Hotwire Hotel: 3* Detroit (Auburn Hills-Lake Orion) Crowne Plaza Auburn Hills

[bluedevils]

3* Detroit (Auburn Hills - Lake Orion) Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza $64 4/18/09 - 4/19/09

Read many good things about the pool area at this hotel, and that was the major reason we booked it.

$64/night + $16 (!) fees. 25% taxes/fees is crazy high. Rate for 2 adults + 2 children.

Amenities shown before booking were an exact match for this hotel as reported in the Pinned Hotwire Michigan hotel list:

Fitness / Pool / Restaurant / Business Center / Laundry / High-Speed Internet / Golf.

Price on Hotwire fluctuated the past 2-3 days for the same 4/18-19 stay dates - starting at $59, $61, $59, $57, $65, and $64. I was at the final part of the booking earlier today @ $57 and pressed 'Book My Trip' only to be told that the specified room/rate was no longer available :)

For comparison, I tried Priceline for a 3.5* room in Auburn Hills or Troy areas, but got rejected @ $35, 37, 40, 42, and 44 (plus tax). Re-bidding several times is possible because 3 areas (Sterling Heights/Utica, Warren, and Bloomfield Hills) in Detroit Suburbs lack 3.5 star properties, so you can add one as necessary and re-bid immediately. Probably could have gotten something for $50+tax at Priceline, but unsure which hotel and I was a bit wary of the Hilton Suites Auburn Hills and Ramada Plaza Troy (until days/weeks ago the Hilton Troy) both of which are reported to be pretty worn, dated, and/or dirty.

Would have liked to get the Crowne Plaza Auburn Hills (1500 N. Opdyke Road, Auburn Hills MI 48326) at a lower rate thru Priceline, but too many other Priceline 3* hotels made it impossible to know which one I'd get.

In the end, it was worth an extra 20 bucks or so to be almost 100% certain I'd get this exact hotel thru Hotwire.

I *THINK* I used the TOBB.com HOTWIRE link. If not, my apologies. Ran so many searches for this room and had some website issues with Hotwire, that I may have forgotten to link from BB to Hotwire on the session where I finally booked the room.

One other note: same date and area search with 2 adults and ZERO children -- saw a $49 rate in Auburn Hills / Lake Orion. Not sure if the same Crowne Plaza or a different property -- nothing on betterbidding.com was an exact or close match.

Amenities for zero children room that I did NOT book:

Pool / Fitness / High-Speed Internet / Business / Laundry / Tennis / Breakfast / Kitchenette. Compared with the room I booked, this zero-kid room added tennis, breakfast, and kitchenette and was missing restaurant and golf.

Great site, very useful!

[bluedevils]

mods, I did not realize my Thread Title would get truncated. I re-entered it at the beginning of the original post but could not figure out how to edit the thread title as I can do on other forum sites. Is this possible for me to do, or will I need you clean it up for me?

[yellowdog]

Thank you for sharing your win with the board :) And please use the site's HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links to start future purchases.

Yellowdog.

PS. I have edit your title.