Hotwire Hotel: 4* Ft Lauderdale (Hollywood Beach) Crowne Plaza Sian

[scottvm]

I was a victim of this too. They advertised a room in Fort Lauderdale with a retail price of $204 per night, for $109. A 47% savings. I bought it. I went and checked the hotels website after being told what hotel it was, and the real room rate is $137. I called Hotwire, they will not let me cancel even though I call this deceptive. I am going to try to dispute it with the CC. Anyone ever have luck with that? Any suggestions?

[thereuare]

scottvm,

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[scottvm]

Hotwire advertised a 4 star hotel in Fort Lauderdale ( Hollywood Beach) for 5-26-5-31. They said the retail price was $204 per night. They were selling it for $109 per night, a savings they claimed of 47%. Based on thosed numbers, I purchased the room. The hotel was the Crowne Plaza in Hollywood Beach. I checked their website, and the actual room rate was only $137 per night. I called Hotwire, and they would not assist me. I filed a dispute with my CC and am waiting for a response. Has anyone had any luck disputing this type of thing with their CC? Any other ideas?

[thereuare]

I would have first asked to speak to a supervisor at HOTWIRE (you don't say if you did or not) before filing a dispute with your credit card company, but it's in their hands now and will likely come down to how willing you they are to stand behind you. When you challenged the situation with the HOTWIRE representative, what was their position as to why you weren't 'misled'?

Can you please also include the amenities shown before your purchase... still viewable by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[scottvm]

The Amenities were: Resort, Pool, Business, Golf, Near Beach, Fitness, Restaurant, and Internet.

I did speak to a supervisor before filing a chargeback. They said, sorry, but that is just and average of the hotels of that area. They refused to assist me any further.

All of the screenshots I have say nothing about an average. It specifically says "You'll pay $109 per night for this room--47% less than the retail rate of $204.00

[thereuare]

In regards to the amenities, can you confirm that there is also a Smoke Free icon in addition to the above?

I'd be surprised if your credit card company doesn't reverse the charge... please keep us updated.

[MiaSRN]

I am new to these boards. So please excuse me if I am talking out of line.

Last Aug, I bid on a 3.5 * for one night the end of July 2007 near the Orlando airport. I got the Rennaisance. I wasn't dissatisfied with the bid when I was successful, but rather, because unhappy when I actually got to the hotel.

We were assigned a room at the very end of the hall on the 3rd floor. Immediately upon getting off the elevators the smell hit us. Moldy/musty. My husband thinks there had to be a problem with the AC and he mentioned something about a condensation leak/problem. The staff had two high powered fans set up in the lobby to try and help with the smell. It was quite smelly. We held our breaths going into our room which was maybe 4 doors away from the fan, hoping our room would be ok. The smell was just very very faint of musty in there. Overall the room was clean, but appeared a little dated. Particularily the bathroom. Looked like something out of the 80's and I wondered how HW could have ever given it a 3.5* rating to begin with ? There was rust on some of the bathroom fixtures and the wallpaper was peeling and discolored in some spots.

Our view was one of several dumpsters just to out the icing on the cake. We just did not feel it was a 3.5* hotel and wrote Hotwire upon our return. They said they needed some time to investigate my claims and got back to me within a week. I was given a credit in the form of $25 Hotwire dollars which were good for one year. So I think it was good that HW listened to me and offered a credit of some sort. They did say they agreed that the rating should did not live up to their standards of a 3.5*. But to be fair to Rennaisance. They were undergoing major construction/remodeling. We knew there would be lobby construction, but the room/hallway odor and other problems. So in my case, HW worked with me.

Hope this was an appropriate place to post. I wish you luck with HW scott.