Priceline Hotel: 3* St. Petersburg - Clearwater (Northwest) Clarion Inn And Suites Clearwater

[pqa]

Very disappointed with this result as I did not get the hotel desired and over-paid for what I got (pretty close to retail posted rates). In the interests of helping others avoid the mistakes I made, I'll list them:

1) Rushing the process - I received some Priceline Cyber bonus cash which was expiring same day so in rush to use them did not spend enough time researching going rates. I was trying to book this at work between meetings and had used a lot of time unsuccessfully bidding for a property in Fort Lauderdale for another time. Just wanted to get this done.

2) Putting too much faith in the hotel list on this site. This list shows only one 3* in this zone, the highly rated Residence Inn. I stayed there last year and really liked it so wanted to grab it again. But this site has the warning at the top of every hotel list page that Priceline's hotels and assigned ratings can change at any time. Probably because I was rushing, I didn't pay enough heed to that caution. Apparently Priceline has upgraded the Clarion from 2.5* to 3*.

3) Bidding on too many nights at once. If you get the hotel you want at price you like, you can always bid again for additionaly nights. Sometimes Priceline will offer to extend your winning bid for additional nights. But if you don't like what you get with winning bid, but have limited nights you've bid on, at least you've also limited your "losses". Again, if I hadn't been rushing, I would like to think I would have avoided this mistake.

4) Bidding too high too early. As this time period is into peak season, and based on Residence Inn posted rates close to $200, I didn't think I'd win it too low, and there are few other zones in town with no 3*, so went higher in hopes of getting Residence Inn - not thinking I might actually get another property with lower posted rates. (See pts 1 and 2).

As a slight improvement on situation, I did call Priceline on their "Best Price Guarantee" because there are lower rates posted on the Clarion.com site, and was able to get a refund on difference. So some consolation.

Bottom line: with Priceline you really don't know what you're getting into until you're committed to it, so bid cautiously! (But you already know that)

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear you didn't receive the hotel you were hoping for and are disappointed in the results.

Just to clarify, this is the first time this property has been reported to the board under the Clarion flag, it was previously 2.5* rated as a Radisson but may have been upgraded when the new franchise took over. Hopefully this property will exceed your expectations and you'll be able to make it work for your needs.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and helping us confirm the Priceline Hotel List with the new star rating/name change for this property.

Enjoy your stay.