Priceline Hotel: 4* Paris (St Germain-Latin Quarter-Montparnasse) Le Meridien Mntprnsse

[stoddmi]

I originally posted in response to another ladies post about having to pay a surcharge for bringing their child.

Here's my original post:

I have a similar issue. I booked a hotel, and Priceline only asks for the number of adults per room.

I have never used priceline before, and I have a 7 year old child. To make a long story short, I booked a room, and then found out there would be a surcharge for my son.

Priceline said it was up to the hotel to determine the charge.. The hotel said it was up to Priceline to determine the charge. Ultimately I sent a message to Priceline corporate and am waiting to hear back.

I feel like I should have read better, but it also seems that every other travel site asks about additional travelers (adult and child).

I told priceline I did not want to get a refund but would like to get a different hotel that could accommodate all 3 of us. I will post there response.

Anyone else experience this?

Stoddmi

Here are the details of my winning bid:

Le Meridien Montparnasse

19 Rue Du Commandant Mouchotte

Paris, 75014

33-1-44364436

Check-In: Sunday, June 14, 2009-12:00 PM

Check-Out: Friday, June 19, 2009-12:00 PM

Room 1: Michael Stoddard

Confirmation # C661454240

Summary of Charges

Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $160.00 (USD)

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 5

Room Subtotal: $825.00 (USD)

Taxes and Fees: $72.96 (USD)

Total Room Cost: $897.96 (USD)

[stoddmi]

I heard back from Priceline on Sunday. I don't think I am going to have much luck with them, but I am still going to bug them.

Here is the response I got from priceline Corporate:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your concerns and feedback with

your hotel reservation at the Le Meridien Montparnasse for Request

Number #########.

We are writing to let you know that we have received your e-mail in our

Executive Offices. We understand that you are upset with the upgrade

fee.

We apologize for any inconvenience; however, we state on our website

that your room will be guaranteed to accommodate 2 people. Specific bed

types are not guaranteed. Your confirmed hotel determined your specific

bed type based on availability at the time your request was accepted. If

you would like a specific bed type you may contact the hotel directly.

Any changes will be based on availability and are granted at the hotel's

discretion. If the hotel states that you would be responsible for an

additional upgrade fee, you are also responsible to pay this fee.

If you have further questions, please contact me directly at

1-800-###-#### Monday, Tuesday, or Friday between the hours of 4:00pm

and 6:00pm EST. You may also reply to this e-mail.

Please note that the number provided above is a United States phone

number and may incur toll charges when calling from outside the U. S or

Canada.

We are sorry we did not provide you the answers you were looking for and

we thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Ryan Phillabaum

Executive Offices

[WillTravel]

I know it can be unpleasant to get an extra charge, but this is very standard for Europe. What I like about this hotel is that it has good air conditioning and is close to many metro lines, so although it may not be your best deal ever, you should be fine there.

It sounds like the amount of the charge has still not been resolved. Looking at lemeridien.com, the hotel's cheapest website rate is 329 Euros during this time, but a room with two double beds is 374 Euros, so from that point of view you got a huge discount off the website rate. If you want to resolve this now, you could telephone the hotel and ask for the cost to be upgraded to a room with two double beds, or you could ask the cost of a rollaway. However, in the room we had, I'm not sure a rollaway would have fit. If you don't resolve it, take a sleeping bag or an air mattress for your child and hope for the best when you check in discreetly.

[thereuare]

I booked a hotel, and Priceline only asks for the number of adults per room... and then found out there would be a surcharge for my son.

Assuming you used the "name your own price" feature of PRICELINE, the above is not a true statement.

PRICELINE doesn't ask for the number of adults, it states that all rooms are guaranteed for double occupancy.

There are many hotels rooms in Europe which do not accomodate more than double occupancy, and rooms which can accomoate triple occupancy are often not considered 'standard rooms' and are only avaiable at an additional cost.

You can move forward however you wish, but i think the hotel (and PRICELINE) are right in this situation and an upgrade fee is understandable (assuming the amount is 'fair'... and fair in my opinion would be anything less than the current difference between what the double rate and the triple rate, which as per WillTravel above would be 45EUR)

Those are my (unsolicited) thoughts.

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

[stoddmi]

Thanks for the input.

I will see what I can work out. I agree the hotel is in a good location.

Hopefully it's worth the money (and extra money).

Thanks for the feedback!

Mike