Priceline Hotel: 4* San Francisco (Financial District-Embarcadero) Le Meridien

[exyvrite]

I'm looking for a hotel 4*+ in SF (Embarcadero or USE). HOTWIRE shows $129/night for a 4.5* with the following amenities.

fitness center

Restaurants

Business center

High speed internet access

Also it shows tripadvisor rating of 4.5/5 Based on 200+ customer reviews (Last reviewed February 2009)

None of them I'm researched fits this exactly??? Help please.

[exyvrite]

Now I'm pretty sure this is Le Meridien. Duh... its currently the only 4.5* in the area.

[BEAV]

Now I'm pretty sure this is Le Meridien. Duh... its the only 4.5* in the area.

You are correct this is a match for Le Meridien. What are your travel dates? Reason I ask is because this hotel has been running some pretty low rates on sites like Expedia, Hotels.com, etc. I stayed there two weekends ago for $83 on Expedia. So don't automatically assume HOTWIRE will be your lowest rate.

[exyvrite]

Dates are from 30 July to 6 August. Both Expedia and Hotels.com have it as $559/night. I'll try PRICELINE and if that doesn't work, I'll book it thru HOTWIRE.

[BEAV]

Thanks for the reply. If HOTWIRE is still selling at $129 for your dates, that's a great price for a stay of that length, especially during the middle of summer. The low rates I got on Expedia were last minute during off season. While you might be successfull at a lower rate through PRICELINE, if for any reason you're looking to target the Le Meridien, HOTWIRE would be the way to go since it's easily identifiable. Best of luck to you!

[thereuare]

Let us know how it goes or if the board can be of further help.

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

[exyvrite]

Very happily got 2 rooms at Le Meridien july 30 to aug 6 for $110/night/room via PRICELINE.

$80 rejected

$90 rejected

$100 rejected

$105 rejected

$110 accepted

Expedia rate was $559!

Thanks for all the help and I gladly used the betterbidding PRICELINE link.

[BEAV]

$110 is an excellent rate this far in advance for peak summer at a highly-rated hotel. Le Meridien has been discounting big time lately, not only with PRICELINE and HOTWIRE, but also special rack rates.

Note to thereuare: Move to SF Priceline forum and retitle from 4.5 to 4 star?

[thereuare]

Congratulations on your success!

Glad to see you got a great deal on this property and 'no problem' with two rooms for a full week stay.

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICLINE link to begin your bidding.

Enjoy your stay.

[exyvrite]

I just returned from this trip and it was a DISASTER! 2 days before my travel date, I received an email from Priceline that Le Meridien was overbooked. They did however re-book us elsewhere. I was NOT pleased.

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear of this issue... where did they re-book you?

[aak107]

I'm just curious...does this happen often with priceline winning bids?

[AaronJB]

Not very often. However, it also depends on how the hotel handles the situation (if you don't know about it until you get there.)

[Colfax]

I'm just curious...does this happen often with priceline winning bids?

I've used Priceline hundreds of times in dozens of cities and I've never been bumped once.

I usually don't stay at 4* hotels though, where bumping seems more common. But even at the 4* level I don't think bumping happens often now. It happened more a few years ago when the hotels were busier. I haven't seen another example of someone getting bumped on Priceline recently, at least not in San Francisco.

I'm curious too which hotel the OP was moved to. Le Meridien is one of the better 4* in SF and I'm wondering if he got bumped to another of the "upper tier" 4*.

At least, in this case, the OP was notified two days ahead. Finding out at the checkin counter is worse.

[BEAV]

The only time I've ever been bumped was on a Hotels.com booking at an Embassy Suites. Like Priceline, it was a fully prepaid reservation, however we weren't given the courtesy of advance notification. We just showed up at the hotel at midnight after a long flight and were shuttled to a nearby Doubletree (Embassy Suites and Doubletrees are both under the Hilton flag).

Just my opinion, but when it comes to bumping, I don't necessarily think fully prepaid, non-refundable reservations should be the ones selected for bumping 48 hours in advance of check-in. Obviously, Le Meridien thought it best to bump those who paid the lowest rate (Priceline). But if it were my hotel, I think I would instead offer guests who were registered Starwood customers (in order of their status) to be reaccomodated at a higher Starwood brand (such as the St Regis) which is very close to Le Meridien. In that scenario, everyone wins, assuming a Starwood customer would be happy to be upgraded to the St Regis product, and the Priceline customer left intact at Le Meridien.

[Colfax]

But if it were my hotel, I think I would instead offer guests who were registered Starwood customers (in order of their status) to be reaccomodated at a higher Starwood brand (such as the St Regis) which is very close to Le Meridien. In that scenario, everyone wins, assuming a Starwood customer would be happy to be upgraded to the St Regis product, and the Priceline customer left intact at Le Meridien.

That plan makes sense, BEAV.

Whatever happened I don't think the OP got moved to St Regis because he/she said they weren't pleased.

I wonder if the bump had something to do with the OP's seven-day length of stay. If just one night out of seven was overbooked that could make the hotel dishonor the entire reservation. Cancelling the entire reservation is easier and smoother than telling a prepaid guest who's already there that they have to move out in the middle of their stay.

[exyvrite]

Just for you info, we got moved to the Hilton Financial district. I don't know if this is considered an 'upper tier 4 star' but it certainly didn't feel like it. In fact we were made to feel like refugees from the Meridien. When we checked in at 3pm, we were told "don't know if we can find you a room, we're overbooked ourselves". After a long wait and a discussion with the manager, they found us a room. Unfortunately it was one of the dreaded ending in 00 rooms. Meaning one of the half size shoe box rooms next to the elevator. Terrible Terrible.

[Colfax]

Thanks for the followup, exyvrite.

I don't know if you're new to Priceline bidding but if so I hope this experience doesn't dissuade you from giving Priceline another chance. What happened to you really doesn't happen very often.

[Kev]

Out of interest, if Priceline did e-mail you 48 hours in advance and tell you that your hotel that you have paid for is overbooked and they were moving you, do you have the option then to request a full refund rather than accept their replacement hotel?

If you had 48 hours, you may be able to find a better, more suitable deal (maybe not cheaper, but better for your needs).

[thereuare]

In this situation i suspect that PRICELINE would give you the option.

[BEAV]

Out of interest, if Priceline did e-mail you 48 hours in advance and tell you that your hotel that you have paid for is overbooked and they were moving you, do you have the option then to request a full refund rather than accept their replacement hotel?

If you had 48 hours, you may be able to find a better, more suitable deal (maybe not cheaper, but better for your needs).

I've been wondering the same thing.

Thank you, exyvrite, for the follow as I had been wondering if you had been reaccomodated to another Starwood-brand hotel, although that would have required a change of zone (SOMA or USE). Sounds to me like Le Meridien went to Priceline, said they were full and asked them if there was anywhere else you could be accomodated. Personally, the Hilton Financial District is the weakest of the 4 star players in this zone, however Priceline would see it differently since they rate it the same as Le Meridien, Hyatt Regency and Omni. Although it doesn't make you feel any better, I agree with Colfax and others that sort of thing happens very rarely.

I wonder if this would have happened had you booked the hotel through Priceline Vacations, where you select a specific hotel vs bidding through their Name Your Own Price channel.