Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Hotwire vs. Priceline hotel ratings

Thought I would share this blog post with you all....

A lot of people wonder if Hotwire or Priceline inflate their hotel ratings. There is a very popular thread about Priceline's ratings on FT and numerous older threads on this topic have appears. Anecdotally, we all have our opinions.

I run the website HotelDealsRevealed.com, and when people share their Priceline or Hotwire wins, I capture this data in a database, and just recently, I crunched some numbers to see how the same hotels were rated on Hotwire and Priceline. I blogged about this in my blog: http://www.hoteldealsrevealed.com/blog/?p=241

If you don't want to read the blog, here is the conclusion I found: The vast majority of hotels have the same rating on Hotwire and Priceline (76%). Of the ones that were rated differently, the gap was seldom greater than 1/2 star. Hotwire seems to be slightly more generous on it's hotel ratings than Priceline.

Good idea for a blog post. And interesting findings. Thanks.


Mike....

I'd agree that Hotwire can at time be a little too generous with its star rating but not to a point of being totally out of the ballpark. What I do like about Hotwire it lists features such as an airport shuttle, free wife, complimentary breakfast, pool, etc.

What I do like about Hotwire it lists features such ,,,,, free wife,,,,,

I've never seen that feature offered. What is next, free husbands?

I've never seen that feature offered. What is next, free husbands?

LOL.

Assuming he meant wifi, technically, Hotwire listings doesn't indicate whether the high speed internet access is wifi or not (but most are nowadays), and it isn't free in many hotels, especially 4 stars or better.

Overall, I agree with the comments made though. The ratings compared to Priceline are not absurdly out of line.

I have been using HW/PL regularly since about 2004 and I have generally always found the ratings to be in the right ballpark. The only times that I have been disappointed is in older downtown hotels that are old and kind of run down but technically have the amenities that give them a higher rating, e.g. the Monarch in San Francisco, which was generously rated as a 2* when I was there several years ago but really deserved no more than the 1* based on the accommodations (which it now gets from Priceline).

I find that HW/PL work best when you keep your expectations in line. Anyone who bids on a 4* expecting something on par with the Four Seasons is not going to be a happy camper. But if you bid on a 4* and get a Crowne Plaza for half the regular price, I think that's pretty good.

I have been using HW/PL regularly since about 2004 and I have generally always found the ratings to be in the right ballpark. The only times that I have been disappointed is in older downtown hotels that are old and kind of run down but technically have the amenities that give them a higher rating, e.g. the Monarch in San Francisco, which was generously rated as a 2* when I was there several years ago but really deserved no more than the 1* based on the accommodations (which it now gets from Priceline).

I find that HW/PL work best when you keep your expectations in line. Anyone who bids on a 4* expecting something on par with the Four Seasons is not going to be a happy camper. But if you bid on a 4* and get a Crowne Plaza for half the regular price, I think that's pretty good.

Well said. I agree 100%.

Interesting analysis though.

I've never seen that feature offered. What is next, free husbands?

I would be very surprised if any "wife" was genuinely free.

Hotwire, much more so than PL, tends to inflate. Most of the time by 1/2 star.