Hotwire Hotel: 4* Miami (South Beach) The Palms

[holidayDTCAJL]

We just booked the 4* Miami (South Beach) hotel with beachfront, restaurant, pool, etc. and it is The Palms (located at the most Northern end of South Beach), not the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza (which is located more centrally in South Beach). We haven't stayed there yet, so we're not sure what it is like, but when we booked, based on information from this message board, we expected the Royal Palm Crowne Paza.

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

What is the price and date of this stay? (i'll then add some additional comments)

[holidayDTCAJL]

We're paying $97 for one night - May 12th. From research we've done since we booked, it looks like a nice hotel (although, perhaps a bit too 'family' oriented), it's just not located where we had hoped, but in the end, it'll probably be fine (and, hopefully better than fine!).

[thereuare]

Holiday,

Please correct me if i'm wrong, but the amenities for the Palms (you can access this by clicking the MY ACCOUNT link at the top right corner of Hotwire's homepage) are: Beachfront, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, and Business.

Meanwhile, as per the FLORIDA HOTWIRE HOTELS LIST the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza is: Beachfront, Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Laundry.

While the two descriptions are similar, they're not an exact match so it would have bee known that this was not likely the Crowne Plaza.

There are instances where two hotels in the same zone have the same star rating and amenities (which is why we say there are no guarantees), but in this instance the descriptions were actually different.

Having personally stayed at the Royal Crowne Plaza and reading the reviews of the Palms, i'd sooner take the Palms for my next stay if given a choice. :)

Enjoy your stay. I'd be interested in hearing your review upon your return.

[nyctraveler]

Hi - this is a great service! Thank you for administering it.

I'm curious what the follow-up of this post was, if any?

I'm new to online bidding and really want to stay at the Royal Crowne Plaza Hotel in South Beach, yet I saw a previous message from someone who thought they were bidding on the Royal but got the Palms instead (though as you mention they may have mistaken the Business Center for the Laundry).

You mention you stayed at the Royal Crowne Plaza, was this through Hotwire or Priceline?

Do you have any suggestions/strategies? I've never used either website. I kind of have figured out Hotwire (look at the hotels that they couple with the flights for the packages) and then compare the ratings for those hotels to the section where the hotel is hidden. I'm going 6/3 to 6/6, and my brother has stayed there three times and swears by this place - I really like the location.

Any news on the traveler who posted this originally about the Palms?

I'd appreciate any insight you may have - and any suggestions.

Gregg

:)

[thereuare]

Well the original poster to this thread never responded further, but i highly think the amenities were 'close' and not an exact match.... although i'm not accusing anyone of anything and we can't say for sure what happened.

We keep lists of the reported hotels and they can be found in this HOTWIRE FLORIDA HOTELS thread.

Even if everything matches exactly there is still some risk as there can be more than one hotel with the same exact star rating and amenities; as well the amenity icons and star rating are subject to change. So if you absolutely must have the Royal Crowne Plaza then perhaps Priceline/Hotwire isn't the right plan, but if you're willing to accept the savings in exchange for an educated guess than it's a great way to save money.

However, i just did a search for your dates and don't see any offering that resembles the Royal Palm Crowne Plaza.... did you see an offering that you thought was this property?

[nyctraveler]

thanks for the tidbits, thereuare:

FYI when i first saw what i thought to be the royal crowne plaza in South Beach, it was listed as 4* with all the amenities that matched the hotel listing on this site...but i hesitated to do more hotel research etc. before booking and the next day it was gone!

alas...

FUNNY enough, if you look at the vacations section on hotwire, the royal crowne plaza DOES come up with the packages for my dates (6/3 to 6/6)...not sure why it would be there but not listed in the hotel section (unless they are playing with ratings???).

[thereuare]

The hotel product only shows one hotel per zone at each star level. The hotel that is shown is the one with the least expensive rate (although hotels within a certain dollar amount of each other, say within $10, are treated as a 'tie' for presentation purposes and which one is shown is determined randomly)