Have you booked a 'secret hotel' recently?

MSE_Laura_F

A 'secret hotel' booking usually offers a discount, but the catch is that you don't know which hotel it is until you've booked.

Have you had a success or a fail you'd like to share? Perhaps through Lastminute, Priceline, Hotwire or any other company that offers secret hotel bookings?

Thank you,

MSE Laura F

DullGreyGuy

Did it twice a long time ago... first was ok but it was very far from where it claimed so a lot of time spent on the transfer and limited things to do whilst there. The second was better but they'd been lazy with the description and so was very easy to identify which place it was. 

In current situation would rather pay a bit more for certainty rather than risk being put somewhere that doesn't work for us. 

MSE_Laura_F

Thanks @DullGreyGuy, that's useful to know. Were the discounts decent?

DullGreyGuy

Its complex is probably the easiest answer... if you booked with the hotel directly you could cancel up to 3 days before arrival and paid on departure whereas the secret booking up front payment no cancellation which wasnt an option on direct bookings. Given the discount given by other hotels for waiving cancellation rights/prepayment the discount was ok but not great. 

Did check once later and the hotel direct price had dropped but the secret price hadn't... was still cheaper but probably less than the average discount for waiving cancellation rights.

michele-p

I have very similar thoughts to DullGreyGuy. Years ago I booked some secret deals, you could copy the details paragraph, and search the internet to get a good idea of the hotel. These days (as in life after covid) I'm much more inclined to book direct with the hotel, and book a refundable room. We just got back from a USA road trip where I booked 11 hotels, all direct with the hotel, all flexible in case something changed our plans. I canceled and re-booked a couple to get better prices and saved quite a bit this way. Maybe it's as I get older, but I much prefer to have researched where I want to stay and be in control of it myself.

JennyDavis

Never used this service before. Not sure that I like those kinds of surprises. I prefer reaching out to Sky Ranch Lodge customer service and spending a couple of days in a beautiful place surrounded by mountains and amazing scenery. There's something special about being immersed in nature and enjoying the tranquility that a place like Sky Ranch Lodge offers.