Family of 4, Upgrades available after buy?

[Dreamtiem]

Hi,

we (german family with 2 girls [12/13]) will be in Vegas from 24/4 to 26/4. Sleeping together in 2 Queens is not an option with 2 girls in this age ^^

As far as i read in this forum Hotwire is the better option, because there we can specify more than 2 persons and this will be taken into account for pricing and room selection.

Few years ago we stayed in MGM Signature ( booked direct, 1 BR suite with sofa bed in seperate living room) and this time we would like to stay more in the north of the strip. I read a lot of reviews and the conclusion was - we would like to try Venetian/Palazzo this time. Aria was the first choice but seems too expensive for a suite with sleepings for 4 (seperate room for the girls).

I saw, that all preferred hotels are in the list and let's assume, i can identify and win my favourite hotel.

Because there is no information about the room type i would expect, that (normally) this will be the smallest possible type. For venetian f.e. Luxory Suite.

Does it make sense to contact hotels in advance and ask for upgrade policy for Hotwire bookings? Or are there any experiences with upgrading to suites? For Ventian we would like to stay in a Piazza suite because of the seperate room with sofa bed. Or is Hotwire / Priceline not the right option for suite bookings, because there are (in general) more standard rooms and upgrading is pure luck?

If upgrading is possible - does special (higher) upgrading fees apply because of hotwire (cheaper room rate) ?

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences :)

Stefan

[yellowdog]

Welcome to BetterBidding Stefan :)

Some basic information to start with.

PRICELINE and PRICELINE EXPRESS only guarantees double occupancy, after that is at the discretion of the hotel. While you can call the hotel you win and request a room with two beds, the hotel may not be able, or willing, to honor your request. Whether they will/can or not depends upon a LOT of different factors, including what is available at the time of your check-in, how many rooms with two beds are offered at the hotel and what they need to accommodate other guests for your dates, hotel policy etc.

HOTWIRE guarantees sleeping accommodations for everyone you include in your search... this often means two beds in the room, but the second 'bed' could be a pullout sofabed, rollaway brought into the room, etc.

Does it make sense to contact hotels in advance and ask for upgrade policy for Hotwire bookings? Or are there any experiences with upgrading to suites?

You can call them but say "if I get a room trough HOTWIRE" The reports we from members that have stayed at Venetian/Palazzo regarding upgrades are very good. But in the end is this "case to case". You could be lucky to get a free upgrade but in most cases is there an upgrade fee charge. If I recall correct have I seen reports with a $25/night fee for a bigger suite.

But as noted above. If you go with HOTWIRE and search for 4 adults, 2 adults + 2 children, 3 + 1 etc will the room sleep all of you.

Let us know your thoughts or if I forgot to answer any of your questions.

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

Yellowdog.

[Dreamtiem]

Hi Yellowdog,

thanks for the rapid response :)

Thanks for the detailed explanation about the differences between Priceline and Hotwire - it's clear right now.

Was the reason why i prefered Hotwire.

I have absolutely no problem with an upgrade fee - on the other hand a free upgrade would be nice ;)

My concern was, that the upgrade fee differs from the regular upgrade fees.

An example:

Upgrading from Deluxe suite to Bello costs 25 USD.

Now i am paying much less for the Deluxe and the difference to the regular Bello is - of course - higher. Therefore the upgrade fee is also higher, because the upgraded room is not a hotwire room and i have to compensate the price difference with the upgrade fee.

I think i will contact Venetian and Palazzo and ask how they will handle this in general. It is clear, that upgrading depends on availability to my specific dates.

Stay tuned :)

Stefan

[AaronJB]

In terms of upgrades, there is no guarantee the hotel will be willing to offer one. It may depend even on who you talk to. Upgrades are really best booked direct if you really would like one. With HOTWIRE and PRICELINE, it does happen sometimes, but it's best not to get your expectations too high. The hotel will either upgrade free, upgrade with a fee (usually the difference between the rooms regular price, sometimes not) or say no.

In terms of four people and bedding for the party, I would definitely suggest HOTWIRE over PRICELINE, as you can indicate four and get some form of bedding for the entire party.

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