Online Travel Booking and Bidding Agencies - bidding for a particular type room

Hi-When one needs 2 beds in a room,can this be sought for before
bidding on Priceline. What if one wins a bid and gets stuck with only
one queen-size bed in the room.
Also , is it a win per room..ie if I want my 2 kids with me in the room,
am I allowed?
Joe

You can't specify the number of beds or types of beds in a room on Priceline, you have to call the hotel after you win the bid and negotiate that with them. Priceline promises that the hotel room will accommodate 2 adults, anything else you have to negotiate with the hotel after you win your bid:

Quality Experience Guarantee

Just because you're saving a lot of money on your hotel stay doesn't mean you're sacrificing quality. We guarantee that you'll always purchase a quality hotel when you Name Your Own Price®. If the hotel you purchase does not match our promise below, just call us before your check-in date and we'll change or cancel your hotel reservations at no charge.

Here's our promise to you:

* Your hotel will be confirmed for the dates, area, and star level that you agreed to (or higher star level).
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* Your hotel will be star-rated by priceline according to our rigorous rating system. This means that our hotel staff has researched your hotel, reviewed customer comments and compared star ratings assigned by other rating services. The hotel you get will meet priceline's strict quality standards.
* Your hotel will accommodate two adults.
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http://www.priceline.com/hotels/hotels_guarantee.asp?session_key=5D0011AC3F0011AC2 009011705120263d441239507&plf=pcln

Hi-When one needs 2 beds in a room,can this be sought for before
bidding on Priceline. What if one wins a bid and gets stuck with only
one queen-size bed in the room.
Also , is it a win per room..ie if I want my 2 kids with me in the room,
am I allowed?
Joe

Note that a few hotels will charge extra for a two-bedded room. I ran into that this past weekend at a hotel south of the Seattle airport. Two beds in a room, or bed with fold-out sofa, was considered an "upgrade" by this hotel. However, my Priceline experience has shown that such an extra charge is rarely encountered. Rather, seems many hotels would prefer to assign two double or queen beds, vice a king.

Hi-When one needs 2 beds in a room,can this be sought for before
bidding on Priceline. What if one wins a bid and gets stuck with only
one queen-size bed in the room.
Also , is it a win per room..ie if I want my 2 kids with me in the room,
am I allowed?
JoePriceline warns you when you bid and when you win that you are given accommodation for two - all the rest is up to the hotel. "If you are in need of any special arrangements (i.e. bed types, handicap accessibility etc.) to your accommodation, please contact the hotel property directly at the phone number listed below..." If you require accommodation for four people on your reservation, bid for two rooms or use Hotwire, where you can specify your requirements.

As was stated, you can't guarantee two beds. Especially 2* hotels where you end up with Extended Stay or Homestead Suites, you will almost always get only one bed.

But as was stated, use hotwire (state 3 people to insure 2 beds) or just bid on two rooms on Priceline. Two rooms on PL will usually still be cheaper than one room booked through normal channels.

John

Rather, seems many hotels would prefer to assign two double or queen beds, vice a king.This seems to be especially true in areas with a high concentration of business travelers - as many of them travel alone, they often prefer king rooms, leaving the two-bedded rooms available for Priceline clients and other general travelers.

A very few hotels provide Priceline with only one-bedded rooms - two that I know of specifically are the MCI Airport Hilton and the St. Francis in downtown San Francisco.

I agree with the other posters. The ONLY hotels where you will only get one bed are the Extended Stay America and similar properties.

In most places, especially during the week, you are more likely to get two beds when you book a Hotwire/Priceline room.

I've often had a single king at Hyatt, Marriott, Westin. Not always, but often. Sometimes I think the checkin clerk picks a room for me, instead of using whatever was pre-assigned.

Being able to specify more about the accomodations than the star rating and price, is on my Priceline wish list. Specifying a hotel with a swimming pool, or that you require wifi in the bid price, would be most welcome. I've mentioned this before, and I'll look forward to mentioning it again and including "two beds" in my rant. Unfortunately I doubt that such a change is a priority with Priceline.

I've often had a single king at Hyatt, Marriott, Westin. Not always, but often. Sometimes I think the checkin clerk picks a room for me, instead of using whatever was pre-assigned.

I have had one bed in a Hyatt in Boston too, though they gave us a rollaway for no charge. Never say "never" "always" "only" etc - too many variables.

The ONLY hotels where you will only get one bed are the Extended Stay America and similar properties.

I have had one bed in a Hyatt in Boston too, though they gave us a rollaway for no charge. Never say "never" "always" "only" etc - too many variables.

Agreed, fti, I have stayed in PLENTY of non-ESA-type hotels via Priceline that they have given me one bed only (only in a couple of those cases have I requested to get two beds instead of one, and had about a 50% success rate when I made such a request).

Being able to specify more about the accomodations than the star rating and price, is on my Priceline wish list. Specifying a hotel with a swimming pool, or that you require wifi in the bid price, would be most welcome. I've mentioned this before, and I'll look forward to mentioning it again and including "two beds" in my rant. Unfortunately I doubt that such a change is a priority with Priceline.

I don't see this happening, FliesCasually, and here's why: For the uninformed bidder of Priceline (aka anyone who hasn't been to BiddingForTravel, BetterBidding, or a similar outlet for Priceline tips), it is hard enough for them to garner a winning bid. If the average, uninformed, person was given parameters to narrow down the amenities they need/want, winning bids will be even more infrequent.

Plus, being given parameters such as you suggested would make it possible in certain areas to narrow down exactly which hotel you are going to get, which is exactly what PL and the hotels themselves do not want to happen.

For the uninformed bidder of Priceline (aka anyone who hasn't been to BiddingForTravel, BetterBidding, or a similar outlet for Priceline tips), it is hard enough for them to garner a winning bid. If the average, uninformed, person was given parameters to narrow down the amenities they need/want, winning bids will be even more infrequent.


That's a surprise to me. I'd expect it to be difficult to bid the lowest possible amount without coaching, but I'd expect, in the age of ebay, shoppers could find a bid price. Of course some people will always calculate risk/reward differently from others.

I don't have the business training to know when a company should prioritize the needs of non-customers over customers. Some of your hypothetical group will, hypothetically, never become frequent shoppers. No matter how few choices are offered in the attempt to attract them.

I will remove "pool" from my rant, I wouldn't put the opacity of the process at risk.

For the uninformed bidder of Priceline (aka anyone who hasn't been to BiddingForTravel, BetterBidding, or a similar outlet for Priceline tips), it is hard enough for them to garner a winning bid. I don't think that's true. It is extremely easy for any old Joe to score a winning bid on Priceline. What's hard is doing so without overbidding. Priceline counts on the underinformed customer for most of its profits.

I don't think you will ever see PL allowing customers to select room configuration and amenities because the whole point of PL is to let hotels dispose of random inventory at a lowball price.

There is a whole different tier of discount booking sites that let you look for specific amenities -- wotif.com is a really good example -- but you can't book more than 30 days out.

You have a choice. Hotwire takes care of all the desires for information, except bedding type specifically. Since they let you bid for three people in one room, you're sure to get what you need in any case. The only thing that they don't do is let you bid, but that's the trade you make for getting the information. Expect Hotwire to be only about 30% higher than Priceline for similar properties.

There are some hotels that only have rooms with one bed. If you bid and get one of those, you're out of luck.