Conflicting info re: who determines the room

[IBDP]

I had always been led to believe that it was the hotel personnel who would determine the type of room one acquires if bidding through Priceline; as Priceline quotes, "you can request type of bedding and non or smoking, but the hotel does not have to honor that". On the other side of the coin, I had an interesting conversation with a reservationist at an Omni Hotel; he stated that the type of room was determined by Priceline and even by my calling the hotel I can not change that. What say you, Thereuare and all?

Kind regards,

Donna

[bbbb]

People get their requests all the time in here,usualythe only time theres a problem is when the hotel is full.The guy at the Omni was new or stroking you.

[JB Albany]

In my MBA accounting class, the seasoned professor who is a banker, started to talk about the hotel industry.

In our fixed/variable cost analysis problems, we had to figure out what a hotel had to charge to break even. The problem we did calculated that the variable cost for one nights stay was $12. Which seems a reasonable cost to wash sheets and have housekeeping clean the room. I highly doubt that variable cost changes at all based on the room you stay in.

In his discussion, he mentioned that most hotels have an occupancy of 63% on average. I figure if you can get a room at a great rate, chances are the occupancy for that time period is estimated to be very low. If it is low, the hotel has NOTHING to lose if they bump you to a nicer room with a view. They do have loyalty and reputation to gain.

Comments?

-JB

[thereuare]

Rooms do come thru with requests (non-smoking, king bed, etc) but are actually assigned at time of check-in. I think some hotels just instruct their employees to tell customers "i can't change anything on a Priceline reservation" in order to keep all their room assignment options open.

I agree that hotels should use Priceline and Hotwire as an opportunity to win guests as customers for when an opaque service is not appropriate. Unfortunately, too many hotels take the attitude that the Priceline/Hotwire customer never books direct and are 'stealing' from the hotel by getting their deeply discounted rate.

PS- isn't $12 their fixed cost, not their variable cost?

[bbbb]

JB,my wife managed a hotel and your right on with your analogy.

[WillTravel]

In his discussion, he mentioned that most hotels have an occupancy of 63% on average. I figure if you can get a room at a great rate, chances are the occupancy for that time period is estimated to be very low. If it is low, the hotel has NOTHING to lose if they bump you to a nicer room with a view. They do have loyalty and reputation to gain.

Comments?

-JB

I haven't confirmed this for hotels specifically, but I think that in general a hotel would want to keep occupancy of all rooms at about the same level. They would not want Room 1011 to be occupied 90% of the time and Room 1010 to be occupied 10% of the time, for example, because the wear and tear on the two rooms would be very different. If they gave everyone the best possible rooms, many rooms in the hotel would scarcely be used. If they are scheduling a renovation or overhaul, they would want all rooms to be at the same point, more or less.

The other issue is that giving people the best possible room might set their expectations too high. If you get a really nice room on your first visit, and then a mediocre room on your second visit, I imagine the hotel might be more disappointing to you than if you had gotten a mediocre room twice in a row.

Just speculating mostly here.

[gleff]

PS- isn't $12 their fixed cost, not their variable cost?

Actually, the fixed cost is the cost of running the hotel independent of whether any rooms are occupied or not.

In this case, $12 would be the MARGINAL (or incremental) cost of having an additional room occupied.

[hotturnip]

But back to the original topic:

The answer is that BOTH determine the room. After many PL stays, I've noticed that hotels frequently say something at checkin like, "That's for a king non-smoking?" or "You've reserved a smoking room." When, of course, I've reserved nothing of the kind.

Basically, my theory is that with some or most hotel companies, when Priceline's booking engine does its thing, it has to book into one of their existing room categories, which, of course, vary. I suspect that part of Priceline's agreement with hotels defines the booking category of the room while confirming that it's just for technical purposes and that actual room assignments will be made at checkin. So it's just sort of a holding pattern, but front desk clerks aren't always aware and just read off what they see in the computer. The problem is that sometimes, particularly at 2* properties, they stick with what's originally booked. I've had that happen several times, and ended up in smoking rooms.

[gleff]

A hotel definitely has discretion to change your room type, within the bounds of the Priceline agreement which sets certain minimums.

For instance, I've received suite upgrades on Priceline stays. Priceline didn't 'set' that, the hotel did.

[micheles]

i requested a harbour view with a recent priceline stay in boston - hyatt harbourside - and was told no - the room i had booked was an airport view and to change would cost me $40 a night - so in this case i presume priceline had a hand in it (although she was a snotty clerk - so who knows?)

[flyme2]

From my personal experience when using PL, I have found that if you ask for an upgraded room when checking in, front desk staff are usually programmed to request an additional charge. They are, however, empowered to grant a better room when inventory or circumstances permit. Just prior to my last PL stay, I was able to determine that all regular rooms were sold out on my date of arrival and for a couple of days afterward. When I arrived, around 6 PM, an upgraded room had already been pre-blocked for the duration of my stay, yet after a little keyboard pecking the room assignment changed and I was further upgraded into a higher floor suite with a view. I didn't request an upgrade during check-in, but upon checking out on a previous stay at the same property, I asked if my upcoming PL stay could be on a high floor with a slightly better view, and that I would appreciate anything they could do. I've had other requests (bedding, non-smoking, quiet room, high floor, etc.) frequently honoured by contacting the hotel beforehand. They usually mention the standard PL proviso, but upon arrival, my requests are almost always accomodated. I also think that being polite and middle-aged works in my favour, as front desk staff assume there will be little chance of my wife or I trashing the room or throwing a beer bash.

[LglBlonde]

At the Courtyard in Carolina Beach, NC - my husband and I have had two PL stays. On the first, though I called multiple times, I was told that we could *not* have a NS King room and they only offer two Queens for PL customers. And the whole, we can't change the reservation stuff.

When we checked in, our clerk was experienced and gave us the two Queens - :o

Second stay, about a year later - same thing - called and called and they said, nope, we can't change your room NO matter what. Matter of fact, say I'd talked to "Linda" everytime. When we arrived, "Linda" was working, but helping another customer and sent another clerk to check us in - clearly one less-experienced.... So, I politely asked for a King NS and it was granted to us by the lovely younger clerk. :) In fact, she even had us "initial" the PL rate - which was a couple of bucks lower than we'd paid.

What is funny is that two days later, we had to "re-check-in" b/c we had a split stay on PL - and "Linda" re-checked me in - She kind of gave a funny look since we had a King room, but there was little she could do at that point! :)

[dianev]

What I find funny is many clerks (and ones on the phone too) insist that they cant change anything because Priceline says they cant! And they are very firm about that. However if you read what Priceline says they say you can make requests to the hotel and its up to them.

I think its a copout for the hotels to not have to give up nicer rooms for "priceline" people. Not all hotels are like that but I have pointed out before what priceline actually says on their website and still they resist.

[blindman]

It's the hotel that has the final say.

What you get depends upon the attitude of both yourself and the check-in clerk :)

[dahammer]

Second stay, about a year later - same thing - called and called and they said, nope, we can't change your room NO matter what. Matter of fact, say I'd talked to "Linda" everytime. When we arrived, "Linda" was working, but helping another customer and sent another clerk to check us in - clearly one less-experienced.... So, I politely asked for a King NS and it was granted to us by the lovely younger clerk.

[LglBlonde]

Good idea - I pretty much have them all as well - I'll remember that for our next PL stay!

[MichaelBei]

There clearly is an effort by many hotels to treat Priceline guests in a special way. My experience is that when I get this line, it is usually from the lower class hotels. I think Marriott brand hotels have always tried to honor my requests. Days Inn, LaQuinta, Hilton often give me the Priceline made me do it line - we are unable to change anything in your reservation, mean Priceline just won't let us give you a non-smoking room -- yea, right! :)

[trucker217]

I had 2 rooms, 4 nights booked through PL last December at the Park Central Hotel in NYC & found out by being nice & tipping the clerk $20, I received what I wanted, non-smoking adjoining rooms for my stay. The rooms were only $80 each per night so $20 was well worth it too me. I did call the hotel prior to my arrival & they said "they will try to give me what I wanted" but couldn't guarantee it. A little green can go a long way! :)

[Shea77]

I think if the desk personnel thinks you are being too pushy or asking for too much - like a free upgrade, they are less likely to give you something if you already got a great bargain through Priceline.

On a recent trip to a resort in Hilton Head (booked through Priceline for a steal) I was just extra friendly and nice to the desk clerk and I did not ask for a thing. I commented on how beautiful the hotel was, etc. He then told me he bumped me up to an oceanfront room.