Hotwire Hotel: 3* Winnipeg Holiday Inn South

[sarah11918]

Winnipeg Holiday Inn South ~ 3* - April 24/25, 2008 (also previously booked Jan. 24/25, 2008 for the same rate)

This hotel features the following amenities:

Airport Shuttle

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Laundry Facilities

High-speed Internet Access

I was actually expecting the Airport Hilton which shows the same icons (and occasionally shows "suites" and "customer favourite" but sometimes doesn't) and is usually the same price ($69 or $79). I've stayed at this Holiday Inn before and was told by staff that they did not have a shuttle.

This being the 3rd time I've received this hotel with the shuttle icon, I finally made a big deal about it to Hotwire and they called the hotel on our behalf. The hotel claimed that shuttle service exists, but must be booked at least 24 hours in advance. I'm surprised no one at the hotel ever mentioned this to us, but instead of saying, "You would have needed an advanced reservation," simply said, "No."

Other than this issue, I have nothing but rave reviews for this hotel and have found the staff and the rooms to be excellent. I have always ranked this hotel as a "customer favourite." It's faaaaar from the airport, but if the shuttle in fact materializes then at least I won't be paying for the taxi again, and I will have a positive Hotwire customer service experience to report!

I'm sorry that I did not book through this site before, but I will from now on!

EDIT: I did just receive an email from the General Manager of the hotel who explained the shuttle availability

We are working towards resolving the issue of clarification of the specifics of our shuttle service on the website and hope to have this resolved shortly. We do offer a limited airport shuttle service to and from our hotel based on availability. I certainly apologize that the service that we do offer was never explained to you at any time during your conversations with our staff. I will follow up with this to ensure that this does not occur again. I thank you for taking the time to bring this issue to our attention.

Based on demand, our shuttle service is generally available between 7:00 am and 11:00 pm. We do require at least 24 hours notice of shuttle requests. I should mention that we have only one six passenger shuttle van and with a 45-60 minute turn-around from the hotel to the airport, we are not able to honour all requests for shuttles if the demand is high. Typically, the further in advance you make your shuttle request, the more likely it is that we will be able to accommodate your needs. If you have information regarding your arrival and departure times for your next stay at our hotel, please forward them to either myself or our Guest Service Manager as soon as possible. We will do our best to accommodate your request. In any case, we will certainly advise you of whether or not we will be able to offer you shuttle service at the times you require. Feel free to contact us by return e-mail or via our toll free number at 1-800-423-1337.

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success and thank you for sharing your results with the board.

Glad to hear you're happy with the property and looking forward to your return. Thanks for passing along the info regarding the shuttle. Nice to see a responsive hotel manager :)

Enjoy your stay.

[sarah11918]

A quick follow up re: the shuttle situation.

I received an email from Hotwire today to this effect:

=======================

This email is regarding your reservation with the Holiday Inn Winnipeg

South, Hotwire Itinerary Number xxxxxxxxxx.

We regret to inform you the hotel is unable to offer the convenience of

an airport shuttle, one of the amenities listed when you booked this

reservation. We periodically review our representation of our hotel

partners' amenities for the most accurate and up-to-date information and

have made a change to our Web site to reflect the hotel's current

offerings.

======================

So, I would take this to mean that the shuttle amenity will no longer be listed for the Winnipeg Holiday Inn South.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the update... we have updated the Hotwire Hotel List accordingly.