Priceline Hotel: 2.5* Los Angeles (Beverly Hills-West Hollywood) Beverly Pavilion Hotel

[eekelly]

Only a little concerned about the construction since reports are that the rooms are very nice. I was hoping for the Residence Inn but always glad to try a new place. My last unaccepted bid was $79. The hotel no longer appears to be a Best Western. According to a tripadvisor review, it is now owned by the Thompson Group, also owners of the Roosevelt.

Hotel rate for our night is $159. Residence Inn was $219.

[eekelly]

I guess the text was too long for the subject line. 6.14.07 for $81.

Hotel website clearly says that the restaurant/kitchen is not open. Should I complain to PL?

2.5* PL description - While hotel services may be somewhat limited, they will feature a restaurant for breakfast or offer a continental buffet.

[thereuare]

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

If the hotel doesn't offer breakfast (either complimenatary or an alternate on-premise) restaurant I would contact priceline regarding the lack of these amenities since it doesn't meet their criteria above for a 2.5* rated property.

Let us know how it goes.

[eekelly]

After our stay, I called Priceline because of two issues.

1) When I read the PL description of 2.5* hotels, it says "While hotel services may be somewhat limited, they will feature a restaurant for breakfast or offer a continental buffet." Customer relations were adamant that this amenity was NOT guaranteed and sent me a measly $10 voucher instead of the refund I requested. The hotel has no food or beverage service whatsoever, unless you count the minibar. Richard informed me that according to their listing, the hotel had a restaurant. Wrong.

Hotel is undergoing extensive remodeling and while the room was fine, the rest of the hotel is scary.

2) When I go back today to my acceptance email and look at the link to my accepted bid, it clearly says

"Congratulations, you got your price of $81 for a 2-star hotel room." Unfortunately I threw out the original printout from my bid on May 27. Rob in Customer Relations told me that 2.5* acceptances are called 2-star hotels in the acceptance email link. Can this be right? I did get PL to send me a copy of our 'contract' dated May 27 and it says 2

[Colfax]

I would have told Richard "I'll hold while you call Best Western and ask them about their restaurant yourself."

I still don't think it's too late to ask for a refund, but you'll need to call Priceline back and take it up the chain. Ask for a supervisor.

You bid for a 2.5* hotel with guaranteed available breakfast (not necessarily free) and no breakfast was available. You didn't get what you paid for. You know Priceline agrees that BW doesn't deserve 2.5* because Priceline rerated it to 2*. Probably your complaint had something to do with the rerating.

If this was a case where all the 2.5* amenities were there but it just wasn't a very "nice" 2.5* or there were major service issues during your then a $10 voucher would have been appropriate. But when the hotel was clearly misrated and lacked a key amenity defining the class you bid for then a full refund is in order, imo.

Rob in Customer Relations told me that 2.5* acceptances are called 2-star hotels in the acceptance email link. Can this be right?

That's not true. If a hotel gets rerated after your purchase your acceptance page also updates to show the hotel's CURRENT Priceline rating, not the rating it had at the time you purchased.

If BW has a restaurant that's temporarily closed for renovations then Priceline might restore the 2.5* rating when it reopens. I've also seen a hotel downgraded from 4* to 3* while a pool was closed for repairs, then back up to 4*.

[thereuare]

Few comments:

Priceline may not know this, but you did know about the lack of breakfast before your stay... did you try to resolve this previously? If not, and you consumed the hotel room anyway and now want a full refund, i think is asking a bit much (imo). Also, not sure if that voucher is good for only $10, but often their vouchers are good for $10 off per nite up to 5 nites (making the value as much as $50), so make sure you read it a bit more closely as to get the maximum value.

Regarding the downgrade... i do think a refund, or at least more than $10 compensation, is due given the lower star rating.

I'd contact priceline again and as Colfax suggests, speak to a supervisor if you can't get the issue resolved to your satisfaction.

[eekelly]

I spoke with Barbara in Customer Care today and she forwarded my info to Customer Relations and I am to hear from them (again) within 48 hours. Barbara claimed that she could not tell the star level of the Beverly Pavillion. I no longer can find it on their regular (not PL) site so I wonder if PL removed it altogether.

Regarding my knowledge about lack of a restaurant. While I looked at the website 2+ weeks before my stay and saw the note about the renovation of their restaurant, as far as I knew, the hotel restaurant might reopen before my stay or perhaps they have other arrangements for breakfast. I don't feel that it's my responsibility to check up with the hotel on my Priceline stays before my dates to confirm the proper amenities. I believe that it's Priceline's responsibilitiy to properly classify their hotel offerings. I count on their product as represented.

I might have been more forgiving about the restaurant if Rob in Customer Relations had not been so silly as to tell me that the confirmation of my 2.5* bid would correctly say that I received a 2* hotel. This doesn't even make sense.

Thanks for the feedback Colfax and Thereuare.

[eekelly]

Received a call on Monday from Amy McGinnis, Executive Offices. Indeed the Beverly Pavillion is now or perhaps has always been a 2* hotel. There is no dispute that I bid on a 2.5* hotel. However, no further compensation is available other than the voucher I already received. I encouraged her to enhance training so that Customer Relations personnel such as Rob do not try to convince customers that a 2.5* acceptance page will say that a 2* hotel has been awarded.

Amy also told me that I could have called Priceline upon checking in (at 11 pm) and my money would have been refunded then. Where I was then expected to lodge for the night, she could not say.

Irony of ironies - Since Monday, I had a hard drive crash and so the email with the voucher has been lost. Unfortunately I had not printed out the webpage.

[Colfax]

Thanks for the update, eekelly.

Unless you deleted the email that included the voucher you should be able to access it off any computer. Just log in to your email account and locate the old email. After all the work you put into this you deserve that $10 voucher!

Also can you please look up at your Beverly Pavillion win under the "My Trips" tab on Priceline's homepage. Does it now say 2* or 2.5*? We've got it listed as a 2.5* in the Hotel List and if Priceline is now showing it as a 2* thereuare will want to update the list.

Thanks.

[eekelly]

Yes, the PL web page accessed through the request number definitely says 2* and has done so since at least June 25.

I don't save my email on the server so I'm afraid the email voucher is gone. I've emailed PL but don't hold out much hope.

Thanks for the feedback though.