This is the site that lets you chose 2,3,4, and 5 star rated hotels for a discounted price, but the only catch is you don.t get to see which hotel it actually is until you book. I'm sure all of you have heard of it. Anyways, were taking a trip to Austin for two days and our budget is on the small end. If we can get a 4 star hotel like they advertise for 140 a night then i believe its worth a try, only problem is i'm not sure if that's really the case. Has anyone used Hotwire? how about Hotwire for Austin?
I would stay away from 2. I generally pick 3 or 4. Those star ratings are ballpark figures anyways. Sometimes the location is more important than the stars and that is somewhat of a luck of the draw when using hotwire. Dont forget to book using Chase Visa card if you have one. Chase offers full refund on travel expenses in case of emergency (sickness, etc.). Its a free service.
I've used it for both a plane ticket and a hotel room. It's okay. There are sites (e.g., bidgoggles.com and hotwirerevealed.com) you can use to figure which hotel you are likely staying in. The hotel I ended up getting was the Doubletree in Center City, Philly, which was 3.5 stars. I believe they get their star ratings from Trip Advisor, so that also might be a good place to see/compare what type of hotel you are getting. Overall, I would say if you're not dead set on a specific hotel, it's a pretty good site.
Thanks buddy! For this trip location is definitely everything. We obviously wanna stay as close to 6th street, but the area i chose from hotwire (downtown) covers a nice amount of land. Last question... Do you recall if they charged you immediately once you booked?
Yes. They charge immediately. I've used it countless times for hotels. The main issue is you have to be a little flexible on location. Look closely at the boundary for the area you're purchasing. If you are not going to be happy staying in certain parts of that boundary, then you might be better off paying extra to get the exact location you want.
Google priceline/hotwire forum and click on the city you're looking for and they should have a list of what hotels are being won in the star/location you're looking at. I use priceline name your own price almost all the time when booking hotels.
Ditto, I've always gotten great hotels on the cheap when we travel. Use them more often than Hotwire but they are both good sites.
Just a FYI I went to Austin this past weekend with the GF and got a great room at the Whyndham Garden Hotel on I-35S not far from downtown for $125 taxes inclusive. Check out hotels.com
I've used both Hotwire and Priceline's NYOP (Name Your Own Price). They're both a gamble as they hide the hotel name so that you can get the low fare. In my experience, Priceline is easier to figure out what hotel you can bid on because it shows you the amenities and there are a lot of forum talk saying what people bid and what they got. Hotwire is more of a gamble. I could never figure out where it was, but if I was flexible, it didn't matter to me. I think they overrate their stars a bit more compared to Priceline. You'll save a bit more with Hotwire, but sometimes, the extra $10-$20 per night isn't worth the risk when Priceline is more transparent.
Yes, but only 4 stars. If you do a little research, you can narrow it down to which hotels you are going to get.
Even for NYC? Has anyone figured out how to get good deals for NYC hotels in Manhattan? I feel like this is next to impossible.
Well that was the on place I couldn't find a great deal, still better than face value directly through the hotel but Manhattan hotels are expensive.
Hotwire is a good site. Just be aware those 4 and 5 star are good hotels but will still often try and give you the cheapest room they got.
Used Hotwire for our recent trip to Vancouver. No complaints, got a fair room at a decent price. This and Priceline's NYOP have worked well for me in the past.
There is a group of us going to NOLA this weekend and we got the Sheraton by using hotwire, I used it a couple weekends ago for Game 2 of the NBA finals and we got put at the Hyatt Regency on the Riverwalk, definitely worth it.
