Priceline Hotel: 3* Lake Mary Marriott

[runNgun]

ok, this is a strange one. When I started bidding and picked Lake Mary only 2.5* and below appeared. I had seen a 3* on HW at $52 and "thought" it was the Hilton Garden Inn (which PL has as a 2.5*). I decided to start at 2.5* only and $42. That was rejected so I added Sanford(which does have a 3*)as a rebid and went up to $44 and won the Marriott. However my confirmation says I've been upgraded to a 3* in Lake Mary when there was never a 3* zone to begin with?????

Can someone check it out and see if I missed something? Since there is no map of either zone I can only guess that the Marriott is actually in the Sanford zone eventhough it's street address is Lake Mary???

Congratulations, you got your price of $44 for a hotel room, and we've upgraded your hotel quality level to a 3-star hotel!

Marriott Orlando Lake Mary

Check-In Date: Saturday, July 3, 2004

Check-Out Date: Sunday, July 4, 2004

1501 International Parkway

Lake Mary, Florida 32746

Subtotal: $44.00

Taxes $11.08

Total Charges: $55.08

anyway I think this is a great deal for my friend who's going to the Pepsi 400 last minute and this is only about 45 miles away from Daytona(He's coming from Naples, Fl)

[thereuare]

You certainly have it correct! I'm seeing everything that you are. My first thought was that perhaps a hotel was added in the middle of your bid, but selecting Lake Mary still only shows 2.5* has the highest property level.

All that i can think of is that there is a glitch in their system where this hotel is not being shown at the 'choose your star level' page. If this 'glitch' (if that is what it is) is widespread, it could have negative implications for re-bidding! If Lake Mary was your re-bid zone and you won a hotel there at a star level that didn't otherwise appear to be available... could you successfully dispute that charge? (an interesting question)

In this link, ZONE MAPS, WT had written priceline in the past and when there are no maps shown than you can get any hotel with that city in the address. Marriott's website shows that this hotel's address is Lake Mary, FL. (i think there was another discussion about this but i can't seem to locate it right now)

I would write Priceline about this, and although you'll likely get a 'canned response' that has almost nothing to do with your question, i'd continue an email exchange with them until i got a legitimate answer. Maybe there are other zones where this is a similar situation, but hopefully it's just an erroneous computer entry for this specific property.

If i was the Marriott i would be upset because many users may not have bid this zone thinking that a 3* wasn't available... when in reality they could have won the Marriott all along! Maybe speaking to the hotel is another approach as i'm sure they'd prefer the business rather than sending a potential customer to another zone.

[thereuare]

The SEARCH feature is a wonderful tool... here's the other link i was refering to (also courtesy of WillTravel): WHEN PRICELINE DOESN'T PROVIDE MAPS.

[runNgun]

The Marriott while in Lake Mary is off exit 101 which is the Sanford exit. I know the Comfort Inn and Springhill Suites on the east side of the exit are in Sanford and participate with priceline. Marriott is west of 1-4. It seems this is as simple as PL has the Marriott in the Sanford zone. The other hotels in the Lake Mary zone are off exit 98 (Candlewood Suites 2*, La Quinta 2* and the Homestead Studio suites 2*). I still guessing the 2.5* in the LM zone is the Hilton Garden Inn. I have some old winning bids in Lake Mary I'll try to find and post.

[thereuare]

Ooops, didn't read clearly enough and realize that Sanford was the zone you added :)

In that case, and given your knowledge of the area which i don't have, it could be as simple of an explanation as you provided.... however, this would appear to go against Priceline's policy as per the email received in the link above.

Now that it's a little clearer (since i've had a cup of coffee) and possibly there is a more simple explanation, i would still write priceline and ask for a clarification of which zone the hotel is in (explaining that you'd like to stay there again in the future and know which zone you should bid).

[thereuare]

I also just pulled up a win of my upcoming Seattle trip...

On the confirmation screen to the right of where they show the hotel amenities, it gives the address of the hotel and above it says, "Downtown Seattle". Not sure if this line above the hotel's address shows the zone or not (i never looked that closely) but maybe somebody can check a prior win of theirs to see if this line gives the zone according to Priceline. If so, maybe the confirmation for this win will indicated "Lake Mary" or "Sandford"?

[runNgun]

I looked there first but no "zone description". My printout shows exactly what I copied and pasted except for the guest names, etc.