Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Whats "4 star" on Priceline?

I just got back from a trip - I used Priceline for 2 cities(NY&London)and booked 4 different hotels, all bid as "4 star"..........what a range!
The Dolphin Square in London was able to get me an extra fan for 80 degree weather - since they don't have air conditioning.
Are there other's running into this kind of stuff? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/frown.gif

Well, despite it being all the same Priceline, 4* in Europe is, as it has been for some time as far as I can tell, more like 3* in the US in many cases. That said, I'm rather surprised about finding no A/C at a 4* in London. That doesn't sound right. In March my 4* bids in London landed me the Marriott Marble Arch (newish hotel) and the Mayfair Inter-Continental (recently downgraded from 5* on Priceline, as I understand it). They certainly seemed worthy of the roughly $80/night plus tax/fee that got me the winning bid in each case. They may in fact be at the higher end of the 4* scale, but still.

The Dolphin Square looks on paper and in pictures like it's otherwise worthy of the 4* rating. So I don't know. I'm not sure if Priceline's policies include A/C for a hotel in London. You could always complain to Priceline, see what they say.

Edit: I glanced at BFT. There are a few reviews there. People have been getting this hotel at 4* for a couple years. One or two of the reviewers noted no A/C. So my guess is you won't get far lobbying PL about it.

The range between NYC and London shouldn't be surprising, though. I suspect the NYC hotel(s) were a little more upscale at 4*. The I-C I stayed at in London would have been a legitimate 4* in the US, but I'm thinking that Marriott would have been only a 3*.


[This message has been edited by CrazyOne (edited 07-03-2003).]

I wouldn't blame Priceline for English hotel ratings the hotel Automobile Association, Visit Britain and Royal Automobile Club together created one overall rating scheme for accommodations, using Stars to represent Hotels and Diamonds for Guest Accommodation .
Here's a summary of stars :
1 Star
Practical accommodation with a limited range of facilities and services, but a high standard of cleanliness throughout. Restaurant/eating area. 75% of bedrooms will have en-suite or private facilities.

2 Star
Better equipped bedrooms, all with ensuite/private bathroom and a colour TV. A lift is normally available.

3 Star
Higher standard of services and facilities including larger public areas and bedrooms, a receptionist, room service, laundry.

4 Star
Accommodation offering superior comfort and quality; all bedrooms with en-suite bath, fitted overhead shower and WC. Spacious and well appointed public areas. More emphasis on food and drink. Room service of all meals and 24 hour drinks, refreshments and snacks. Dry cleaning service available. Excellent customer service.

5 Star
A spacious, luxurious establishment offering you the highest international quality of accommodation, facilities, services and cuisine. There will be a range of extra facilities. A professional and attentive staff providing flawless guest services

None mention air. Interestingly,there are a number of websites that list The Dolphin Inn as having air conditioning.

Do you think that Priceline is just following the AA (or other British, as there are other rating agencies) ratings, though? If we were talking about the US, I'd say that PL is not just rubber stamping someone else's ratings, at least not all the time. I suppose it may be harder to tell with the UK or other overseas hotels.

At least it isn't like Hotwire where we know the ratings are inflated....

Yea priceline has special ratings in Europe. I think that in general the rating descriptions are very vague so that people have trouble disputing it. Although I think that people have been successful telling priceline about the mismatch between the rating and actual state of the hotel. One successful strategy that comes to mind is the presence of an onsite restaurant in the hotel (which the european star ratings have at a certain point) Now I am not saying that they were successful in a getting a refund.. but only successful in getting the hotel downgraded. Now if it is downgraded before they travel, that is a strong case for a refund.

I'd be interested if anyone has ever seen an England Priceline rating different than the "official" Hotel Automobile Assoc. rating.In the US ratings seem to come from all over,with many giving themselves a rating.

I couldn't say. I never noticed a posted AA (or RAC or English Tourism Council, whatever, they're all standardized now as I understand it) rating at either of the places in London I got on Priceline. I suppose that could be looked up, though. Seemed like hotels like that didn't make a big deal of it. The smaller places were more likely to brag about their ratings. Indeed, we stayed at some smaller B&B type places that posted their 4* ratings from whatever agency (in some cases that agency was the Wales Tourism Board, which along with the Scotland board is not standardized with the others) in their windows.

I did just plug both my hotels into AA's search, though (see http://www.theaa.com/ ). The Marriott Marble Arch does carry a 4* rating from them. The Mayfair Inter-Continental, though, still shows a 5* rating. Priceline has downgraded it, or at least had. (There's always a possibility that they have since upgraded it again.)

The reason there might be ambiguity with The Dolphin Square Hotel having A/C is because the lobby,gym,pool & restaurant all have A/C and a new modern decor (which is what they probably show in their brochures). http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/wink.gif