbie at this, here are a few suggestions to make life easier next time.....

1. Check Hotwire's vacation package for your dates of travel. Even though you don't want a package, take a look at it anyway. Hotel properties are positively identified in Hotwire's vacation package as opposed to opaque hotel-only. This is just one way the board here at BetterBidding is able to update the pinned hotel lists as Hotwire makes changes. If you check the SF Hotwire pinned list, you'll see the Argonaut used to be rated 4.5 stars. At some point, Hotwire downgraded it to 4 stars, and the way this was discovered was by search of the vacation package. Very recently, again using Hotwire's vacation package, I noticed that several former 4 star hotels in Reno had ALL been downgraded to 3.5 stars. Bottom line, Hotwire adjusts star levels and amenity displays all the time. As has already been mentioned on this thread, Thereuare does a terrific job updating the lists as members post the changes.

2. Thereuare's suggestion of keeping tabs on the star & amenity level between now and your date of stay is a very good one. I was able to legitimately "get out" of a Hotwire purchase for this very reason. Check it out here...San Francisco Hotel Vitale vs Harbor Court

3. It ain't the end of the world. I know how frustrating it is to spend quality time researching and then get tricked by Priceline or Hotwire. As I said earlier, welcome to the opaque world!

4. As a Hallmark "Maxine" greeting card says "Pick up the pieces of your shattered life and move on!" . After all, you're going on a 10-day cruise to Mexico aboard Dawn Princess aren't you? :)

[BEAV]

P.S. It's worth noting that Hotwire's vacation package for Nov 9-11 lists the following amenties:

4* Argonaut

Restaurant :)

Fitness

Hi-Speed Internet

Business

4* Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf

Restaurant :)

Pool :o

Fitness Center

Hi-Speed Internet

Business

4* Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf

Restaurant

Pool

Fitness

Business

Laundry

So once again, the Vacation Package displays different amenities than the opaque hotel-only product. Last time I'm going to say this...WELCOME to the world of opaque hotel products! :)

In this case, comparing the vacation package vs the hotel-only product would have been a "heads up" that "anything goes" when buying 4* Fisherman's Wharf for this date.