Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

It seems that they can get lower prices for hotels etc if they don't tell you the name of the hotel before you book. The hotels dont want to advertise these prices.

I'm finding 4 star hotels in the area we want to stay in for $100/night which is awesome. I've found all the 4 star hotels in the area so I think I can safely be confident in the chances of getting a good one.

So, with just knowing the area of town, the hotel star rating and hotwire's customer rating, would you book a hotel, sight unseen?

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

I have used Hotwire and Priceline many times for hotels and been very satisfied. I always choose at least a 3 star hotel and have never had any problems.

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

I bought airline tickets from priceline and we sat by stinky bathroom with no window between the four of us and when I asked to move for my two small children was told that those are the seats reserved for priceline guests

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

I have used Priceline and got some awesome hotels.

We used it actually when we went to Napa and stayed in the Marriott there for half price! We've also used it in Boston (stayed at a nice Hyatt).

I've also used it for rental cars and had no issues.

I used it once for flights but, I don't like how flexible you have to be.

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

I booked a hotel once on Priceline.com. We were going to Dorney Park and just wanted to cheapest hotel room we could get for a night. The hotel was fine, but way out of the way. I'd rather pay the extra money to KNOW where I was going to be staying.

Plus we found pot in the ice bucket of the hotel.

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

Posted by jilliibabii

I booked a hotel once on Priceline.com. We were going to Dorney Park and just wanted to cheapest hotel room we could get for a night. The hotel was fine, but way out of the way. I'd rather pay the extra money to KNOW where I was going to be staying.

Plus we found pot in the ice bucket of the hotel.

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

I used hotwire once for boston and the price was great it was a doubletree...my bf knew the area to stay so at least that was good...

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

Posted by cateyemm

Posted by jilliibabii

I booked a hotel once on Priceline.com. We were going to Dorney Park and just wanted to cheapest hotel room we could get for a night. The hotel was fine, but way out of the way. I'd rather pay the extra money to KNOW where I was going to be staying.

Plus we found pot in the ice bucket of the hotel.

uhhh so why were you unhappy??

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

My DH used Priceline on a whim a few years back and totally lucked out. He had won tickets to a Yankees-Red Sox playoff game in Boston. He wound up at a 4 or 5 star hotel in Boston (maybe Ritz Carlton?) and paid about $75 or so per night.

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

use betterbidding.com .... they will give you description/tell you hotel names so you're not walking into the situation blindly ... ive used priceline quite a bit... I tried doing it for vegas just the other day but couldnt get an accepted bid so i gave up

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

We used priceline to get rent a car and it worked very well! Haven't tried it for a flight or hotel yet.

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

used hotwire for Niagra falls canadian side. put 3star and above. ended up w/ a 4 star crowne plaza. It was a perfect location too, literally walking distance to the falls.

oh and 90/night!!

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

I have used both, priceline more. I always do 4 star for a big city like NYC, at least 3 star for smaller areas.

The only problem I see with priceline bidding is that they make it a bit of a pain (you have to log in your info again after two or three tries)... but worth it if you get your price. Also, you don't know the amenities you may get with the hotel. That is more of a problem if you know you want a pool for kids, gym to exercise in etc.

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

I've used hotwire before. It's always been great. I got a Crowne Plaza in FL, which was normally $140 for $67!

Re: Ever take a chance with Hotwire or Priceline?

I have a friend who had great luck with them. She got a $300/night hotel in NYC for $100.

That said - hotels pay priceline, expedia, etc much higher commissions (25 percent) than if you booked via the hotel directly (no commission obviously), a travel agent (typically 10 percent commission), etc. As a result, you're not going to get the best room, best seat, etc. Yes, with priceline name your own price they are selling distressed inventory but a lot of the time they're making next to nothing on the room. In a nice hotel, it costs an average of about $40/night to operate each room, factoring in heat, electric, portion of the cable bill, staff time, etc. So let's say you pay $100 for that nice hotel room - the site is getting about $20 of that, and the cost is another $40 so that's only $40 profit. Compare that to the customer who paid $200+ and booked direct - who do you think they're going to give the better room to? It's a game.

(I work in the hotel industry.)