Hotwire Hotel: Any information on Paso Robles?

[craezie]

I'm looking for something in Paso Robles from 3/21-3/23 or 24.

There is a 2 star on Hotwire for $49 showing breakfast, pool and laundry. Priceline also shows 2 1/2, 2, and 1 star. Does that mean that they definitely have availability in all 3 categories? I would probably only be interested in the 2.5 star.

Any idea on what hotels these might be, and what is a good price? I didn't see anything on here at all.

[thereuare]

The star ratings shown don't reflect availability on those dates... only that priceline has contracts for hotels at that star level in the zone.

[craezie]

Do the star ratings for opaque and regular Priceline always correspond? In other words, if the only hotel in Paso that they have rated as 2.5 star is the Courtyard Marriott, can I assume that it is probably this one?

[thereuare]

Do the star ratings for opaque and regular Priceline always correspond?

No, see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

[Colfax]

The star ratings shown don't reflect availability on those dates... only that priceline has contracts for hotels at that star level in the zone.

I'll be a respectfully dissenting voice here and say that I've found a couple instances where Priceline offered bidding at quality levels where no potential hotel existed.

Two examples:

1) Lake Union zone in Seattle. Priceline offers 2.5* and 2* bidding. There are only three hotels in Lake Union zone and all three are reported 2.5*. There physically is no other hotel in the zone that could be 2*.

2) Rancho Cordova zone in Sacramento. Priceline offers 4*, 3*, 2.5*, 2*, and 1*. No hotel in Rancho that could be a 3* (which requires a resaturant serving 3 meals a day), but Priceline still offers 3* bidding in the zone.

My understanding is that if Priceline just has a 1* hotel in a zone then they'll only offer 1* bidding there. But higher than 1* Priceline will always offer at least two quality levels, even if they only inventory at one of them.

So, if Priceline only has a 2* hotel they'll also offer 1* bidding in that zone. If they only have a 2.5* hotel they'll also offer 2* bidding there.

At least that's my understanding. I'll have to revise my theory if someone will give an example of a zone that ONLY offers 3* bidding or ONLY offers 2.5*.

[thereuare]

My understanding is that if Priceline just has a 1* hotel in a zone then they'll only offer 1* bidding there. But higher than 1* Priceline will always offer at least two quality levels, even if they only inventory at one of them.

An interesting take.

Would this also apply to Resort levels? The Ihilani zone in Oahu, Hawaii only offers Resort bidding.

[Colfax]

You are right, thereuare, about Ihilani zone offering Resort and nothing else.

So maybe the formula is:

1* and Resort level bidding are offered alone. But 2*, 2.5*, 3*, and 4* appear with at least one other quality option, even if Priceline has no contract with a hotel at that second option.

What about Boutique? Are there any zones with Boutique and nothing else? I mostly just look at the West Coast boards.

[thereuare]

I can't think of any other solo zones off the top of my head, but I'll keep a look-out in the days, weeks, months ahead.

[craezie]

No, see the related link in our PRICELINE FAQ.

This was not quite what I was asking. Pretty much all of the hotels in Paso Robles are already listed on Priceline regular. I realize that the set of hotels they use can at times not necessarily correspond. But when they are talking about the same exact hotel, will they ever rate it differently between opaque and regular? In other words, if there are two particular hotels that I do NOT want, and they are both rated 2* on the regular service, can I be fairly safe bidding only 2.5* on opaque?

Thanks.

[thereuare]

I know of once example where a hotel, which the user didn't want, was listed in the 'retail' service was rated 3* so the user bid 4* in order to avoid it. Sure enough he won the unwanted property at the 4* level thru the 'name your own price' opaque service. Complaints to priceline were fruitless, although days later the hotel won was indeed downgraded to 3 stars, so i think this was just a case of the 'opaque' system not catching up with the 'non-opaque' system.

So in sum: The two should have the same star ratings, but the 'official' stance is that they could be different since the two services use different critieria to rate hotels; and if you should win a hotel thru the bidding service which is rated lower thru the retail service, you will probably have little recourse.

[Colfax]

In other words, if there are two particular hotels that I do NOT want, and they are both rated 2* on the regular service, can I be fairly safe bidding only 2.5* on opaque?

I think it's "fairly safe" that those 2*'s you see in Priceline's retail product won't come up as a 2.5* in opaque. But "fairly safe" is short of a 100% guarantee.

When Priceline first introduced their retail product there were numerous rating inconsistencies between the retail and opaque products for the same hotel. Those inconsistencies have been greatly reduced, but I'm not prepared to say the two products match all the time. And I've never seen anything from Priceline guaranteeing that the ratings in the two products will always match. I'd say they almost always match now.

What are the brand names of the two 2* hotels that you don't want?