lovefreebreakfasts

Just wanted to add another data point about my experience about booking through cwt for two upcoming trips.

For trip 1, I asked information about 6-8 hotels. The representative emailed me within 24 hours with info about only 3 of the hotels I had requested, and only with 1 room type in each hotel. No special rates were mentioned.

I had found a rate for one hotel through cwt's booking site that was 15% off the rate the representative had sent (this rate wasn't even available on the hotel website). They happily matched that rate. This was a very expensive hotel where the rate was ~$500 for nights 1 and 2, and ~$1000 for nights 3 and 4. They didn't seem to have any issues saying that I will get a statement credit for night 4 (they also gave it in writing), so it seems like a good deal. With the 15% off and 4th night free, I'm getting almost 50% off the best publicly available rate on the hotel website.

For trip 2, I had only asked about 1 hotel. When I asked, they specifically asked me if I should be considered for non-refundable rates as well. However, when the concierge contacted me within 24 hours, the only rate mentioned was the (higher) refundable rate. I had to point out the non-refundable rate available on the website to get the lower rate.

It seems like the concierge definitely is a bit clumsy in getting your requests through, and they won't be doing much work on their own. However, it can really be a great deal if you're willing to do the leg work and follow up with your concierge, and especially if cwt has special rates available (although their booking system admittedly sucks).

It seems like cwt might participate in some of the luxury benefits with certain hotels that give benefits and other amenities (like free breakfast, room credit, etc.). Does anybody know exactly which special rates cwt has access to (and for which chains)? It can be a nightmare navigating their website, especially because inventory seems fickle and the rate descriptions usually are very short.