Hotwire Hotel: 4* Amsterdam (City Centre-Museum Quarter) Bilderberg Garden Hotel

[Godot]

Well, I'm disappointed...

I was considering booking the Bilderberg Garden Hotel in Amsterdam but I didn't care much for the location. I could have booked a room there for $118CDN/night (still can). Instead, I opted for the Hotwire option of $116US/night for a *4 (Amenities: No Smoking, Restaurant, Business Centre, Internet) in Amsterdam central . Well, it turns out that Hotwire hotel is the Bilderberg Garden. With the currency exchange rate and the $51 Hotwire "service fees" this worked out to be more expensive than my original option. If nothing else, the Hotwire price appears to be the going rate for this hotel on all booking sites. For the Hotwire poke in the dark I was expecting some type of discount. Oh, well... live and learn. If it weren't for the stupid "over 21" rule I'd have tried my luck on Priceline (where this Hotel is is offered for roughly the same price -- before bidding).

I used the HOTWIRE link.

Dates "won": March 19-22

NB: Betterbidding has this hotel listed as a *4.5 hotel but Hotwire (now?) calls it a *4 (one of the reasons I didn't suspect it being that hotel).

[NC_traveller]

Where do you get the $118CDN/night rate?

[thereuare]

Sorry to hear this purchase didn't work out as you had hoped and wasn't much of a 'deal' at all.

You might want to try contacting HOTWIRE to let them know you didn't save any money with this purchase (sometimes they'll offer you a credit on a future purchase, which at least softens the blow a little bit). In the future if there is a hotel you're about to purchase and are unsure of the ID feel free to ask the board for help and we'll have a look... given the amenities are the same as when this property was a 4.5*, it may have been at least suggested that this might have been the property you were being offered.

Thank you for using our HOTWIRE link to begin your purchase and for helping us update the Hotwire Hotel List with the new star rating for this property.

Enjoy your stay.

[bnebased]

Now I really am confused by this. My experience suggests that HOTWIRE star ratings are usually not less than PRICELINE, but occasionally more. This hotel seems to be what has turned up on PL as a 5* ; eg: Priceline Amsterdam and Priceline 5 star hotel

Since I am currently bidding (via the PRICELINE link) for Amsterdam from 5 Jun to 10 Jun, I wonder whether PRICELINE has downgraded it too? My planned stay seems a funny time (which includes the Dutch election) and it seems to make bidding a tougher challenge. It looks like I will need to break the stay into two parts to get acceptable prices.

[thereuare]

Now I really am confused by this. My experience suggests that HOTWIRE star ratings are usually not less than PRICELINE, but occasionally more.

(emphasis added)

Usually PRICELINE and HOTWIRE star ratings are the same. If there is a difference, HOTWIRE is usually a half star high; occasionally, HOTWIRE's rating will be lower thank PRICELINE's... at the moment, this is one of those times.

PRICELINE's current rating for this property is 5 stars.

Thanks for using the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board for your travel purchases.

[BacSi]

PL NYOP recently (within the past 7-8 months) upgraded this hotel from a 4 to a 5 star. For years it (and the Marriott) were 4 stars when it came to bidding.

[harry100]

I did mention another thread, i stayed there recently, room was OK, but not 5 star IMHO