Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - What are the lesser know opaque travel bidding sites?

Sure, everyone knows priceline and hotwire, but I'm sure there are others out there. For instance, I used gtahotels.com for a hotel room in Arizona a few months ago.

When you use an aggregator site to search hotels (like kayak.com), they don't list opaque rates. And I can't find a source of the web that's collected these sites. So perhaps we can create a useful resource with this thread. Thanks.

Lastminute.com (the UK version) has opaque Top Secret hotels. Except that the descriptions they give are usually so good that you can figure out which hotel it is.

I just read that Londontown.com now has Top Secret hotels.

Hotel.de sometimes has a feature (I think it has Roulette in the name) where you will end up "winning" one of 9 Mercure hotels around Berlin, but you don't know which one. This comes up when you do a search for Berlin. I haven't seen it for other cities. I saw a variation of this roulette idea on the SkyEurope web site some time ago, where you could end up with one of three Prague Ibis hotels. These are one-offs, so you just have to keep watching.

EasyclickTravel has opaque hotels.

Eurostar.com sometimes has opaque deals combined with Eurostar tickets to Paris (and possibly London or Brussels).

Wotif.com apparently has some opaque options.

I hope I'm not hijacking here, but I can't figure out how to search for opaque offers on easyclicktravel. I accessed the page through a BFT link and want to check a couple other cities. Help. :o I know I'm missing something here. It really can't be that hard.

EDIT - Okay, I figured it out. Run a search and if there are "Off the Record" offers they're listed.

Priceline has a patent on opaque site bidding. They effectively shut down Microsoft's attempt to do the same via Expedia in a court case that was settled. Hotwire was the response with its 100% opaque hotel and car site (packages are not opaque). Both Priceline and Hotwire require a nonrefundable credit card commitment. It appears to me that all the rest are marketing gimmicks where the opacity makes the deal look better but the hotel is not really hidden- often the opacity is there because the agency is making a guess as to what might be available. Hotwire on occasion has an opaque offer that doesn't come through but it's rare. The quality at Priceline is in my experience always better for hotels than anywhere else with Hotwire second. It is in the opposite order for rental cars. Priceline's method allows established hotels to use up inventory on their own terms and with no chance for refunds or specification of room.

Both Priceline and Hotwire require a nonrefundable credit card commitment. It appears to me that all the rest are marketing gimmicks where the opacity makes the deal look better but the hotel is not really hidden- often the opacity is there because the agency is making a guess as to what might be available.

I agree that EasyClick is pseudo-opaque. You can get a detailed description of the property, and google a phrase from that to find the hotel name 95% of the time. And while their rates are prepay, they are usually refundable, even the oapque ones.

But I disagree that it's just a marketing gimmick. If the off-the-record hotel is listed as "available" as opposed to "on request", then there is inventory available at that price. It's not just a guess. And the rates are often better than you can find anywhere else, certainly anywhere else that is refundable.

My guess on why they are listed opaquely is it's to avoid any conflicts with the "Best Rate Guarantee" offers that many chains now offer. By hiding the name, the hotel can still sell the inventory at a lower price than the corporate website, withoit having to do any proce matches.

And while their rates are prepay, they are usually refundable, even the oapque onesSo that nobody gets burned, note that EasyClickTravel and LastMinuteTravel have recently changed their cancellations policy.

Specifics can differ by property, but generally the new policy is that most rates now have a $25 cancellation fee if cancelled outside of 7 days of arrival, one nite's fee if cancelled between 1 day and 7 days of arrival, and full forfeiture if cancelled within 1 day of arrival (or for a no-show).

NOT so opaque ^ Went to gtahotels.com to do a search in Vegas... Here are a few of the (many) 'mystery' hotels listed :p


"a New York Style Hotel In Las Vegas"
The hotel fronted by scale-model replicas of the Brooklyn Bridge (300 feet long) and the Statue of Liberty (150 feet high), the hotel presents a scaled-down Manhattan skyline of famous buildings rising in a Western desert. Familiar hotel names such as Nathan's heighten the appeal for young adults who favor this resort.

"a Hotel As "the City Of Entertainment"
The hotel billing itself as "The City of Entertainment," indeed, resembles a teeming city where thousands of guests and staff converge and the entertainment never stops. Clad in emerald-green glass and guarded by a 45-foot-tall lion (the largest bronze statue in the United States), the hotel draws families and couples from around the world.

"a Roman Style Hotel In Las Vegas"
A tribute to Roman opulence, the hotel opened in 1966 as a destination for celebrities and high rollers. Periodic expansion adhered to the theme while sparing a garden of cypresses, statues, and pools buffering the resort from The Strip. Marble, gilt, and crystal still set the tone as thousands troop through. Gladiators, Cleopatra look-alikes, and toga-clad beauties wander throughout. Interestingly, these hotels were also on their list separately (without the opaque discount).

Last week, I booked a Vegas hotel on tripres.com after having no success on priceline and hotwire. They promised a "AAA 3-star hotel 1 mile west of the Strip." When I got a hotel that did not actually have an AAA rating (Emerald Suites -- Cameron), I called to complain. They let me cancel my reservation without penalty.

Somewhat disconcerting, but at least better than when priceline makes a mistake and you have no effective recourse ("it's a 3 star hotel because we say it's a 3 star hotel").