many PL rooms, never felt I received sub standard room.

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I use PL about 50 times a year and they do try to give you the worst rooms when they are full. I do the following when I check in. I tell them that I would like a room on a high floor because of my problems with noise (can't sleep). Then I tell them I don't want the Handicap room, near the ice machine nor the elevator.
This usually gets me a better room.

I have used PL for approx 40 stays over the past 2 years. My experience has been pretty good.
I have never been put in a room that I considered substandard.

Last year I was booking weekly stays in Philadelphia, using PL. On week 1 I got a room in the Crowne Plaza which the heat wasn't working, so they moved me.
I bid again for a room the following week and wound up in the Crowne Plaza again.
When checking in I mentioned my experience of the previous week. The clerk remembered me and moved me to the business level floor with free breakfast. All for $40/night.

I agree the margins are getting slimmer, but I always look at the Bidding for Travel web site to gauge rates before I decide whether to go w PL or not.

Just got a mid week 3* in NYC (Marriott East Side) for $90. The best web price I could find for this hotel was $284.

DTWFlyer

Certain properties do have a tendency to put PL customers into substandard rooms. These are of course the properties that have substandard rooms. Generally, that means one-off hotels (not the big chains), and older properties with efficiency-type room layouts (big cities). I always ask for two beds, which generally precludes an "efficiency single" which, for example, the Boston Park Plaza has in spades.

Have you ever had any problem with the 2-bed request?

Boston Park Plaza - ick!

I booked in there and checked out all within 10 minutes. The hallways look like an insane aslyum -- if you have been there you know what I mean. The room was tiny and reminded me of a college dorm room. Plus there was only one chair - the type you find in an Elks meeting hall. Did I mention the hairs on the toilet?

When I went to check out the front desk lady was not surprised on bit. It must happen all the time there. And I had popped in there weeks before and the lobby is nice, so I mistakenly thought the rooms would be too. Should have checked that at the time. You can't go by their website either.

I had the same experience, though I managed to tough it out for the weekend. I simply won't use PL in Boston. Too risky.

I've only had one bad experience with a PL room, at the Tarrytown Hilton, where I got stuck with a handicapped room with a full bed, after being told the hotel was full (which appeared to be true due to a bar-mitzvah).
Most of the time it's not been a problem. My success in getting points varies with the chain and how busy the front desk is. I stayed at the Grand Hyatt in San Francisco, and while I didn't get Gold Passport points, I got a beautiful corner room and 500 Sky Miles.

VIP treatment often reserved for those willing to pay more
http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-...avel-headlines

In the article, hotels say they give worse rooms to people who do not book through their web site. Priceline is not mentioned specifically. I suspect hotels that do discriminate don't really care whether you have used Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline, Hotwire, or whatever.

The article mentions someone who got a good deal on a 5* hotel, and then found he would be sleeping on a Murphy bed. This is an example of hotel unfairness. If the hotel is going to give substandard rooms for the cheap price, the hotel should specify that it is doing this. Otherwise, I would rather have a 2* with a comfortable bed.

Are you saying that you received SkyMiles points on a priceline stay. I thought the hotel didn't have to give you points on priceline stays. Do you think this is something they did because you have Gold Passport status?

Have others had success with getting award points on PL stays?

As long as you have any incidental charge you do get Hyatt points, and you can get the gp1000, gp1500, or gp2000 bonus points if the hotel is offering that. You also get Faster Free Night credit as long as you charge incidentals to a Mastercard.