Hotwire Hotel: 4* Florence (Central) Hotel Palazzo Ognissanti

[Regruve]

Not particularily impressive looking.

No ammenties and without charm. Cheap enough, but this off-season and I think there are better properties to be had for similar or a little more money.

I've done well by hotwire in North America, but I'd think twice about using it in Europe again. Oh well, live and learn.

[blindman]

Welcome to Betterbidding.

What were the Amenities listed for this hotel?

It will be added it to the list

Thank you

[Regruve]

What were the Amenities listed for this hotel?

None were listed, which I thought odd, but chalked it up to "Europe thing" and relied on the star rating instead.

I now know that they listed none because there is none, so I can't say that I was mislead on the ammenities. The star rating, however . . .

[blindman]

Thank you for the update.

Have you been there yet? Your dates seem to suggest it's next week, but you seem to know that there are no amenities :)

[Regruve]

No, I've not, but I've visited the hotel's website. They have no restaurant (other than an Italian breakfast) nor any fitness facilities. They do have minibars, satellite TV, and internet, to be fair, but I was thinking more of out-of-room stuff.

I do realize that there are different standards in some parts of Europe, but I have found that Northern Italy tends not to be that far off the mark in this regard. Again, oh well.

[blindman]

It gets some good reviews on Tripadvisor.

[Regruve]

I'm sure it's fine, it's just that the renovated, featured room looks pretty damn bleak.

Since August, I've booked the following:

Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, 4*

Hyatt Regency, Montreal, 4*

Ritz Carlton, MTL, 3.5*

Ramada, Calgary, 3*

This place seems much closer to the latter than it does the former. I guess I've been spoiled by my good experiences and didn't take in to account the trans-atlantic currency exchange on the star ratings.

[Regruve]

UPDATE: I just found the same room through www.GTA Hotels.com for $112 USD inclusive per night. As mentioned, the hotwire price was $129 plus $15.95 in taxes/fee for a total of $144.95.

I have applied for the guarantee and will advise when I hear something.

[Regruve]

They're crediting me $68 without any fuss. That's pretty good.

[thereuare]

Glad to hear your "Double the Difference" claim went smoothly.

HOTWIRE is acutally very good at honoring these claims... many companies try to 'weasle' out of honoring their guarantee, but HOTWIRE has an excellent track record of standing behind their policy.