Has anyone tried the hotwire unnamed hotels?

Has anyone tried the Hotwire unnamed hotels?
I'm taking the family to Florida this year for vacation. We are stopping in new Orleans and staying the night on the way down. Ive been looking for hotel deals on Hotwire and they are offering deals on hotels that are unnamed. You learn which hotel after it is booked. Right now they have a 4 1/2 star hotel for $91/night. Has anyone tried these deals, I don't want to get ripped off.

lori7095 said:   Has anyone tried these deals, I don't want to get ripped off.

1) I have used Hotwire many times and have never been disappointed.

2) Search the web and you'll find many reports of disappointed Hotwire users.

3) Welcome to FW Travel.

Yes, and got a good deal (London Heathrow Crowne Plaza, 5 years ago)!

My recomentation will be to go to betterbidding.com
On the forums you can learn how to know which hotel you will get.
I did a quick search for you:
These are the 3 hotels reported from other customers an the amenities people saw listed when they booked the hotel.

New Orleans (Convention Center - Arts District)
4.5* Loews New Orleans
Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business, Spa

New Orleans (Downtown)
4.5* Le Pavillon
Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business

New Orleans (French Quarter)
4.5* Omni Royal Orleans (previously 4*)
Amenities: Restaurant, Pool, Fitness, Hi-Speed Internet, Business
(same as Westin at Canal Place)

Hope this help.
And yes I did use Hotwire several time and thanks to betterbiding I was always able to know in advance the hotel.

I have used HW on many occassions and never been dissapointed. I used to cross reference the amentities and stock photod with Priceline so as to know the name of the fotel before finalizing transaction.

Good Luck!

I'm curious of the legality of the additional fees once you arrive at the hotel.

If I purchase a hotel through Hotwire's unnamed hotel price and then show up and they demand an additional fee, can I get a full refund from Hotwire? Or should I refuse to pay the fee and find another place?

I'm planning a trip in October and while my location is flexible, I want to try to avoid unnecessary fees.

What is the amount you guys have paid for resort fees? If it's more than $40-50 a day it's not worth the "savings" Hotwire provides.

Yes. You can usually guess what they're going to give you from the 3 top choices.

technolich said:   I'm curious of the legality of the additional fees once you arrive at the hotel.

If I purchase a hotel through Hotwire's unnamed hotel price and then show up and they demand an additional fee, can I get a full refund from Hotwire? Or should I refuse to pay the fee and find another place?

I'm planning a trip in October and while my location is flexible, I want to try to avoid unnecessary fees.
these What is the amount you guys have paid for resort fees? If it's more than $40-50 a day it's not worth the "savings" Hotwire provides.You seem to be confused about fees. The fees will be there whether or not you book through Hotwire, Expedia, Kayak, Priceline, whoever.

All booking sites have fine print that has something to the effect of "...may be additional fees which much be paid directly to the hotel..."

Did that, I stayed at a Marriott in So. San Fran and it was a sweet deal. Did it again at Hilton (just next door) and got monetized to death. You want to park a car, better part of a 20 every day. You want Wifi, yup better part of a 20 every day. You want coffee in the morning? There's a Starbucks in the lobby. Bye bye 20. All of that, including a buffet breakfast was free at Marriott. Beware the monetized side, grasshopper.

aga1000 said:   Yes. Got a 3 star hotel for about 40% less than the price. Like a lot of fatwalletersmare saying, i got charged 20 dollars per night for parking, somit ended up beiNg not as cheap as i had originally hoped but still cheapermthan other websites.Again, you STILL would have been charged the parking, no matter how you booked. Except of course if the hotel had some web special/coupon/code/rate that included parking.

I've used Hotwire with the unnamed hotels, i was able to pretty much able to guess which hotels were a possibility by the approximaty to an address, the star rating, and amenities

jaimelobo said:   technolich said:   I guess I'll have to look into hoping I get a hotel that is ethical and doesn't charge a $50+ resort fee per day, I travel at least 1-2 times a year and usually use Orbitz and have never had any additional fees at check-in.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/18/business/la-fi-1018-orbi...

It seems like there should be a similar law for hotel rooms, disclose it BEFORE final payment.Apples to oranges; the taxes for the air tickets are still paid to Orbitz at time of booking. The resort fee is more akin to baggage fees with the airlines -- you don't pay those fees to Orbitz (or whoever), you pay them directly to the airline (either at departure or online in advance) and all Orbitz does is tell you "may be additional fees for baggage, yada, yada..."

As to the first part, not so much a problem in business travel areas, but it is getting harder and harder to find hotels in demand vacation areas that don't have an add-on resort or "convenience" fee. Many times it is $5 - $10/night, places like Hawaii have $20 - $30 fees in the nicer resorts.

Another reason to rent condos - one bedroom units close to the beach can be had on Maui, the Big Island for ~$100 per night - free parking, no resort fees, save big by eating some/all of meals in your own kitchen.

Can the Hotwire coupons from the entertainment book be used on the hidden fare prices?

Bidgoggles will help you figure which hotel it is.
PL bidding is usually a little bit cheaper than HW. (15% or so)
Educating yourself as to possibilities is your best bet. Read up at the bidding sites.
Can be very time consuming-- just a headsup. Not always worth the time, especially just for one night. And if you have the Ent card, try that first. Quicker and occasionally works better.

They also do not guarantee a non-smoking room. My last Hotwire hotel was located next to a truck stop. Front desk said that Hotwire reserved/purchased a smoking room and all non-smoking rooms were full. All my clean clothes had to be rewashed due to the oder - even my suitcase had to be washed.

Also do not trust the Hotwire add that say this room is a $xxx room on other sites. The Hotwire ad said hidden hotel rooms went for $94 a night. When I looked up the hotel ALL other travel sites had these rooms for $55 a night, including the hotel site itself. The $53 rate I paid plus their hidden in the taxes line hotwore fee was more expensive than anywhere else I could have gotten the room. Due to their false advertising I will never consider Hotwire again for anything. Customer service was of no help either after multiple calls complaining about both the hotel, room and their incorrect cost data in their ad.

I like Priceline, name your price...that saves me lots of money on last minute booking.

lori7095 said:   Has anyone tried the Hotwire unnamed hotels?
I'm taking the family to Florida this year for vacation. We are stopping in new Orleans and staying the night on the way down. Ive been looking for hotel deals on Hotwire and they are offering deals on hotels that are unnamed. You learn which hotel after it is booked. Right now they have a 4 1/2 star hotel for $91/night. Has anyone tried these deals, I don't want to get ripped off.

Check out betterbidding.com if you have more questions about Hotwire unnamed hotels or Priceline's Name Your Own Price. It is a website/forum entirely devoted to posting what people bid or paid for hotels.

I actually prefer Priceline's Name Your Own Price. You can normally get a little bit better price.

Both Hotwire and Priceline are GREAT if you just want to be in a city/area and don't care what specific hotel you are at.

Hotwire is great but you gotta know what you're getting into. If you spend a few minutes educating yourself (which it seems like you're doing) you can avoid the disappointment that many people experience.

1. You're booking an unnamed hotel (which you already know by your post), so there is some risk. Are you prepared to take this risk?
2. Reservations are non-cancellable.
3. Use websites like www.hoteldealsrevealed.com and the like to check out what hotel you'll get. Doesn't always work though.

Overall, just be aware that you're taking some risks and have some restrictions, but you CAN save a lot of money. Good luck.

an updated list about New Orleans here, Useful sites for New Orleans

I've only used Hotwire a few times, but after doing a bit of research, I've been successful at guessing which hotel I was going to get 100% of the time. I got an unbelievable deal in Paris a few years ago. However, you have to go into it knowing you're taking a bit of a gamble--the listing could have changed, etc. I still like having a little more to go on than I would with a Priceline reservation, even if I sometimes pay a bit more.