How to Identify Hotwire Hotels

blindman

[FONT=&quot]Hotwire -What IS the name of that Hotel? [/FONT]

What is it?
Hotwire is a US travel site that not only sells 'normal' packaged trips but also unsold inventory from Hotels, hire cars and flights.
The unsold inventory can be had at knock down prices, but until they've got your (non refundable) money you do not know the hotel name or the flight itinerary or hire car firm name.
This guide only deals with the 'opaque' Hotel side. The author has not used either the car rental or flight purchase options.

TIPS are in purple.

General info in blue.

Why should I use Hotwire?
·If you want to save money on hotels and your travel plans are firm (no refunds once you've paid!)
·You are a party of 4 people or less, have a credit card and are over 21 (for hotels) Hotwire T&C's
·You are prepared to take the risk of not knowing the name or exact location of your hotel. Though with research this risk can be minimised greatly.

Where do I start?

Step 1) Go to Hotwire and click on “Hotels” at the top of the page (or the radio button options to choose Hotels)

Step 2) In the “Destination” field either type in the city name or the zip code.
If you are unsure of the spelling or location then click the link “See all cities” This opens another window from where you can choose to look at all the areas and countries where Hotwire has participating hotels.
Then put in the dates you want to travel, and how many rooms you need.
Importantly, input the number of adults and children. (Default is 2 adults).
The maximum per room is 4 occupants and altering this detail can result in better choices of hotel
It guarantees that the room will accommodate the number of people that you select. To make any special requests, you must personally contact the hotel directly after your purchase.

Step 3) The site then searches for the best deals and gives you your results.
[FONT=&quot]Hotwire only shows the lowest priced hotel in each zone at each star level[/FONT]
The default list is sorted by “Best Value” but you can sort the results by star rating, price and distance. You can modify your choices from this page. You can delete other city areas, add different nights or change the number of rooms.
Each listing tells the area the hotel is in, how many starsthe hotel has
This is Hotwire’s own rating and is usually inflated by 0.5 stars compared to other sites
There is a Hotel rating guide on the website to tell you what Hotels are rated how many stars (1 to 5 stars).and what amenities.
·The amenities may be there at the hotel but not open. E.g. a pool that is outside but is closed in winter.
·An airport shuttle may operate, but have restricted hours.
as well as the price.
On top of this price is added taxes and fees. These are shown when you click “Continue”
[FONT=&quot]COOKIES?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]When checking hotels, I've seen Hotwire RAISE the price when they detect you've checked rates before .ie you have a cookie on your PC from a previous visit. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Be careful when re-checking to delete the Hotwire cookies from the browser so as not to be charged a higher booking price.[/FONT]

Step 4)
To get more details about the hotels then clicking the link “See hotel details” reveals some more important information:
1.A bigger map to show the area in which this hotel is situated
2.The full list of amenities. Sometimes all of them do not fit onto the first page.
3.Tripadvisor rating. Possibly helpful in two ways.-See tips
4.How much you “Save” over the retail price- IGNORE this It is a RED Herring
[FONT=&quot]Hotwires stance is that the price shown is for a hotel of that star class in that zone... not the actual hotel you will be receiving.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Note[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Trip Advisor Rating[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - You want to see one. If you find a snapshot of the Trip Advisor rating for that particular hotel then it will be above average. [/FONT]
• [FONT=&quot]In those instances it's absent you can reasonably conclude that Hotwire has filtered the result out. If Hotwire does not want to display the Trip Advisor rating then you might not want to blindly select that hotel, or at least be wary if you do![/FONT]

Step 5)
After you have chosen the hotel that suits you, hit “Continue”
You need to input the name of the guest who will be using this room. It doesn’t have to be you.
Hotwire will give you the full complete price, including taxes and their fee.
You do need to enter a credit card.
This is a US site so your card will be charged in $$’s You can use UK based cards.

Step 6)
After you pay for the room. Hotwire tells you the hotel name/address and gives you a confirmation number. They also send you an e-mail with this information and suggest that you print it out to bring with you.

[FONT=&quot]Is there a catch?[/FONT]
The downside of Hotwire is that the reservations are:
1.No cancellations and refunds are not permitted.
2.Non-smoking rooms with 2 double beds requests are not guaranteed.
3.Not eligible for frequent-traveller points, upgrades, or other discounts.
4.Hotwire price is sometimes actually higher than the hotel web-site!
However, it offers “Double the Difference” price guarantee for its hotel reservations.
You're guaranteed the best available rate—if you find a lower rate available to the general public within 48 hours for the same type of room, in the same hotel, and on the same dates, you'll be paid double the difference between the two prices
5.The star rating changes after you've booked!
'Hotel Star Ratings Promise'
Hotwire is pledging to rebook or compensate you if it lowers a hotel’s star rating before, or within 60 days after, your stay.
Hotwire will review customer feedback and benchmark its ratings against other leading travel sites and traditional third-party sources on an ongoing basis. If Hotwire determines that a property rating should be reduced, Hotwire will work to rebook you with upcoming reservations or provide compensation in the case that a comparable property is not available. Hotwire will also proactively compensate those who have stayed at that property within the past 60 days by providing HotDollars to be used toward a future travel purchase on the site.

blindman

[FONT=&quot]How can I find out where I'll stay before paying?

[/FONT] 1)Go to BetterBidding and either look at the Hotwire lists or register and ask for help.
Be sure to list the dates of the stay, the price you see and the amenities displayed
If you do, please use their Hotwire support link so the board can remain financially viable.

2)If the answer is not there or you fancy a bit of DIY then:

a)For the most popular destinations, and for stays of 2 days or more utilise the "build a package" buttons.
b)Open up two web browser windows. c)In the first window, do a hotel only search for the dates that you’re interested in.
d)In the second window, do a package search (either Hotel+car or Hotel+ flight-from any airport) using the same dates.

The results of this package search reveals the names of the hotels and their stars + amenities as listed by Hotwire.
Not all hotels participate in the 'opaque' side of Hotwire, so the package list may not be an exact match of the opaque list.

e)Comparing the amenities listed from the hotel only search and the package search, you can usually figure out which hotel is being “hidden” in the hotel only search results.

Of course this won’t work if:
·There is more than one hotel with the exact same amenities.
Quote from the (Hotwire's) horses mouth:
This may work some of the time however be advised that if two hotels have some of the same amenities and they are close in price Hotwire will show you the amenities that the hotels have in common and then add the amenities that not listed at the end after purchase. This works because most people won’t complain if the room has a coffee maker and we don’t tell you

·Your stay is for only one night

·The hotel star rating (from the hotel only search results) is not displayed in the package search results (usually lower than 2.5* in big cities).
[FONT=&quot]Also there is No guarantee that you'll receive one of the hotels listed in vacation packages when you book a room only.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
3) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]So if the “build a package” doesn’t work what next?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
1.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]If the problem is that your stay is for only one night:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do a dummy “Hotel only” search for two nights, see if you get the same results and if so repeat for a “package”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
2.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]If the problem is that your hotel star rating is not shown in the package results:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Then use the advanced methods[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]More Advanced methods of Identification: Varying accuracy[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tripadvisor Rating[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If the Trip advisor rating is shown on Hotwire, try to eliminate some likely candidates by looking at the actual Tripadvisor site for similar ratings of hotels [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The problem is that the number published on Hotwire is static and is not linked directly to the rating on the Tripadvisor site. This number is updated on the TA site more frequently (dynamically-when a user files a report?) than when Hotwire (manually) updates the data (most likely every 3+months).[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]So there are inconsistencies between what Hotwire shows as the current TA rating (possibly 3 months out of date) and what the actual current TA rating is (based upon several recent stays).
However I’m guessing that the hotels will have a lot of reviews and will not change by a .5 star rating that often.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Anyway if you then look at the Trip Advisor ratings you will see that the ratings vary, so by discounting the ones that are not within 0.5 rating either side then you may be able to narrow down the list even more.

[/FONT][FONT=&quot]So this is another method but do not base an identification solely from this comparison. [/FONT] [FONT=&quot]Another Tripadvisor method, although somewhat limited is to search for reviews on TripAdvisor, that mention the hotel was booked Hotwire.

To do a search like this use the TripAdvisor search feature.
Hotwire New York
You get a some reviews that have Hotwire mentioned in them, and many of them are Hotwire hotels in New York.
You can also do a Google search like this, restricting the results to Tripadvisor.com:
Both methods are not accurate, but may help.

[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]If you have Skype and can call USA for free:-[/FONT]

• [FONT=&quot]Hotwire Operators are helpful[/FONT][FONT=&quot] - You can call at any time and talk to a live person in the middle of the process. Hotwire representatives have specific rules (like not saying the name of the hotel) but they will give you endless clues to help you make that plunge. For example after I have isolated which hotels it might be, I Google Map the area, then ask them if the hotel is walking distance from a given street crossing. This works if there are not too many options in the designated area for a given hotel class.[/FONT]
• Another thing you can do is look at Expedia or other hotel booking site and try to see all possible hotels in the defined zone that have matching amenities.

dmg24

Thanks blindman ... I'm almost as addicted to BB as I am to MSE! x

cazziebo

Thank you so much for this!

We used hotwire to book a night in a hotel at Niagara and got the Sheraton Fallsview for $69 for three people.

Tempted to try Priceline after reading betterbidding.com and got the Sheraton Toronto downtown for £40 for the room.

Using priceline was actually quite good fun!

thanks again, Blindman!

blindman

cazziebo wrote: »

Thank you so much for this!

We used hotwire to book a night in a hotel at Niagara and got the Sheraton Fallsview for $69 for three people. .....

Did you (or could you) post this win on Betterbidding?

It helps others get great bargains.


Thanks.

PandaPants_2

I've found this deal, seems perfect but im not sure which hotel it is. I've had a mental walk down the strip and i'm thinking either Paris or Planet Hollywood. Can anyone help???

http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/details...actionType=303

blindman

PandaPants wrote: »

I've found this deal, seems perfect but im not sure which hotel it is. I've had a mental walk down the strip and i'm thinking either Paris or Planet Hollywood. Can anyone help???

http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/details...actionType=303

Panda

Links to Hotwire do not last (session times out) so you have to post the dates of the stay, the star rating and the amenities over at Betterbidding ideally.

PandaPants_2

Ooppps, sorry! :eek:
Will do...

blindman

PandaPants wrote: »

Ooppps, sorry! :eek:
Will do...

You have a PM.

PandaPants_2

Cheers BM, got it all worked out now.
I am your number 1 fan! :rotfl:

linden_2

Do you ever have to pay single supplementon these sites?