Hotwire Hotel: 3.5* Rome, Gambrinus?

[tbone72]

I am looking for a hotel in Rome for 1/02-1/05. Hotwire's 3.5* in Rome central is $129/nt. I'm guessing it's the Gambrinus Hotel, because the hotwire 3.5* flight/hotel package in Rome central is the Gambrinus, the amenities match, and the retail according to Hotwire is $155.71/nt, which is exactly what Expedia.com and Hotels.com list as the Gambrinus retail.

Does this logic sound reasonable? If so, it would seem as though the savings over 'retail' are ~$27/nt (156-129), which sounds good to me. But, if I were to book directly at gambrinushotel.com, the "total price for booking" is 330 euro, or $431.48. Using hotwire, the total is $433.69 (129/nt. + taxes/fees).

So, provided the 330 euro is really total cost, it would make sense to book directly at Gambrinus's website. Unless, of course, there are additional taxes and fees that I cannot see because I can't get past the 330 euro quote without entering credit card info to confirm the booking.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

[WillTravel]

What amenities does the Gambrinus show in the vacation package? I would suspect these are not unique to Gambrinus, which makes a positive ID harder to pin down.

I haven't looked at the web site, but most likely there aren't any further charges if you have the final page prior to putting in the credit card information. Quite often, Hotwire doesn't help much for Europe.

Did you read the reviews on TripAdvisor (mixed)? It's probably a reasonable price for a reasonably central hotel. Maybe you can do better so far as a central location goes, though.

[thereuare]

Based upon your post the logic seems correct and i'd include the Gambrinus among the list of 'likely' hotels... but as WillTravel points out, the amenities may not be unique to this property and you can never be sure if it this hotel for certain until after purchase.

Given the scenario you describe it seems like a hotel-direct purchase would be better... especially if that rate is refundable and you're able to continue to search HOTWIRE to see if a better deal presents itself.