Booking 5 days, 1 day at a time?

[scrabblegirl]

Hi there,

This is really a Hotwire question, not an Orlando question so I hope I've posted in the right place.

I was researching Universal Orlando hotels hoping for the Doubletree Universal or Doubletree Castle. After reading your site, I think I've found the listing for Doubletree Universal. When I entered dates for my whole trip (8/9-8/14) it says that it is $57 dollars a night. If I put in some of those dates in any combination, it is always $54 dollars a night, even if I research each day individually. Why would individual nights be cheaper than booking 5 nights in a row?

Has anyone ever booked one night to try and see if they'd get the hotel they wanted and then booked the rest? Will Hotwire prevent me from booking additional nights like that?

Thanks!

[Gallus50]

I really don't think you would save any money that way, as with each new transaction, you would be charged new taxes and fees. It would actually cost less to do one transaction - taxes will be the same but you'd only pay one HW fee.

I can't imagine why it would be cheaper to book individual nights. But it seems there might also be the chance it's a different hotel? Or you might get a different hotel in the process...?

[tilepusher]

Gallus50 is right; once you factor in HOTWIRE's fee on each purchase (about $7, I think), it would be more expensive to book each night separately. Also note that the Doubletree Universal and the Crowne Plaza Universal have been reported with the same amenities. In fact, when I tried the search for 8/13-8/14, the 3.5* hotel that came up in the Universal Orlando zone had TripAdvisor information that was consistent with the Crowne Plaza, but not the Doubletree. So it's quite possible that you're not seeing the same hotel each time.