Bed size and number?

[Senoreit]

Hi group,

Again, what I said in my previous post applies. If this is a dumb question I accept full responsibility and ask that you please go easy on me.

I was wondering about the issue of bed size and number when using Priceline and Hotwire for hotel reservations. I have never used either service to book a hotel, but as far as I know, there is no time at which you are given any options about bed size and number. Is this correct? (Incidentally, if this is not correct then the rest of my message is virtually pointless :) )

When booking/checking rates through other "standard" sites(Orbitz, Expedia, Yahoo, etc.) I've often seen that there are different selection options depending on the size and number of beds desired. Even if the rate is the same, they will have one selection button for one king bed, and another button for two doubles/queens. This is not always the case, as I have seen rate listings that say one king bed or two doubles/queens, but more often than not I've found the former to be true. I assume this is because in most cases, when more than one person stays together at a hotel, they DO have a definite preference as to the number of beds depending on whether they want to sleep together or separately. And, since beds are not easily moved items, hotels want people to specify at the time of booking what their bed number needs will be so not everybody shows up one night wanting one-bed rooms and all they have left are two-bed rooms or vice-versa.

I understand that if a hotel has open rooms, they will gladly accomodate at the time of check-in a request for a room with a different number of beds than was specified at the time of booking, but if they don't have any such rooms open, I would assume the people would be out of luck. So, the point of this whole rambling diatribe is...wouldn't it be possible for Priceline to book me for a two-bed room even though I want a one-bed room, since the "number of beds" option is never presented during the bidding process? Furthermore, if Priceline DOES book me for a two-bed room, and the hotel I end up at is sold-out during my stay, I will have no way of rectifying this problem, will I?

Is this a legitimate concern? If not, why? If so, is there any way around it?

Thanks in advance,

Brian

[Senoreit]

Sorry folks,

After I posted I found another thread "4 people in a room any additional cost?" which mentioned the Priceline T&C, which I subsequently visited and found the information I needed. Basically I'd just have to book the room through Priceline and then call the hotel with my bed request. Is there any reason to not believe that in most cases, bed requests will be accomodated?(provided that quoted rates are the same for different bed # options)

-Brian

[thereuare]

For others following along, here's the link Senoreit has referenced: 4 PEOPLE IN A ROOM, but here are some others for those interested:

QUAD OCCUPANCY

ADJOINING ROOMS

The bottom line is that the only real way to be guaranteed your bedding preference is thru the hotel's website... all other requests thru Orbitz, Expedia, consolidators, etc are just that: requests. You may have more opportunity to rant and scream if it's written on your confirmation screen, but if there just aren't any rooms available then there's nothing the hotel can do. Which by the way, also applies to reservations made thru the hotel itself... sometimes there's a mess up and the bed type reserved just isn't available (so IMO, it's not guaranteed thru the hotels reservation system either, although you may have more opportunity to make a scene and more ground to cancel your reservation and go elsewhere).

The bottom line is that some hotels are 'sticklers' and will give you a hard time about bed requests on Priceline/Hotwire stays, but gnerally they are accomodating and will give you what you want if available. There are some zones, like NYC, where the standard room only has one bed and a roll-a-way bed won't even fit in the room, but this goes back to what i said in my reply to your other post, you eventually learn the nuances and intracacies of each zones (which is why, even after you're an experienced bidder, it's a good idea to consult the board and ask for help when you bid a new zone). Checking the board also keeps you up to date on rating changes and zone boundaries getting re-defined.

We have also started a HOTEL REVIEWS section so that users can report their good and bad experiences, which includes comments as to whether bed requests were met and if they felt they were treated differently since they were there on a Priceline/Hotwire stay.

[nowhereman]

i know a few hotels in euope will not allow more than 2 in a room period. my sister and her family went to england, france and germany and used priceline thinking all would be cool... they made her husband get a 2nd room at rack rate in most places b/c they are very strict with their occupancy (2 in a room no matter what!) since my neice obviously couldnt have a room by herself my brother in law had to get the other room.

as far as requests go.. thereuare is dead on.. just requests. we wouldnt take the request from customers we made them call priceline. (i wish priceline wouldnt put that on their contract page asking requests to be made through the hotel). if it looks like there are lots of openings we would just change it when priceline calls us.. if it looks like its close to a full house, we would just note the reqeust. i dont know how other hotels do it.

ive heared some hotels charge upgrades for certain bed types.

[bargainshopper]

Can someone clarify this for me? I got a room from Hilton Sunrise through Priceline yesterday. I called this morning to request two beds and non-smoking room. The reservation agent told me that these are just requests. This part I understand. Then he went on to say that PL bought a block of room from them and he implied it is up to PL to honor thoese requests. My question is that did PL actually pre-bought a block of rooms at each hotel/motel or do they just commit to move certain number of room at a set minimun price?

Throughout the phone call, the agent acted very professionally and never gave me any hard time about making these requests.

[bbbb]

Call back on another shift and ask if you call add room type requests to your reservation.Dont say anything about it being a PL booking.I have never had a problem adding requests.

[thereuare]

... and don't take for granted the possibility that the front desk clerk really doesn't understand how the internal system works. Chances are the clerk was simply told how to process a reservation from a 'front-end' point of view. Priceline does not hold any inventory, but the explanation the clerk gave you makes it easy for the hotel to avoid arguments with customers.

[bargainshopper]

Just a follow up to my previous post.

After ready bbbb and sys admin's posts, I e-mailed priceline and ask them if I should contact them to make these requests or I should contact the hotel directly.

Nice surprise #1: they e-mailed me back and asked me to call them!

Nice surprise #2: When I called and told them the whole story, the lady transferred me to their "reservation agent". After brief conversation, the agent put me on hold and call the hotel for me. According to him, I am all set with my requests. I will call the hotel to confirm after hurricane Frances is gone.

So far, my PriceLine experience has been great. Thank you again for this board.