Priceline Hotel: 3* DC (White House-Downtown) Residence Inn Vermont Ave

[mrjohno]

Booked 4/06/09

Travel dates 4/17/09 - 4/19/09

Room Cost (avg. per room, per night): $60.00 (USD)

Number of Rooms: 1

Number of Nights: 2

Room Subtotal: $120.00 (USD)

Taxes and Fees: $25.22 (USD)

Total Room Cost: $145.22 (USD)

Previous unsuccessful bids for same dates (in reverse chronological order)

White House - Downtown 3* $50

White House - Downtown 3.5* $60

White House - Downtown 4* $60

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Congratulations on your success!

Thank you for sharing your results with the board. Hope you're happy with the outcome and looking forward to your stay.

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

Have a great trip.

[hcm]

mrjohno, good luck with this hotel - I got this on priceline about a month ago, and when I arrived they had no room for me - so they sent me to another hotel with a "one night free letter", and then insisted I go back to the first hotel for my second night. I refused that inconvenience and prevailed after enormous effort, and it was just a huge hassle and very unpleasant. I posted my experience on tripadvisor if you want the gory details. Anyway, my suggestion to you is to CALL THEM in advance, tell them you know about what happened to someone else that used priceline, and get them to promise you your room will be ready for you when you get there. They wouldn't dare do that to you if you warn them. They run this hotel like teenagers.

[GM Mike]

This was obviously very inconvenient for you but it sounds like standard "walk" compensation. It's common in the industry to relocate guests to another property if the original hotel is overbooked. You should have received a refund of your original payment plus the complimentary night at the other hotel. You would typically be required to return to the original hotel for subsequent nights at the original rate. On a reservation that is NOT prepaid, typically it would be your option to cancel the remaining nights without penalty, though then you would be left to find your own room somewhere else.

Is this not the compensation they offered you?

(This should probably be moved to another thread with details of hcm's winning bid.)

[mrjohno]

I didn't see your post before we left for the trip. When we arrived at 4pm they said they only had one room ready. thankfully it was on the 12th floor with no street noise at all. The room was small and an odd layout, the kitchenette was at the foot of the bed, the TV was off to the side of the bed with no real comfortable way to view it. We were in town for a wedding and really only slept and showered at the hotel, so it was fine for our purposes.

One caveat, the refrigerator wasn't plugged in when we arrived but we didn't notice it until the second day when we needed ice. According to the front desk, there are no ice machines in the hotel, the clerk said he would send some up but we left within 20 minutes and never saw the ice. Check the fridge plug when you arrive if you plan on using it.