Hotwire Hotel: 3* London (Kensington-Chelsea-Knightsbridge) Express by Holiday Inn

[NancyC45]

Hi folks,

This hotel popped up on HOTWIRE last night for my dates of May 17/18 at $59/night. In the middle of booking it the rate disappeared. Needless to say I was not amused. Today it's shown up again only at $79/night. In your experience do rates tend to fluctuate, or when they go up do they stay up? Just wondering if I should push my luck at the risk of losing out again.

From what I've read on the forum this appears to be the HI Earl's court from the description... Not a bad location and definitely good for the price.

Help for this newbie would be greatly appreciated!

Nancy

PS - In your PRICELINE experience has this type of deal been beat? I tried bidding up to $60/nt for 3*/4* in several London areas last night with no luck...

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Rates on HOTWIRE do fluctuate without there being any underlying change in demand, but $20 on a $60-$80 would be near the very top of the expected 'normal' fluctuation.

Is this just a one nite stay of 5/17 as i'm not seeing a $79/nite hotel offered for these dates in this zone... the 3* hotel i'm seeing is $179.

Also, when you say the rate disappeared during your booking, do you mean that as you complete the process HOTWIRE gave a message that the offering was no longer avaiable? (after you submited your credit card info and such)

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

[WillTravel]

Someone on Fodors posted she got the HI Express Earl's Court for $49 on Hotwire, so I guess occasionally the price drops that low for whatever reason. Were you searching with the same number of people in both instances?

Sometimes it happens that the advertised hotel on HOTWIRE is just not available when you try to book it.

[NancyC45]

Also, when you say the rate disappeared during your booking, do you mean that as you complete the process HOTWIRE gave a message that the offering was no longer avaiable? (after you submited your credit card info and such)

That is correct - I got all the way to the end, put my credit details in, and bam - rate no longer available. I was searching with 2people/1room the whole time.

Tried again this morning with the $79 rate, same results.

I was playing around with the dates and split it into two- one night stays. By doing that, I was in fact able to book it for Sun 5/18 but not for Sat 5/17. I'm not too worried about having to switch hotels since we're just going for the two nights...but... I *would* like to get that rate again!

So I guess this is a 50% success story. I received the HI Earls Court 3* property @$59 which is just what I anticipated thanks to the boards.

I'll just have to keep my eyes keen for the next two or three days to see if that rate pops up again! It is still listed in the "hot deals" section but is no longer available for booking. If not, the 2nd best appears to be a 4* in the City-Financial district @ $99 for 5/17. Is that decent, or would it normally be higher/lower? From the amenities looks like it would be either the Hilton Islington or the Club Quarters Gracechurch.

[thereuare]

Glad to hear of your <partial> success!

Thank you for sharing your win with the board.

Can you please add to this thread the amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view these by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

Please start a NEW TOPIC for the remaining nite of your stay.

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

Thanks! Enjoy this leg of your trip.

[NancyC45]

Can you please add to this thread the amenities shown before your purchase... you can still view these by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

3* Holiday Inn Earls Court (London: Kensington/Chelsea/Knightsbridge)

Amenities: Complimentary Breakfast, High speed internet access

Won for $59 + tax/fees = $66.15 USD

Night of 5/18/08

Hopefully that's everything :)

Nancy

[thereuare]

Thanks for the follow-up. :)