Priceline Hotel: 2* Monterey Knights Inn Carmel Hill

[manypims]

Over the years, I've successfully bid on Priceline more than 50 times using free re-bids, etc. I've also used Express Deals about a dozen times (when they make sense). I've never once had an issue getting the zone or star level that I actually bid for. Until today.

 

When bidding Express Deals, it is usually pretty easy to decipher the hotel (or handful of hotels) that you will receive by using regular Priceline. With a car show in town and prices very high, today, I used a PRICELINE EXPRESS Deal on a two-star hotel in Monterey, CA for 9/24 to 9/26 with a breakfast and pool as the amenities. 

 

I received the Knights Inn Carmel Hill, a two-star at 1374 Munras Ave. with breakfast and a pool. I didn't remember seeing that property on Priceline's regular Web site so I did a search and here is the property I found: Carmel Hill Lodge/Knights Inn, a one-star at 1374-A Munras Ave. with amenities listed as internet, parking and a pool.

 

I've never once had the bait-and-switch happen to me before. But I guess there's always a first time. I called customer service to complain and they were absolutely useless. I know the rules better than they do and I simply asked them to give me the two-star property that I had purchased. They transferred me a couple of times and basically called me a liar and said that their system showed the property as a two-star. They refused to do a simple Priceline search that would have confirmed what I was telling them. 

 

My only recourse was to send an e-mail to customer service, although I did bash them on Twitter. And I do have screen shots from their own "regular" Web site documenting this fiasco. We'll see what happens.

[yellowdog]

Thank you for sharing your result with the board.

 

Also thank you for the addition for this new property to the BetterBidding Priceline Express Hotel List.

 

I Agree with you. It's a bit strange but I find information saying that the Carmel Hill Lodge is closed and the property is a Knights Inn. So maybe this is a glitch in the PRICELINE system? Since the CS only can see a 2* property. And the retail service and PRICELINE EXPRESS deals are two different services. So maybe something gone wrong here information wise.

 

I get your point here but would like to add that it's extremely rare that we see star ratings that are different when you compare the bidding, express deals and retail service.    

 

Please keep us updated on this.

 

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

 

Enjoy your stay.

 

Yellowdog.

[thereuare]

I'm not sure if the property has changed ownership OR if there are two different hotels on the same lot, but i think the issue is that PRICELINE shows two properties at this location and with slightly different names (also, notice the 'A' in the address of the 1 star hotel):

2* Knights Inn Carmel Hill (1374 Munras Avenue, Monterey, CA)

1* Carmel Hill Lodge / Knights Inn (1374-A Munras Avenue)

I would do a bit of research to confirm if there are two properties at this location (with slightly different names) OR if there was a change in ownership and then, if necessary, try to re-explain the issue to PRICELINE.

Good luck and let us know if you learn anything new regarding the two properties or if you're able to make any headway with PRICELINE.

[manypims]

When I called Priceline to complain, they basically told me I was wrong and that it was a 2* in their system. However, to their defense, when I e-mailed their Executive Office about the problem, they called me back within 24 hours, apologized, cancelled the order and referred it to their hotel group to investigate. Looking at the Knights Inn Web site, it is one property. I'm wondering if the hotel figured out a way to do a bait-and-switch on Priceline? 

[thereuare]

Given the similar addresses of the two hotels above i think it's an honest mistake (i haven't yet researched whether these are different properties or the same hotel that has changed hands)... with a few hundred thousand hotels to keep track of, and name changes happening every day, it's easy to see how the issue above could happen from time-to-time. However, i will add that every hotel booking agency uses their own criteria to rate hotels, so you should never assume that the star rating from one source will be the same star rating assigned by another source.

Glad to see the issue was ultimately handled properly by PRICELINE and you're pleased with the resolution... if you need help with a replacement stay feel free to start a NEW TOPIC.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases... or thru our sister site MAPS and HOTELS.com for your regular rate purchases.

[manypims]

You guys are the experts. And this has piqued my interest. Can you tell me (and us) what systems Priceline uses for 1) Retail 2) Express Deals and 3) Bidding?

 

I never assume Priceline and Hotwire star ratings to be the same, but I actually have assumed (before now) that the star ratings are consistent on the different Priceline platforms.

 

Are you saying this is a false assumption or maybe the Priceline assumption is 99% accurate but (as this case shows) not 100%?

 

I guess the moral of story is that when you try to decipher a property and you cannot find any corresponding star level and amenities in that zone (which happened in this case) be very skeptical before purchasing.

[thereuare]

The star ratings should be consistent throughout the PRICELINE platform, but each side of their service (NYOP Bidding, PRICELINE EXPRESS, and 'Retail') each use a different universe of hotels, so hotels showing on one side of their service may or may not be offered thru the other sides of their service. So it is possible that you receive a hotel thru bidding (or PRICELINE EXPRESS) that does not show on the retail side of PRICELINE when viewing their 'regular' rate listings.

I will add here that the same is not true for HOTWIRE... where the 'opaque' listings can have different star rating then the 'retail' side (as their retail side is powered by Hotels.com and/or Expedia)

However, specifically to your situation above, see the street view of THIS Google Map.

See how it looks like two different signs (one for Knights Inn and one for Camel Hill Lodge). It could be a situation where two hotels operate out of the same location (similar to how the Four Seasons in Las Vegas operates the top floors of Mandalay Bay)... so there are actually two different hotels at the same location (both listings below were obtained from PRICELINE):

2* Knights Inn Carmel Hill (1374 Munras Avenue, Monterey, CA)

1* Carmel Hill Lodge / Knights Inn (1374-A Munras Avenue)

If the above is the case i can easily see how some sites have this listed as two separate hotels and some sites have this listed as one hotel (that has changed names and/or ownership)

... or this could actually be the same property do to a change in ownership and PRICELINE (and some other sites) have them listed separately.