Priceline Hotel: St. Pete Clearwater (Clearwater Beach) hotel question

[Brandon12345]

I am looking to book a 3.5 star or better in Clearwater Beach (8/7-8/11) which is in the Priceline St. Pete-Clearwater (Clearwater Beach) zone and I see that from the hotel list this could be the Marriot or the Hilton Clearwater Beach resort. When I check both hotel's websites, I see that the Marriott has no rooms available for 2 of the 4 days that I need. Is it fair to assume that the Hilton is the only option available since Marriott is showing no availability for 2 of the 4 days I need?

[yellowdog]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

It's a hard question to answer. This is a zone that we don't see so many reports from and hotels can be added at any time, zones change, star ratings can change at anytime by PRICELINE. And the Marriott maybe gets a big cancellation just before you start bidding. So i would not be "all set" on the Hilton.

I hope my answer meet your needs. Please post if you need any further help.

Yellowdog.

[Brandon12345]

Thanks for the reply. I dont have a problem with the Marriott or the Hilton either way, I would be fine with either. What I am worried might happen is that I select a 3.5 star or above and I end up getting the Howard Johnson or a similar 2 or 2.5 star or below type property. If all 3.5s are similar to the Marriott or Hilton in Clearwater Beach, then I would have no problem. Its just that uncertainty that they might stick me with a lower star hotel and since its non-changeable, I would be stuck with a 2 star hotel when I want a 3.5 or better. I obviously will make sure to use the PRICELINE links should I decide to make a bid

[thereuare]

I dont have a problem with the Marriott or the Hilton either way, I would be fine with either. What I am worried might happen is that I select a 3.5 star or above and I end up getting the Howard Johnson or a similar 2 or 2.5 star or below type property.

And there lies the 'unknown' of opaque travel :) If you are successful at a 4* property might you get something that you deem to be 3.5 stars? Yes, that's entirely possible.... something you deem to be 3*? yes, that is possible too... but you won't receive something like a HoJo, La Quinta, etc, at the 4* level. There is a level of trust, and star rating integrity, that PRICELINE (and HOTWIRE) need to maintain in order to keep customers happy. So it it possible that you may disagree with their assessment of a hotel's star rating, yes, and if one does exist it's usually by a half of a star... sometimes by as much as a full star rating, but getting a 2* hotel on a 4* bid is relatively unheard of. When there is a 'star discrepency' it's usually a 3* rated hotel that a user feels should more accurately be 2.5*.

You can do a search of this location at MAPS and HOTELS.com to see which hotels PRICELINE uses in this zone in their "retail" product and get a feel for which hotels fall within each star category (the 'retail' and 'bidding' services each use a different universe of hotels, but there is a lot of overlap, and at the very least will give you a feel for what type of hotels fall within each star category)

If you'd like to proceed let us know your maximum bid and we'll suggest a strategy for you to follow.

Thanks for using our PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.

[Brandon12345]

I used the PRICELINE link and it is showing that the best hotel in the Clearwater Beach zone is a 3.5* and no 4* exists. When I did the same search on their retail products, I see that they have the Sheraton as a 3.5*, the Hilton as a 3*, the Days inn and Holiday Inn and Quality inn as 2*. They have a couple of 1* as well. I am fine with any of the 3.5 or 3* they have listed on their retail. Would they really call a 2* on the retail side a 3.5* on the name your own price side? It would seem like that could really harm the credibility of their star system unless they are banking on the fact that customers have a difficult time sharing the information as to what winning bids they recieve.

[thereuare]

I've only known of one situation where the 'retail' product and the 'bidding' product star ratings differed, and it was a situation where the hotel was recently downgraded and hadnt' updated on the other side of the system... a week later the two sides of the system had the same rating.

The "risk" isn't so much that the rating on the retail side of the system will be different than the 'bidding' side of the system... but more so that the two systems use a different universe of hotels; so there could be hotels that participate in the Name Your Own Price service which don't appear when searching the Retail product.

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