Priceline Hotel: 4* Paris (Montparnasse) Timhotel Tour Montparnasse

[JinOttawa]

Free WiFi

Business centre

Non-smoking rooms

 

Paid €70 plus €13.46 taxes and fees for total charged today:€83.46

 

This hotel is advertised on Priceline Express as a 4 star hotel.  It is not a 4 star hotel.  The sign on the front door says it is a three star hotel. The hotels own website advertises it as a 3 star hotel

 

How is PRICELINE EXPRESS selling this off as a 4 star hotel when even the Timhotel company says it is 3 stars?  Is it because of the slippers and bathrobe - definitely needed the slippers as you would not want to walk barefoot on this carpet.  I even foolishly paid an upgrade at the time of the purchase to get a 'superior room'.  

 

Oh yes, I used the PRICELINE link from betterbidding to get this hotel.  Not impressed - it is easy to offer a low price for a 4 star when it isn't a 4 star.  I should have known better but I trusted PRICELINE as I have never had this experience before.

 

 

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear this property didn't meet your expectations.

 

I would send PRICELINE an email questioning the 4* rating given the hotel's own website lists itself as 3 stars.  Unfortunately there is no standard for rating hotels, and each company uses their own criteria to assign star ratings to a property.  It is therefore difficult to challenge a star rating, but you may have a better chance in this instance given the own hotel's website lists themselves as 3 star (and you should also mention that they are also listed as 3 stars by HOTWIRE: Timhotel Tour Montparnasse)

 

I'd given a 50/50 chance that you get some sort of meaningful response and/or action from them, but even if not, at least it's one more comment from a guest that will help them more quickly consider re-rating this hotel in the future should they get more comments such as your own.

Thank you for using the PRICELINE links on the board to begin your purchase and sharing your win, helping us add this property to the Priceline Express Hotel List.

Let us know if you share your thoughts with PRICELINE and if they offer any type of compensation.

[JinOttawa]

This is the reply I got from Priceline - basically they don't seem to understand advertising a 3 Star as a 4 Star is not an acceptable business practice.  "Bait and Switch" is the typical name of the practice.  I won't be using Priceline nor recommending it again if this is the best they can do.

 

hank you for taking the time to email us regarding your reservation at 
the Timhotel Tour Montparnasse for Trip Number [removed for privacy reasons].

We understand that you are unhappy with how we rate this hotel and want 
your money refunded. The reservation is now considered post stay and the
hotel has charged us for the reservation and since we were charged by 
the hotel, the reservation remains as is and is non cancellable, non 
changeable, and no refunds can be processed. We would like to know if 
you had experienced some quality issues with the hotel during your stay 
so that we can address that with the hotel directly.

We are for the inconvenience and we hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

[removed name for privacy reasons]
Customer Relations Specialist
 

[thereuare]

2 hours ago, JinOttawa said:

and want your money refunded.

Did you ask for a full refund??  If so, i think that was a mistake, as it's not a reasonable request after the hotel stay... a better approach (imo) would be to ask for 'some form of compensation' due to the hotel not meeting the 4* standards.  Maybe they would have refunded part of your stay or given you some part of the purchase back in the form of a credit to use on a future purchase... but seeking the full refund for the hotel missing the mark by a full star rating is not likely going to happen without any attempt to reach out to them with your concerns at the time you made your purchase..

 

In the future please post your win(s) as you receive them, and if you win a hotel that you think is misrated, feel free to ask the board for help in how to try to get a meaningful response. (and for help before your purchases to minimize the chance of a future disappointment)

 

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

[JinOttawa]

Thanks, I agree a full refund was probably not in the offing, but I do think that misrepresenting the quality of the product they are selling is a bad business practice that you would think they would show some contrition.  However, they don't see it that way.  The believe their star rating is accurate which certainly doesn't match with what they say on the website about 4* hotels and my experience staying at Hilton's, Omni's, Sheraton's via Priceline and Hotwire. 

 

Please be sure to warn people by updating your pinned list of hotels for the Priceline Express 4* Montparnasse adding an Asterisk that says it rates itself as a 3*.   

 

The 2nd reply from Priceline is below.

 

We understand that the hotel rating is much lower than our rating, 
however, we assess each property on many different criteria, including 
cleanliness, guest satisfaction, decor, etc. In fact, our hotel ratings 
are actually stricter than other national rating companies which is 
based on actual reviews from customers who have booked on our site and 
stayed at the hotel. We stand behind with how we rate the hotel and we 
are sorry, however, your reservation will remain non-refundable.

We thank you for your time and we hope you find this information 
helpful.

Sincerely,
Customer Relations Specialist
 

Long story short, Buyer Beware when using Priceline as they have no qualms with exaggerating the quality of the room they are selling.  I have recommended Priceline to friends and colleagues for almost 10 years, I won't be doing it anymore.

 

[e_t]

Looks like Priceline just assigned this hotel as 3-star class on direct booking page.  Now I feel better when bidding the area, hopefully it will not be this hotel

[thereuare]

12 hours ago, e_t said:

Looks like Priceline just assigned this hotel as 3-star class on direct booking page.

I don't think so...still 4 star rating for me.

 

Maybe you're seeing one of the other Timhotels that may be 3 star rated?

 

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