Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - Awesome Hotwire deals

I used Hotwire to book a room in Houston for 4 nights and walked away with The Derek Hotel for $109+tax per night. I researched this place and it got great reviews all over the internet from Zagat to Frommers. Has anyone ever stayed here? It is a true 4 star+ hotel with the exact amenities I was looking for.

I then booked a full-size car for $23 a day from Dollar on Hotwire. Now on to my next destination in TX.

Hotwire has some amazing deals out there the same hotel would go for $250+ a night with weekends slightly lower. I would be paying more at other hotels without the amenities. Considering this is during Memorial Day Weekend.

I used Hotwire to book a room in Houston for 4 nights and walked away with The Derek Hotel for $109+tax per night. I researched this place and it got great reviews all over the internet from Zagat to Frommers. Has anyone ever stayed here? It is a true 4 star+ hotel with the exact amenities I was looking for.

I then booked a full-size car for $23 a day from Dollar on Hotwire. Now on to my next destination in TX.

Hotwire has some amazing deals out there the same hotel would go for $250+ a night with weekends slightly lower. I would be paying more at other hotels without the amenities. Considering this is during Memorial Day Weekend.Do you work on commission?

I don't work on commission (I wish). I am learning the travel trade more for less money. You see why would I want my family to spend $90 a day on a car rental vs $25 or $109 vs $250 a night?

Also what are your experiences with Hotel Derek in Houston? I have read many good reviews from Conde Nast to Travel and Leisure magazine. I also read that stars like Annie Lennox stayed here. It seems like a great hotel.

Doesn't get very good reviews at tripadvisor.com, a site where regular travelers (not paid guidebook employees) submit their reviews.

Regular price (according to tripadvisor) is approx $145. You got a pretty good price but may be in for a bit of a disappointment if the last few reviews are accurate.

And Priceline can almost always beat Hotwire's price. (But you are less likely to be able to zero in on a particular hotel.)

It looks like orbitz beats those car rates and going to the individual car sites usually beats the orbitz rates. FWIW no miles/points with hotwire.

MisterNice

Yeah, priceline always beats hotwire. I can see how someone might choose hotwire for hotels if they were able to narrow down the choices with a greater degree of specificity, but for rental cars, I can't think of any reason to go with hotwire over priceline. Of course, so as not to make the OP feel too bad, the difference is probably only a couple bucks, and it's more straightforward to book through hotwire. Just for future reference.

Yeah, priceline always beats hotwire. I can see how someone might choose hotwire for hotels if they were able to narrow down the choices with a greater degree of specificity, but for rental cars, I can't think of any reason to go with hotwire over priceline. Of course, so as not to make the OP feel too bad, the difference is probably only a couple bucks, and it's more straightforward to book through hotwire. Just for future reference.

Exactly. There's no risk other than a few minutes of your time to try Priceline for a rental car bidding a few dollars lower than Hotwire's price. I have only had one instance where Hotwire beat Priceline for a rental car, but I suspect the $2.95/day rental from Hotwire was a pricing error.

Hotwire's fee is always lower than Priceline's for rental cars. So look at the total, not the per day cost when bidding. I've found no real difference most of the time when the bottom line is the criterion, not the per day bid - which is not a reflection of the real cost.

Exactly. There's no risk other than a few minutes of your time to try Priceline for a rental car bidding a few dollars lower than Hotwire's price. I have only had one instance where Hotwire beat Priceline for a rental car, but I suspect the $2.95/day rental from Hotwire was a pricing error.

I did find a peculiarity on one rental where a 49-hour rental was charged as a 3-day rental on Priceline but only a 2-day rental on Hotwire, which made Hotwire much cheaper.

Ed