Hotwire ripoff

work_to_live

Can anyone give me some advice on what i can do about this please? I booked a hotel with hotwire through their secret hotel deals section. its for 4 nights ij munich for my boyfriend and i to celebrate my 30th birthday in september.ive used hotwire twice before and was pleased with the deal i got and the standard of the hotels for the price.this time i decided to pay slightly more and expected to get a similarly good deal.ias extremely disappointed when they revealed the hotel and room.its a 5 bed room in a hostel costing 80 per night so its going to be single beds too.i feel like ive been completely ripped off but its non refundable.i sent them a complaint vis the firm on their site but they havent replied.any suggestions?

Backbiter

It's probably due to the fact that it's Oktoberfest time in Munich (last week in Sept, first week in Oct), when room rates go through the roof. You may well have had good deals with Hotwire on previous occasions, but that fortnight in Munich is extremely pricey.
I assume you won't actually be sharing the 5-bedded room with any other guests than your boyfriend?
I'm sure it's not much of a consolation, but my experience of German hostels (in Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich) has always been excellent - spotlessly clean and perfectly comfortable, and always very well located.

work_to_live

Hi backbiter, yes they said on the phone that we wont be sharing.hopefully tgey havent lied about this.we arent goin during ocktoberfest.were goin at the start of september.i consider 80 a night for a hostel with a lot of poor reviews on trip advisor to be a rip off.wondering what the consensus is on this?

duchy

Where is the supposed rip off?
You have got the grade of hotel quoted and a room that sleeps two people in the specified area.

Hotwire, Pl name your own price etc can sometimes be fantastic , other times will just meet the minimum criteria. Just because you have over optimistic expectations doesn't mean it's a rip off. It just means you didn't understand what you were booking despite HW clearly spelling it out.

I've had some out of this world hotels this way but I've also had some just reached my booked criteria ones. Either way I've saved money . These type of deals aren't for everyone especially booking when there is a special event going on.

jpsartre

work_to_live wrote: »

.its a 5 bed room in a hostel costing 80 per night so its going to be single beds too.

If you have specific requests as to the size of the place you're staying or the layout of the room then you shouldn't be using an opaque booking site, simple as that. Has nothing to do with a rip-off.

work_to_live

i have learnt my lesson to not use secret hotel sites again but i was disappointed at the standard compared to the previous two deals ive had with them. i dont have specific requests for a room per se but i feel that what ive got for the price is not a good deal. if it hadve been dirt cheap i wouldnt care

tomtontom

What star rating/ facilities did you book, and what did you get? What is the name of the hotel/ hostel?

duchy

What star rating did you book ?
Whenever I've blind booked a four star my expectations have always been exceeded. Three star can be a bit ropey (or can be fantastic), 2.5 star - don't do it !!

work_to_live

it was 3.5

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187309-d559421-Reviews-MEININGER_Hotel_Munich_City_Center-Munich_Upper_Bavaria_Bavaria.html

tomtontom

work_to_live wrote: »

it was 3.5

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g187309-d559421-Reviews-MEININGER_Hotel_Munich_City_Center-Munich_Upper_Bavaria_Bavaria.html

What dates are you looking at?

InsideInsurance

work_to_live wrote: »

i have learnt my lesson to not use secret hotel sites again but i was disappointed at the standard compared to the previous two deals ive had with them. i dont have specific requests for a room per se but i feel that what ive got for the price is not a good deal. if it hadve been dirt cheap i wouldnt care

The whole point of the secret deals is that it is a bit of a gamble. If you knew you would be getting the Ritz or the Dorchester everytime then firstly everyone would book them and secondly the price would be much closer to the normal rate for these hotels.

When you gamble sometimes itll pay off and sometimes it wont. As long as the room meets the criteria it was sold under then it isnt a rip off, it just isnt a bargain