Hotwire Venice win - would like your thoughts

[lhall85917]

Sorry but this is a little long...

 

Last week we booked a cruise leaving from Venice on June 15 of this year. Once the cruise was booked I immediately began researching options for hotels for 2 nights pre-cruise. After over a day of searches, we narrowed it down to 2 Hotwire options, the first was a 4* in the train station area, the other a 4* in the San Palo/Rialto area.

 

The train station hotel was $166/night and offered hints that it could be hotels like Boscolo Bellini, Carnival Palace, or the Hotel Carlton Grand Canal. The Rialto hotel was $265/night and offered hints that it could be hotels like Hotel Palazzo Barbarigo Sul Canal Grande, San Cassiano Ca' Favretto, and another I don't remember (all were in the top 100 on TripAdvisor). It also stated that the hotel would have a 100% approval rating from Hotwire Customers.

 

The 100% approval rating was the deciding factor for us to go ahead with the more expensive hotel since a couple of the train station area hotels had mixed reviews. We took that hotel and were shocked to be awarded the Hotel Carlton Grand Canal, it is directly across from the train station and over a mile away from the Rialto area. In addition, its approval rating with TripAdvisor is 4/5 and is ranked 132 of 389 hotels.

 

After thinking it over, we contacted Hotwire through email and they gave us $50 in Hotwire dollars since we didn't receive what we asked for. This didn't seem to be enough so we replied with our concerns and they forwarded it to the next level. Today I received a phone call and they said we could keep the reservation and the $50 Hotwire dollars or they would cancel and refund our money.

 

I don't want to cancel as I am not terribly upset with the hotel and I don't want to go through the research process again this close to our cruise; however, I don't think we have been treated fairly. My thought is that we should receive $200 back since we received a hotel that should have been in the $166 Hotwire price range, not the $265 we paid. The person I talked to today admitted that we received a hotel that wasn't in the area we requested and that is why they will refund our money.

 

It has tinged our trust with Hotwire quite a bit. As a customer booking one of their Secret Hot Rate hotels you are only given a little information to begin with, when you don't receive something fitting that criteria it seems pretty unfair. Looking at options through them today, the Carlton now shows as a hint in the Rialto area so I am sure there are others that may get the same treatment we did.

 

My question is, does anyone have ideas for options in following through with this? At worst, we have $50 in Hotwire bucks and a hotel in Venice; but it has left a bitter taste.

[agabbymama]

I had a similar experience on Hotwire, and got nothing except "we are sorry, the hotel is a two star and that's what you booked". Cambria California is a small town and not many hotels/motels to choose from. But as you say, it did leave a bitter taste, and I won't be booking Hotwire again.

 

The Hotel Carlton Grand Canal is an absolutely lovely hotel. I'd take your $50 and be happy with the hotel. A classic double is going for $306 and a Superior double is going for $369, so you have a classy hotel at a reduced rate.

 

Enjoy Venice!

[lhall85917]

I had a similar experience on Hotwire, and got nothing except "we are sorry, the hotel is a two star and that's what you booked". Cambria California is a small town and not many hotels/motels to choose from. But as you say, it did leave a bitter taste, and I won't be booking Hotwire again.

 

The Hotel Carlton Grand Canal is an absolutely lovely hotel. I'd take your $50 and be happy with the hotel. A classic double is going for $306 and a Superior double is going for $369, so you have a classy hotel at a reduced rate.

 

Enjoy Venice!

Thanks, we are fine with the Carlton and it isn't anything that will ruin our trip. In fact, it was one of our original options - we considered booking it on our own and had found a rate of $299/night, so it was a $30 savings from that. I'm just disappointed with Hotwire as we have had very good experiences in the past. A few years ago they downgraded a room we had already booked and offered us the option to cancel or keep the room with a total refund in Hotwire bucks. Such a good experience as they did this without us realizing they had downgraded the hotel, I was expecting similar service.

[slidergirl]

For my love of just wandering around and running in to what I run into on a trip, I can't bring myself to bid for an anonymous hotel. That one is outside of my comfort level; My gramma would call the bidding "buying a pig in a poke" - you aren't sure what kind of pig it is, if it's a pig at all.

I think you got ripped off to an extent. Sure, they say the hotel "may be like" xxx,yyy,zzz. So, you kind of get set up for one of those, When they overlap their areas, you are susceptible to just what happened to you. At least they gave you some money back, albeit a tiny amount...

 

I am happy to hear that you are OK with the hotel, even under those circumstances. Just think how much you would have paid for it w/o Hotwire and you'll feel better;)

[lhall85917]

For my love of just wandering around and running in to what I run into on a trip, I can't bring myself to bid for an anonymous hotel. That one is outside of my comfort level; My gramma would call the bidding "buying a pig in a poke" - you aren't sure what kind of pig it is, if it's a pig at all.

I think you got ripped off to an extent. Sure, they say the hotel "may be like" xxx,yyy,zzz. So, you kind of get set up for one of those, When they overlap their areas, you are susceptible to just what happened to you. At least they gave you some money back, albeit a tiny amount...

 

I am happy to hear that you are OK with the hotel, even under those circumstances. Just think how much you would have paid for it w/o Hotwire and you'll feel better;)

 

Thanks for your response. It is somewhat anonymous, but with all of the websites that offer insight into possible wins it becomes a little less random. I had a fairly good idea of possibilities within each area and enough comfort with the system to take the chance. When you don't get what you bid on it becomes a serious problem with the site's integrity in my opinion. I also find it odd that they won't give a $200 on site credit but will issue a full credit of over $600 to my charge card, I am asking them for less than what they are offering! I know they can put that room in circulation, but a couple of hundred dollars on site credit seems to be worth something toward their reputation.

[Matcodixon]

If you really care where you will stay, don't use Hotwire. If you don't care.. go ahead on..

 

I have always been able to book what I want directly after doing some research.

[lhall85917]

If you really care where you will stay, don't use Hotwire. If you don't care.. go ahead on..

 

I have always been able to book what I want directly after doing some research.

 

I really didn't care IF I had received what I was supposed to get, but I didn't. If they offered me a 4* star in Rialto or refunded the cost difference for the train station area I would be happy and feel that they were attempting to correct their mistake. At this point a refund doesn't put me back where I started because now we are less than three weeks away from our stay in an extremely popular and expensive place in the world. Prices and availability are already very different than a week ago.

 

It isn't a huge deal, just annoying, and I don't feel Hotwire is doing the right thing. In the long run, all is fine, I will put on my big girl panties and get over it!