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Hotwire Hotel Rating Challenged - Received full refund.


NYTiGeR
By NYTiGeR,
in

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Hey everyone,

Thought I'd register and let you all know of my Hotwire experience.

Yesterday (Aug 1st) I booked (2) 4-Star rooms for Washington DC (Capitol Hill) area. Got a rate of $86/night per room.

I ended up with the "Capital Hilton" as my hotel.

So as curious as I'm when I book through HW or PL, I started doing research on this hotel (reading reviews, etc).

MOST of the reviews I found on TripAdvisor, Yahoo, PL, etc were very bad for the last couple of months.

So today (Aug 2nd) I decided to find a "loophole" and get my reservation changed/cancelled.

I went to various travel booking sites and A LOT of them had given Capital Hilton a 3 or 3.5 star rating rather than a 4-star. These travel sites included Hotels.com, Expedia, Travelocity, AAA, & Yahoo.

I called up HW and explained the situation to them. I asked them how they can rate this hotel as a 4-Star while many other travel websites have a lower rating for the same hotel (rightfully so).

The rep was very nice and he checked and saw the lower rating on the other websites. He then put me on hold so he can read some of the recent customer reviews on TripAdvisory.

He came back and agreed that the hotel does not appear to fit the 4-Star level and offered me a $100 HW credit ($25 for each room for each night). I asked him to rebook me with another Hotel, to which he informed me that I can end up with the same hotel if I choose the same area again.

I thought about it and felt uncomfortable with the whole situation so I asked for a refund and low and behold he issued me a full refund.

The rep was extremely nice and understanding. He did mention that I had my "facts" in place and HW will usually support customers who have real factual concerns. Which was the case in this situation.

So right after that I logged on to PL and ended up with a much nicer 4-star hotel for the same price!

All in all so far very nice ending. Hopefully this new Hotel will be a trendy 4-star hotel (the customer reviews are definately A LOT better!).

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Welcome to BetterBidding!

Thank you for sharing your experience with the board....

1) can you please post the details of your HOTWIRE purchase to the board, it can help others in the future who may want to stay at this property or if the opportunity presents itself where the rate would be worth the 'risk'. Please include the star rating, city, zone, hotel name, dates of your stay, and price paid... you can still view all of this by going to HOTWIRE and clicking the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page.

2)

I logged on to PL and ended up with a much nicer 4-star hotel for the same price!
Again, perhaps your purchase could help others... why not share your win by posting in the Priceline Washington DC forum. :)

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

A warning to others... the above is the exception and not the rule. While HOTWIRE customer service is usually very good, i've seen many similar arguments not get ruled in the customer's favor. All hotel booking agencies use different criteria to rate hotels, and if you're not happy you should let them know to see if they can rectify the situation just as the OP did, but i wouldn't expect it to be resolved in your favor.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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Thanks for posting your experience. Obviously each experience is unique as someone else could have approached HOTWIRE with the same situation and come away with a completely different outcome, as thereuare pointed out.

I would also encourage you to post both your Hotwire and Priceline purchases/wins.

On a philosophical note, we often rate hotels in our minds based on cleanliness, employee attitudes, personal experiences, etc, when in fact HOTWIRE & PRICELINE rate them by the amenities they offer. I believe this is what causes a lot of confusion when it comes to the ratings game. Anyone can stay at a 4 star hotel (a hotel that offers all the amenities required of such a rating) but come away with a 1 or 2 star "experience". Does that experience justify the hotel to be downgraded? In my opinion, it is still a 4 star hotel, however one with "issues". As long as we rate hotels by their customer reviews while HOTWIRE & PRICELINE rate them by amenties offered, confusion and disagreement over ratings will continue to be the rule. Just my opinion!

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  • 3 months later...

HOTWIRE appears to overrate many properties and change the ratings to meet the bid.

Had a recent experience with 3.5 star rated Westgate Smoky Mountain Gatlinburg TN resort represented to be Condos with operational kitchens and dining areas that were in fact motel 6 type small hotel rooms with sofa stovetop sink bed crammed in very much NOT 3.5 star Condo in any way.

About 6 mos ago bid for a 3 star in Destin FL was filled with with a 2.5 star Country Inn Hotel

Caught them both times and received full refund but it indicates a pattern of deception that is troublesome.

Much prefer to bid on PRICELINE they are much more honest with their rating system.

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With the recent inclusion of a 3.5* rating in the PRICELINE system (which overall i think is a very positive move), the difference in star ratings of the two services has actually become much less.

I don't think put one any better/worse than the other, but you just have to be aware of what type of hotels each deals with and what to expect from each.

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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  • 3 weeks later...

Welcome to BetterBidding!

... maybe I should challenge too?
It would be appreciated if started by sharing your previous results (including amenities... still viewable by going to HOTWIRE and clickng the MY ACCOUNT link near the top right of their home page) with the board :)

Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases

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