Hotwire...secret hot rates???

Longford Lass

Has anyone any experience of choosing the above option??
Any feebback? Advise?

athtrasna

We use it all the time. Use www.betterbidding.com to try and work out the hotels. My advice is never to go below 4* and you'll be fine. Below that there is just too broad a range of 3 stars to be sure of quality.

JohnMearsheimer

I Hotwired my way across America. I got amazing hotels for a fraction of their true cost.

cruhoortwunk

Can't recommend it enough

ProudDUB

Love, love, love Hotwire. I used it a lot for hotel bookings when I lived in the US as did a lot of my friends. The hotels themselves and their ratings were fine, in terms of the facilities, cleanliness of the rooms etc etc. But I learned to my cost to double check the area that they were in before I booked. The best deals were usually in the worst part of town. Nothing worse than being on the road all day long, and to find that you have to walk or drive thru the ghetto to get to somewhere decent for dinner, or that you have to pay $20 a day to park. Also remember that most of the reviewers will be American. They will have different standards and expectations than an Irish person will have.

athtrasna

ProudDUB wrote: »

Love, love, love Hotwire. I used it a lot for hotel bookings when I lived in the US as did a lot of my friends. The hotels themselves and their ratings were fine, in terms of the facilities, cleanliness of the rooms etc etc. But I learned to my cost to double check the area that they were in before I booked. The best deals were usually in the worst part of town. Nothing worse than being on the road all day long, and to find that you have to walk or drive thru the ghetto to get to somewhere decent for dinner, or that you have to pay $20 a day to park. Also remember that most of the reviewers will be American. They will have different standards and expectations than an Irish person will have.

I don't understand that at all A 4 star hotel is a 4 star hotel whether you book it direct or with hotwire. So facilities etc aren't in any way special to hotwire.

On the location thing, almost every US city has several districts in Hotwire. Take NY for example..if I want to book a room in Times Square...I choose Times Square area...and will end up with a room there not in Harlem or the Bronx. You should always research your destination to work out what areas you want to stay in before searching for a hotel.

As I already said, betterbidding.com is a vital tool for hotwire. You can work out what the hotels are in 99.9% of cases - I then check tripadvisor reviews before booking.

If you're feeling even braver and want more savings then there's priceline..but that's a whole other thread. Again betterbidding.com is vital for bidding advice for PL.

FouxDaFaFa

Used it recently in Stockholm and Helsinki. Found it hard to predict the hotel (mush moreso than the US) because the areas were very broadly defined. But the hotels we got were great.

Travels.ie

Its an excellent site just be aware that hotels often allocate the worst rooms to the bidding sites such as priceline and hotwire.

athtrasna

That can be the case but I have no problem going back to reception and asking for another room if the room is below standard or badly located. Have never been refused.

paddylonglegs

considering a dublin city centre hotel to book through hotwire. not sure what to expect. we are happy to spend a budget of 300 euro for 2 nights. Just don't want to be disappointed as its a bit of a treat for myself and OH. Should i try it on a different occasion when the hotel will really be just a place to lay down the head?

Thanks

athtrasna

At that price you should be able get a 5 star hotel on hotwire, depending on your dates. There are only a few in Dublin - Shelbourne, Merrion, Westin & Four Season afaik. I'd be happy with any of them.

pconn062

Hi folks, just bringing this thread up again as I have a small query. Myself and my OH are heading to NYC in January and are looking to book accommodation. We were going to use Hotwire.com to book it to get a good rate. Just wondering does anyone know whether you find out anymore detail about the room before you book it? Would mainly be inquiring as to whether you get a private or shared bathroom? Or do they only advertise rooms with private bathrooms, I presume you would need to be told whether it was a shared bathroom? The info when you search for hotels is very sparse, just rough location, numbers of stars and price. It would be a 4* hotel that we would be booking. Anyone have any experience of this? Thanks.

BuffyBot

No 4* hotel will have shared bathrooms Not even 2* would

The whole idea is to give sparse info to protect the identity of the hotel involved. If you could ID it before hand, why would anyone pay the full price vs a Hotwire rate?

You can look at sites like better bidding.com for ideas - other people who've booked in the area and what they got but that's not a guarantee you'll get the same as they did.

pconn062

BuffyBot wrote: »

No 4* hotel will have shared bathrooms Not even 2* would

The whole idea is to give sparse info to protect the identity of the hotel involved. If you could ID it before hand, why would anyone pay the full price vs a Hotwire rate?

You can look at sites like better bidding.com for ideas - other people who've booked in the area and what they got but that's not a guarantee you'll get the same as they did.

Thanks for that, I kinda guessed that a 4* hotel would be all private bathrooms but I just wasn't sure with NY having never been there before. I agree about the identity protection that Hotwire utilize and I wasn't complaining about it, just pointing out that that specific info wasn't available. Thanks again.

Shane732

Out of interest does anyone know what the 5* hotel in the Soho area of London on hotwire is?

Yamanoto

Shane732 wrote: »

Out of interest does anyone know what the 5* hotel in the Soho area of London on hotwire is?

Inter-Continental Park Lane or The Metropolitan have both been ID'd in Soho-Mayfair.

Shane732

Yamanoto wrote: »

Inter-Continental Park Lane or The Metropolitan have both been ID'd in Soho-Mayfair.

What site do you use for info on the 5* star hotels?

Yamanoto

Shane732 wrote: »

What site do you use for info on the 5* star hotels?

www.betterbidding.com

I used it twice recently and was able to accurately ID hotels in Chicago with minimal effort.

finbarrk

BuffyBot wrote: »

No 4* hotel will have shared bathrooms Not even 2* would

The whole idea is to give sparse info to protect the identity of the hotel involved. If you could ID it before hand, why would anyone pay the full price vs a Hotwire rate?

You can look at sites like better bidding.com for ideas - other people who've booked in the area and what they got but that's not a guarantee you'll get the same as they did.

There are 2* Hotels in Manhattan with shared bathrooms. Hotel 31 is one of them.

lc180

Sorry to bump an old thread....

I'm going to Boston in July and have been using hotwire.com & hotwirerevealed.com to plan my trip. Currently getting some good savings.

My question is : Should I book my hotel now or will a better hotel selection/lower prices become available closer to my travel date?

I've never used Hotwire before so not familiar with how best to use it. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

BuffyBot

I tend to purchase if I see a price I'm happy with. Of course it may fall: but it may not either and may increase. You sometimes just have to strike and not look back.

belcampprisoner

no shared bathrooms in america

lc180

BuffyBot wrote: »

I tend to purchase if I see a price I'm happy with. Of course it may fall: but it may not either and may increase. You sometimes just have to strike and not look back.

From what I can see there seems to be no real 'price pattern' with Hotwire. Hotel prices don't usually fall or rise at a given set time.

So I'll do what you suggest and strike when I'm happy and not look back.

Cheers

finbarrk

belcampprisoner wrote: »

no shared bathrooms in america

There is. In Manhattan anyway. I stayed there last October.
http://www.thejanenyc.com/

schemingbohemia

lc180 wrote: »

From what I can see there seems to be no real 'price pattern' with Hotwire. Hotel prices don't usually fall or rise at a given set time.

So I'll do what you suggest and strike when I'm happy and not look back.

Cheers

A while since I used it but betterbidding I think gives you the prices paid the previous year and also when they were booked, so that could help in your decision as to when to book.

ScouseMouse

belcampprisoner wrote: »

no shared bathrooms in america

There was when I went to NYC. Wouldn't stop me though, this place really was excellent.

www.chelsealodge.com

athtrasna

The key with hotwire and priceline is never to go below 4*. Remember these ratings are the site's own ratings which often have lower qualification thresholds than tourist authority ones. 3* can go from dire to good, 4* starts with ok through nice to fantastic.

clunked

Longford Lass wrote: »

Has anyone any experience of choosing the above option??
Any feebback? Advise?

This might be a good thread to note hotels that people got on Hotwire/Priceline.

Over the past year
Jan 2013, Holiday Inn Manchester €59 / night
March: Holiday Inn Belfast €63 / night.
Future bookings
July Paris 5⭐ €125 per night (Priceline, name your price)
August London, Hyde Park Marriott 4⭐€75 per night
December Frankfurt 5⭐ Marriott €83 per night

athtrasna

clunked wrote: »

This might be a good thread to note hotels that people got on Hotwire/Priceline.

Over the past year
Jan 2013, Holiday Inn Manchester €59 / night
March: Holiday Inn Belfast €63 / night.
Future bookings
July Paris 5⭐ €125 per night (Priceline, name your price)
August London, Hyde Park Marriott 4⭐€75 per night
December Frankfurt 5⭐ Marriott €83 per night

Please report these wins on betterbidding.com to help keep hotel lists and win prices up to date

clunked

Yes but don't they insist that you use their links so that the web sites generate income?

clunked

clunked wrote: »

Yes but don't they insist that you use their links so that the web sites generate income?

I might add that Better Bidding have very little info on Ireland.

athtrasna

clunked wrote: »

I might add that Better Bidding have very little info on Ireland.

They ask that you do but you don't have to. Ireland hasn't been on Hotwire very long so list still in infancy.

JojoN

I booked a 5 star 'secret HOT RATE' hotel at Hotrate.com expecting a very good deal and got the Raddison Blue Hotel. Looked impressive. So then I decided to book the same nights on the Raddison Blue Hotel website to see how much I actually saved... 8 Euro per night!!!- ripped off! Called Hotwire and told them that deal should not have been under the 'Secret Hot Rate' deal and that I was ripped off. They said it was under the Secret Hot Rate deal because it was the cheapest deal being offered by anyone for that same booking. Savings of 8 Euro... What a hot rate.
Anyways, they refused to do anything.

We've got a very good deal before from the Secret Hot Rate deal, but this time not impressed a bit. Think they are now trying to rip people off with this now SCAM.

So BEWARE! The Secret Hot Rates don't seem so 'hot' now. Total rip off by Hotwire.com!

jjbrien

JojoN wrote: »

I booked a 5 star 'secret HOT RATE' hotel at Hotrate.com expecting a very good deal and got the Raddison Blue Hotel. Looked impressive. So then I decided to book the same nights on the Raddison Blue Hotel website to see how much I actually saved... 8 Euro per night!!!- ripped off! Called Hotwire and told them that deal should not have been under the 'Secret Hot Rate' deal and that I was ripped off. They said it was under the Secret Hot Rate deal because it was the cheapest deal being offered by anyone for that same booking. Savings of 8 Euro... What a hot rate.
Anyways, they refused to do anything.

We've got a very good deal before from the Secret Hot Rate deal, but this time not impressed a bit. Think they are now trying to rip people off with this now SCAM.

So BEWARE! The Secret Hot Rates don't seem so 'hot' now. Total rip off by Hotwire.com!

Not true there are some good deals to be had there. I got a Hilton 4 start hotel in the US over xmas for a week for 290 all in. Other sites were quoting 450+ for the same hotel.

Ponster

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