Hotwire Hotel: 4* Reno-Tahoe (Reno) Atlantis

[BEAV]

Amenities are Casino, Shuttle, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Business, Golf & Tennis & Spa (note: Click more hotel info to see the spa amenity). This is also listed as a "Customer Favorite".

We originally wanted Mar 19-21 (two nights) with a price displayed of $69. This is a hotel that has both a main tower and a motor lodge out in the parking lot. I wanted to make sure I was not purchasing rooms in the lodge, so I decided to call Atlantis and inquire. The reservation agent wasn't sure, but called a Manager who looked up their contract and stated that all Hotwire rooms are sold in the main tower. During the course of the conversation they asked the dates I was looking for (I was curious if they wanted to match the rate). No match, thus the end of conversation.

Before immediately purchasing, I decided to make sure I could purchase the train tickets (Amtrak) to Reno before I locked myself into the Hotwire hotel. A quick trip to Amtrak.com and I had my tickets within about 10 minutes. Back to Hotwire to buy the hotel. Now the rate displayed was $124! I'm very suspicious Atlantis felt that $69 for Fri/Sat night was a "mistake" and called Hotwire to adjust the rates.

We were flexible with our dates, so I decided to try March 20-22 (Sat/Sun) and Hotwire quoted $52. We quickly bought those dates, then went back to Amtrak.com to switch the train tickets. Whew.....

Before consulting Hotwire, I was rejected at $70 on Priceline. Atlantis is the only known 4* hotel in the South Reno zone. I also consulted many Reno reservation services, including Atlantis' own website. In each case, we couldn't book a reservation with a Saturday night check-in using conventional methods. Hotwire had a clear advantage in this situation. We couldn't even book Sat/Sun directly with Atlantis.

Kind of a strange ride w/Hotwire between the dramatic rate change and getting around the Saturday check-in. But in the end a great deal.

[thereuare]

Great recap of your history with this reservation.

Glad you were flexible and it worked out well for you.

Thanks for the report and enabling us to add yet another hotel to our lists!

Good Luck in Reno!

[bbbb]

I think with hotwire the rates have a lot to do with the time of day you check the rates.I have been trying for San diego rooms for a month and always get a better rate frist thing in the morning then I do in the afternoon.

[thereuare]

My experience is that it is entirely random. I have found the best rates at all different times of day.

However, what i'm refering to above is usually a minor change of $1-$10 dollars (which is a reflection of Hotwire's variable mark-up); i think the drastic change that BEAV saw was an actual rate change by the hotel.