Priceline Hotel: 3* Louisville (East) Embassy Suites

[Icarus]

Caveat emptor!

I tried to snag the 3* Hyatt Downtown, starting at $41. Incremental bids using free rebids were unsuccessful, so as a last resort I included East (knowing that there would be inventory) and bid $51 to ensure that the bid would be accepted. This was a bit of an overbid -- the going rate seems to be $47 -- but it was my last shot at a 3* (already within 72 hours).

At check-in, I was told that the property's policy is that "all priceline.com reservations are booked as Smoking King." They will "upgrade" priceline customers to a nonsmoking room for $10. (Note: This was neither a sold-out nor a late check-in situation; equivalent nonsmoking rooms were available only upon payment of the additional fee.) I declined this generous offer and am drafting my complaints to priceline and Embassy Suites corporate. See this thread for a discussion of this "dubious upsell" practice:

Priceline Non-Smoking

[thereuare]

Welcome to BetterBidding!

Can you please include the date(s) of your stay?

This priceline upcharge for room preference is clearly against the guidelines set by priceline for the hotels to follow ('treat priceline guests the same as any other guest'). If there is no price difference via the hotel's website for a non-smoking room vs. a smoking room... the hotel should not be able to charge this fee. Whenever there is a price difference between the standard room and a room type the guest is requesting, charging an additional fee is acceptable, such is the case when a standard room only has one bed and a room with two beds typically cost more.

In your complaint to priceline you'll likely have to reply a few times, as i can almost guarantee your first response will be a form letter that "non-smoking rooms are not guaranteed", and i don't think that is the underlying complaint here, it's that a non-smoking room was available and they wanted to extort extra money from you for that room.

If this turns into a trend priceline had better put an end to it very soon, as it significantly hurts the 'opaque business model' if guests of the opaque services are treated differently from non-opaque guests.

Please let us know if you make any meaningful headway with Priceline or the Embassy Suites management.

Thanks for posting.

[Icarus]

My apologies for omitting the date in the thread title: Saturday, January 15, 2005.

Thanks for the advice. I'm glad that you agree that this practice falls short of Priceline's value proposition that its guests will be treated the same as any other guest. I'll post updates on the progress of my complaints.