@gil123
Have to agree with you, I had exactly the same experience. I was looking for a hotel in Tokyo, Japan. On the list it also listed a massive discount (like around 50%) and "the last person got" message showed a great hotel.
I thought, ok, let's take the chances because 50% off is a good discount. The room price was still 150 USD per night, so not cheap. I booked and also got a different hotel compared to the "the last person got X" message.
This new hotel had also great ratings and good location, however, out of curiosity I searched for the price on another portal and found it to be about 10 USD cheaper, taking into account the fees Hotwire charges.
Therefore, I decided to never use Hotwire again because the discount listed is simply not true and if you add the additional Hotwire charges into the calculation, you can just as well find a good deal elsewhere AND you know exactly where you will book.