sbrower
Dec 11, 02, 12:59 pm
In the course of resolving a "best rate guarantee" claim I learned an important trick. If you want to find the best rates for a particular hotel do *not* log onto the Starwood (or SPG) website. Your preferences, even if you cancel them (i.e. - you manually change to "no preference" on bed type and smoking type), will still inhibit the website from showing you certain room categories. (The specific example, in my case, was the hotel near Rome. Orbitz showed a standard room, for 166 Euro, but the best I could find on the Starwood site was a superior room for 191 Euro. I was unable to make the Starwood site display that room type. I was advised by the "best rate" people to check the website without signing in (which required that I affirmatively "log off" since I have default logon). Then, the room type was displayed and I was able to make the reservation.