Handicap rooms on Hotwire

[joesmom]

I have been on the Hotwire website and can't find an answer about handicap rooms. I am traveling to Phila tomorrow, booked through Hotwire, got the Holiday Inn Ft Washington for

$41 a night. My cousin, traveling for five days booked direct with hotel, $110 a night. He said he couldn't trust priceline or hotwire to guarantee an accessible room. I did a search

of this forum or the pl forum and found that pl will refund charges if hotel is unable to accommodate...does anyone know hotwire's policy? They are now showing the room (at least

I think it is the same) for $39 a night and I would love to be able to save my cousin some serious $$$. Many thanks.

[AaronJB]

Oddly, I can't seem to find an answer to this on HOTWIRE, either.

I'd give them a call:

By phone - anytime

U.S./Canada toll free

1-866-HOTWIRE

(1-866-468-9473)

Please use the site's HOTWIRE link to start the booking process, and we would greatly appreciate if you could let us know what HOTWIRE says regarding this topic. Thank you.

[joesmom]

Thanks, I just called hotwire, the representative said all sales are final with no guarantees, I asked a couple of times if this also included not being able to get a handicap room

and she was insistent that 'all bookings are final'. Kind of a shame and I wonder if anyone has ever booked and had a problem or success . My cousin is flying in from

Lousiana and obviously can't 'take a chance' that a handicap room won't be available.

[AaronJB]

There may be something on HOTWIRE about handicapped rooms, but I can't seem to find it. However, it's really unfortunate that HOTWIRE doesn't have the same policy as PRICELINE regarding this subject.

Does your cousin have to stay at a particular hotel? Which area are you looking at? Dates? I could see if I could find something else.

[joesmom]

No, he doesn't have to stay a particular hotel, just one that has an accessible room. We are all traveling from across the country our uncle's funeral outside of Philadelphia. Ft Washington PA, my cousin is flying in tonight and staying five nights. He already has a room reserved direct with the Holiday Inn. When I checked their website they still have an available handicap room for the week. I think I'm going to advise him to see if he can negotiate with the manager tomorrow morning (his flight arrives after midnight tonight). I'm not handicapped so this never crossed my mind, I know that you can't be sure of getting a non smoking room or the desired number of beds but this is alittle more serious. He might not even be able to make it in through the doorway or more importantly the bathroom.

[dahammer]

I believe this issue is out of the hands of HOTWIRE. HOTWIRE hotel rooms are assigned "run of the house" or as available. I have been assigned a few handicapped rooms in the past and typically these are the last to go when a hotel is near capacity.

You may want to call the hotel directly and speak to the front desk manager, mention the circumstances surrounding this trip, i.e., a family member having to pay berevement airfares and needing handicapped accomodations at the last minute. Most managers have a heart, and if you make an appeal, you may get what you want.

good luck!

[joesmom]

Will do! Thanks everyone, will post when I return, got alot to take care of today. *I'm also going to write to hotwire and ask them in writing to clarify their policy.

[Colfax]

Since your brother doesn't need to stay at a particular hotel why not just bid for his room on Priceline? Per Priceline policy, if the hotel he wins can't guarantee a handicapped room in advance you'll get a 100% refund. Unless your brother requires a handicapped room with two beds I don't know why you'd prefer Hotwire over Priceline in this instance.

Alternately, since you already have the Holiday Inn booked for yourself, you could call Holiday Inn and request a handicap room for your own reservation. If the Holiday Inn agrees then you know the hotel is amenable to this type of request and your brother could book his own room there. If Holiday Inn doesn't have another handicap room to accomodate him then you can trade your handicap room for his standard.

[joesmom]

Well, hotwire did respond, with a stock answer about their policy with regard to handicap rooms only they don't address the issue at all. My cousin tried to cancel his reservation to bid on hotwire (knowing that they had handicapped rooms available but they wouldn't let him cancel so he was stuck paying the $110 per night. Thanks to all who tried to help.

[Colfax]

Sorry it didn't work out this trip but now your cousin knows what to do the next time he needs a handicapped room: Priceline not Hotwire.

[coharaca]

My wife and I ran into this problem back in January. We hotwired a 2* in Mobile, AL, which ended up being a La Quinta. At the time, she had a broken leg and could not climb stairs. We called the hotel three days in advance, who promised us that they would hold a bottom floored room. When we arrived, all bottom floored rooms were occupied - they did not honor their promise. So, the desk clerk and I called Hotwire together. At first, they were not going to refund the money; however, the desk clerk was nice enough to get onto the phone and plead our case. At that point, they agreed to refund our money as a "one time courtesy."

However, they have since created a "Hotwire Express" classification for VIP members. Since then, I have received this classification, and I have had no problems working with customer service. So, if you use Hotwire a lot, and have received this classification, you may not have any problems.

[Tiffany1]

Back in February we had an event to attend in NYC. Although we did not get a handicapped room we did get a good deal through Hotwire on a nice hotel that had an elevator. We thought it would not be a problem. When we checked in, the desk clerk saw my nephew, a young teen in a wheelchair and said he would give us a handicapped room if we wanted it. We accepted the offer.

To add to that the bellmen and employees went out of their way to help us put my nephew in and out of the cabs and when it snowed on our last day the bellman took him outside in his wheelchair so we could take pics making sure he was safe.

That was a good first experience with Hotwire.

[dahammer]

Back in February ....... we did get a good deal through Hotwire on a nice hotel that had an elevator. That was a good first experience with Hotwire.

can you please go back to "my account" on HOTWIRE and list the name of the hotel, the date, and the amenities and price paid for this stay?

thanks!