Thanks for all of the op-ed here.. but I am not some neophite who travels once every five years. My wife and I have worked for a major airline for over 30 years and travel extensively. I am well aware of what a 4 or 5 star hotel is and is not. My beef is not with the hotel.. it is what it is and if you like dumpy hotels and don't mind being stuck blocks from anything, fine by me. But when you bid on a 5 star hotel and end up in a dump with no options, that is wrong no matter how you slice it. If there are no 5 star hotels in the area, as claimed, then why did they let me bid on one? Why did the accept my bid ON A 5 STAR HOTEL?? But you are correct, I have never used Priceline before and thought I should give it a try. Hell, I love William Shatner. So yes, I guess I should have read the 85 reports about Priceline and all of their practices prior to using them to become more savvy as to how they operate. But having used every other on-line reservation service and not once having a problem, I had no way of knowing Pricelines ridiculous policies and that I could bid on a 5 Star hotel and end up in this dump. Obviously if I had, I would never have used them and now armed with this knowledge, never will again. And while clearly some here feel that a pig with lipstick makes it something other than a pig, I do not. Having stayed at the Hilton Palacio del Rio and the Marriott Rivercenter in the past, anyone else having done so and then staying at the Plaza knows what I am talking about. So live and learn.. my point in posting my 'rant' is so that others thinking about using Priceline are aware of the potential pit falls so that they don't make the same mistake I did. Seems like a worthy cause, no? And if you take the time to Google Priceline complaints, there are a lot of folks who could have used this advice prior to booking their travel plans.

Gee thanks for the warm and fuzzy greeting, all!